The Future Transformation of News

It is important to understand that e-readers have thus far done nothing to fundamentally improve the journalism industry’s bottom line. Many media executives interviewed for this article described themselves as “bullish” about the long-term potential of mobile devices. They see an opportunity, but don’t know how big it is, and most are skeptical that subscription and advertising revenues will ever return to pre-Internet levels. Moreover, a number of authorities on the subject, such as Sarah Rotman Epps, who studies e-readers and the news media for Forrester Research, stress that many big media companies have “legacy problems”—debt, overhead, real estate, inflexible labor structures, etc.—that technology will never overcome. Within that context, a lot is possible, but a number of variables will determine whether the second chance is as profound a moment as some think.