More on the Old Media

Glenn Reynolds's column at TCS, "Media Meltdown?," is getting a good bit of attention from the blogosphere. Some of his points have been made before, including here and here, but he draws together many strands of the story to present a coherent, and convincing, warning to old media barons.

Anyone who suffered through American cars in the late '70s will love this:

"The biggest problem is that, like most monopolists, they've spent so many years enjoying their position and not worrying about quality that they're left floundering now that competition is exposing their faults. Like the folks at GM who couldn't understand why people were buying Toyotas all of a sudden back in the 1970s, today's Big Media folks are shocked to see ratings and circulation numbers falling while readership for Internet sites skyrockets. And, like the auto executives, they're even starting to mumble about the need for protection.

"But it won't work, of course. And -- much like the release of the Chevrolet Vega, the Ford Fairmont, or the AMC Pacer -- the press's coverage of the 2004 presidential election has revealed an industry in deep trouble."