Here at whatype we don’t believe this are the times of the end of print. Sure that the crisis isn’t helping newspapers but the real deal is that the newspapers industry is an old one. What’s keeping readers away from newspapers is the way that the industry isn’t able too change within itself.
With every newspaper that is closed, with every journalist that is fired, a bit of freedom of speech, a bit of democracy is being lost. There’s no way to substitute the role of good journalism (the citizen journalism is a good thing but it’s still no substitute).
To try and change this, whatype is starting a movement. We’ve made 4 different posters A4 sized so that everyone can print them and post them everywhere. In each poster we’ve included a message to everyone in the newspaper industry.
Our challenge for you is to print as much as you want/can and post them where you think they can make a difference – newsrooms (outside and inside), near distribution points, etc.
By supporting your newspaper you will fight for your own voice. By telling what you want and expect from a newspaper, one that’s worth both your money and your time, you will be fighting for a better world.
You can download the posters here, here, here and here
By: Pedro Monteiro
Poster: A4, type: Helvetica
Whatype 
Uh, yeah.
Because journalism totally can’t happen on line.
Right.
The internet has increased our freedom of speech and democracy a million fold. Just because it does so in a way that obsoletes some skills isn’t a reason to reject it.
You can’t stop the future. You can get on board, you can get out of the way, or you can get run over.
Hi J. Jeffryes,
totally agree with you. sorry if I didn’t make my point clear. The issue is that if all journalism goes to the internet for free you will lose all the journalists that investigate news.
On the other hand, as you say, if the business (both managers and editor in chief) keep trying to stop the future, then people won’t by their products (newspapers) and there we go again to the first part of my comment.
My point is that the newspapers must step up to what people want from them because one can not afford to live in a world where the ‘Wartergates’ aren’t brought to the public opinion.
The issue is that I think what people want from journalists is not newspapers.
It’s inevitable that some day soon, there will be no more newspapers, and all journalism will be online. Most news will probably come from people that do it on the side, or as a hobby. The best of the best will make good money from it, the rest won’t.
Trying to save the medium of newspapers makes no more sense than trying to save linotype machines.
I agree that in the future the ‘paper’ medium will be lost. But it will take a while. For the other part of your comment I will use the help of wiser words (and ideas) then mine:
“… Mr. Hirschorn is a smart guy — I used to work for him at a Web-based media site — and while there is nothing sacred about The New York Times, the experienced, and yes, expensive journalistic muscle it deploys on events big and small is not going to be replaced by a vanguard of unpaid content providers. It’s not that journalism is impossibly difficult; it’s just that it takes enormous amounts of time and a willingness to stay with the story.”
By: David Carr
Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/business/media/12carr.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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Hola Pedro,
Nice site.
Nice posters. I agree almost with everything. Except the line “keep it cheap.” I understand what you mean. But the maybe unvolontary double meaning (cheap = bad quality) doesn’t sound nice to my ears. I might use them for display at the Newsroom Summit IFRA Asia is organising for Asian Publishers in Bangkok next May.
And leaving appart my IFRA hat, I personnally appreciated your posts on music, tempo and Poe…
All the Best!
Hi Gilles,
Thank you so much for your kind words. I can understand the double meaning that you invoke. My lack of knowledge of English didn’t allow me to find a better (and short) way of putting this.
It would be an honor to be ‘present’ trough this posters in such an event!!!
Thank you a million.
All the best
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Excelente ideia, Joana e Pedro.
Acho que a defesa da profissão e do papel impressa tem que ser mesmo esta – a da valorização do produto. Isso, como bem lembra o ‘amarelo’, só acontece com conteúdos que acrescentem valor (o jornalista já não como o que nos apresenta as notícias mas antes como o ‘sense maker’, ou ‘facilitator’, na expressão de Richard Sambrook).
Parabéns a ambos.
Estando longe de ter o vosso talento…fiz o que pude…espalhei a mensagem.
Um abraço
Caro Luís,
Muito obrigado pelas suas simpáticas palavras e pela ajuda preciosa em espalhar a mensagem. Mais não poderiamos pedir!!!!!!!
Um abraço
Belíssima resposta, à propagada crise. Vou tratar de difundir a mensagem.
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Muito bom. um grande campanha 🙂
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you say that the print isn’t dead. but you are using the web to launch your campaign, not the print.
😉
‘Print is not dead’ doesn’t mean that online is not alive…. TV didn’t killed radio and online isn’t killing the printed news. My believe is that the people making the printed news are killing it. That’s my main statement
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I did a post on just this topic on my blog. However, I came to a different conclusion. Newspapers and magazines will simply go digital. Of course, hard copies of important documents will remain for years to come.
The link to my blog post on the topic is below.
http://www.novellusideas.com/?p=75
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I have to disagree with the notion that papers an magazines will lose paper totally, it might, but i doubt it. The way in which i see the change happening is that yes the use of paper will decline but a balance will be found where both are utilised as mediums for articles and news to be communicated. The use of paper is getting more and more sustainable as more trees get planted, paper & cardboard are recycled and trees are only fell from tree farms.
I agree with you. I don’t think that print media will be lost. I do think that maybe daily news will be delivered in digital format but printed news will be here for a long time. Thank you for your input
I work for a newspaper press, over the last 5 years we have seen much stuggle in the industry. Its been like a simmering effect with only the biggest and best standing strong. Business models have changed as a result. What I do know is people like deversity. Photography did not kill painting despite the fear at the time, TV did not kill radio. But there was still an effect. A balance will be meet, After all if I was advertising and nobody had seen print in the mailbox for years think of the impact a flyer would have. Prints not going anywhere…..its just loosing its throne and crown.
Cheers from Claudy 😉