Columnist Says 'Newspapers Must Embrace Change'

By: E&P Staff Daniel B. Kline, who does free Op-Ed columns for more than 100 newspapers, wrote about newspapers this week.

In his "Newspapers Must Embrace Change to Remain Vital" piece, Kline commented: "Many of the editors, publishers, and owners of America's newspapers seem shocked that they have lost readers and ad dollars to the Internet. They blame young people for not reading, and lament the Web sites they accuse of stealing their readers, never once realizing that arrogance has made them expendable, not technology."

He added: "The sensible newspaper companies out there ... have reinvented themselves as purveyors of a hyper-local product featuring stories about their community that go well beyond what was traditionally considered news.... Good local newspapers no longer have to offer a little bit of everything, because most things are readily available to readers online or in the major national and regional papers."

The complete column can be seen here.

Kline -- the subject of a Feb. 5 story on E&P -- is also the author of a new column collection called "Easy Answers to Every Problem."