The Digital Research Initiative
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Are Online Newspapers the Wave of the Future?

In just the past year or two, a number of daily newspapers around the country have developed online versions that are published on the World Wide Web. This transition to a new medium has not been a easy one for the newspaper industry; it turns out that publishing on the Web involves much more than simply transferring the newspaper onto the Web every day. The move toward Web publishing has forced newspapers to acknowledge that publishing on the World Wide Web creates not only new opportunities, but new problems as well.

A number of these challenges and opportunities have been explored in recent months by a variety of articles that have appeared in the popular press. The following are excerpts from three of them. The first, "Driving a Newspaper On the Data Highway", by Melinda McAdams, highlights a number of important points that newspapers should keep in mind when developing an online publication. The second, "Online or Not, Newspapers Suck", by Jon Katz, examines the problems facing today's print newspapers and the challenges that stand in the way of electronic versions. The third article, "Netizen Caned", by Carl Steadman, is a critique of electronic, or "way new" journalism.


"Driving a Newspaper On the Data Highway", by Melinda McAdams.

McAdams raises a number of interesting points about how to set-up an online newspaper including the following:

McAdams stresses nine points to keep in mind, mentioning the possibilities for positive features such as footnotes, unlimited length for stories, the ability to search within a paper for exactly the information or articles you are looking for, and the ability to build links to previous stories concerning the same issues. Below are some of what she has to say:


"Online or Not, Newspapers Suck", by Jon Katz

Katz provides an insightful look at the current state of newspapers and the implications of publishing them online. Some of the more salient points he makes are listed below.

Katz on online versions of newspapers:

Even with all of his criticism, however, Katz still sees the possibility of a bright future for newspapers and their online versions. In particular, he cites the online version of Time as an example of a publication that "appears designed not to replace the magazine or plop it into a different format, but to gain a toehold in cyberspace and even absorb some of its values."

Katz has a few suggestions for newspapers as well, stressing content over technology, saying:

Katz closes his article with the following quote from a newspaper business man:


"Netizen Caned", by Carl Steadman

Steadman's article examines the creation of a publication known as the Netizen, an online creation of HotWired magazine. The stated goal of Netizen is to offer so-called "way new" journalism, in contrast to traditional coverage of news events, and politics in particular. While Netizen claims to be different, Steadman finds otherwise.

Netizen proposes a the existence of a new economy, Steadman claims, saying:

While Steadman finds the theory that information may ultimately control the economy to be an interesting one, the real concern should be the following:


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