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NYT Publisher Compares Print Media to the Titanic

Posted Wed, 10/28/2009 - 09:12

Arthur Sulzberger
Arthur Sulzberger, publisher for the New York Times, compares print journalism to the Titanic, doomed because of the invention of the airplane 12 years earlier.
In an article at New York Magazine, the publisher of the New York Times compared print journalism to the Titanic.

This is from the article :

"The industry is in the midst of a massive transition," [Arthur Sulzberger Jr.] said. "But the core of the fundamental job is critical. We have to re-create ourselves, but the heart of what we're going to re-create is still journalism. The way people get information is changing, but the need for information will remain constant."

He thinks that physical newspapers will stick around as well. "The best analogy I can think of is — have you ever heard of the Titanic Fallacy?" he asked. We hadn't. "What was the critical flaw to the Titanic?" We tried to answer: Poor construction? Not enough life boats? Crashing into stuff? "A captain trying to set a world speed record through an iceberg field?" he said, shaking his head. "Even if the Titanic came in safely to New York Harbor, it was still doomed," he said. "Twelve years earlier, two brothers invented the airplane."

And there you have it. In my opinion, everything he said, including the bit about newspapers sticking around, is right. And though it may be insensitive given the timing of the NWA newspaper merger, I think the opportunity for journalists of any sort is ripe.