On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, New York Times columnist David Brooks admitted that despite the demise of the print editions, journalism can still have a life in an online format.
Brooks made those remarks regarding last week’s announcement that The Washington Post had been sold to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. According to Brooks, there has been a “return to authority” in the online media format.
“I think the audience has changed online,” Brooks said. “I think there’s been a return to authority. You know, I used to read blogs, and you’d kind of be reading something interesting, and then the blogger would write, ‘Well, I’ve got to quit now. I’m going off to junior high.’ I realized I’d been reading a 12-year old. But I think there has been a return away from some of that toward, whether it’s online or in print, a return to quality. People who actually make the calls, who are not speculating, who are reporting and I think there’s been a return to that sort of stuff.”
“So I’m a little more of the belief that the old media is going to continue,” he continued. “Look at e-books — they’ve hit a plateau. Look at online — it’s hitting a plateau, I think. And so I think we’re going to be stunned by how much of the old media, whether it’s delivered online or not, is going to be around, as the audience returns to authority.”
(h/t RCP Video)