Could the Kindle save the Newspaper?

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One aspect many might not connect with e-books is the newspaper or magazine industry. In his article “How the Next Kindle Could Save the Newspaper Business” Marion Manekar breaks down how the Kindle and e-books could revitalize the newspaper industry. Manekar first starts by explaining that newspapers make their money based on advertisement which is becoming harder as Internet websites are able to have advertisement and post news articles much quicker than paper copies. Maneker does state that while ad revenue is killing the newspaper business the lack of readers is not. His solution to the problem is to use the e-book format to increase revenue. He mentions that Time magazine already has a solution in which on line there is news articles however Kindle readers have exclusive content which is only available to them for a fee. Manekar goes further stating what if all newspapers where to charge x amount of money for Kindle readers to read an article that was only exclusive to one area or written by an author directly free of any newspaper. For instance if an article was written by one writer who then could sell it to multiple newspaper and split the profit for on line sales as well as gain a boarder reputation it would be a win win situation for the newspaper and author. He states that while this might seem fantasy rather it is closer to history as writers were slaves to printers however printers were more likely to print many different articles rather than just certain ones. This allowed for a more broad approach for writers. Manekar then goes on to state that while the new Kindle DX might have been released to answer the newspaper industry question that other companies such as Plastic Logic are starting to create competition for the Kindle. As Manekar ends with the idea that more competition and more media tools the industry could become huge quickly.

Those trying to figure out if the e-book industry is the future would be able to use this article to provide an alternative to how the e-book could transform other industries. Not only is Marion Manekar a former publisher for HarperCollins he presents in this article solutions to how the e-book industry could transform the newspaper industry. For instance one could point to how Manekar states that if newspapers went to an e-book format they could benefit independent authors and as well make authors better by not being bound to newspapers. Also the infusion of new competitors in the field of e-book readers is only going to make the industry better. More competition makes companies improve their products for the consumer so that there product will win out. This argument could be use to reason why the Kindle is so expensive and how that competition could make the price more reasonable. Lastly those reading this article could see that newspapers are a new media that e-books could easily capitalize on and improve upon.