Morgan prefers, instead of thinking negatively in terms of “which major metropolitan U.S. newspaper will be the first to collapse under its own weight and shut down,” to warn newspapers that ad revenue and circulation are decreasing, and are not coming back to print. However, he says, there are answers; they just involve bigger changes than newspapers are currently willing to implement.

Morgan says:
-Newspapers must “dramatically shrink their core mass reach product and its cost structure…by 40 or 50 percent.” This means both publishing smaller papers and fewer actual papers. Newspapers should also make a big shift into niche and non-daily publishing. “Print can still be a great medium,” he says, “just not the way that most large newspapers practice it today.”

-Papers need to let go of the past, theoretically and physically. This means everything from embracing user-generated content to literally selling printing presses; whatever is necessary to break the print mindset.

-Perhaps his most radical advice: “Stop or unwind the forced digital integrations,” says Morgan. “Their digital media businesses might share the same brand name, and some of the content, but the future of local digital media is worlds away from the past of print newspapers.”

Source: Online Spin via Google Alert