New York Times Has Own Futurist — Big Deal
Part of an American Journalism Review article about The New York Times’ digital future says:
If any newspaper in the U.S. can pull off a digital transition, it probably is the New York Times. The Times Co. has a 10-person research and development team – including a futurist-in-residence – devoted to innovating and experimenting with new digital products.
On the other hand, maybe it is not ready for the digital future. How much can 10 researchers and one futurist really know? Hell, the place has more than 1,000 people in its print operation. They are supposedly the best reporters — also researchers — in the world. So first the New York Times should think of its internal R&D staff as being at least 1,000 strong. I say internal because externally it has many thousands of loyal readers. I am one of them.
Here is one reader’s message to The New York Times: We are not stupid. Ask your futurist how we collectively can put him or her out of business while ensuring The New York Times will have a future. Maybe you have heard this before, but are still not listening: Collectively we know more than your futurist does, and apparently more than you The New York Times as an entity does.
So here is concept number one for you to begin to ponder: We Are Your Future.
And here is concept number two: You Are Nothing Without Us.
Concept number three: Stop worrying about those annoying puny little stockholder whiners, and gather your loyal readers and get them to collectively give the bottom line money grubbers one gigantic boot, while giving you one gigantic kick-start into the future.
