Amazing Grace

Update below

At least one newspaper is doing well. Sort of. For a moment.

Is the iPad newspapers' saving grace? It's even the focus of Doonesbury comics this week.

We have two-thirds of a perfect storm right now simultaneously being explored by Gary Trudeau and others. The first is the New York Times' online "paywall." The second is the iPad.

Pay dirt (as in what I pay right now)
That's right, the New York Times will soon begin charging for access after a certain number of articles. No more all-you-can-eat buffet without a subscription. Welcome to news a la carte.

Apparently Newsday has had great success with this. Hah.

Having to pay to access any online story would hurt a lot of amateur bloggers like me because one, my audience doesn't necessarily subscribe to every newspaper, and two, my income does not at the moment support me subscribing to every online news source I read. Luckily, though, it's unlikely that free online news will ever go away. It will probably just change forms.

Check out the Nieman Journalism Labs' paywall widget.

iWhat?
Did you see the iPad? I saw the iPad. It looks like a big iPod Touch. It's "magical and revolutionary" at an "unbelievable price." But I believe the price.

The Big Money writes that a key to Apple's success is its antisocial attitude. This is true, but there is another factor as well.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
MacWorld predicts that newspapers and magazines will benefit from portable e-readers. Just think: all the news, no physical production cost. Just lay it out in a digital format and you're good to go. The downside to this is that Apple will undoubtedly try to sell subscriptions through iTunes, meaning that Apple will be getting a cut of the hard work that newspapers do. (For ha-has: I link freely to articles, and you get added commentary!)

While this can save "print" (err, let's work on another name for that) publications, it will give Apple greater power over media. Apple is saving newspapers, and it's doing a much better job than the federal government did when it saved America's "cannot fail" institutions. Those institutions were given fairly free rein. Apple is holding newspapers by the lede. A better model for newspapers would allow you to subscribe directly through the publication's website, bypassing Apple entirely. But Apple wants to control the media because its device will be expensive. Worst case scenario for us/best case scenario for Apple: People will buy cheaper e-readers, but it will only be iPad users that can download the content they want. Let's hope it never comes to this

Update 6:30: I was just discussing this with my friend Anthony, who is an English major. His greatest concern is for the book publishing industry. The same logic applies regarding Apple's control of media. The difference is that book publishing has not lost revenue due to declining readership and a loss of advertising.