Newspapers to disappear by 2040: UN agency chief

Newspapers to disappear by 2040: UN agency chief

www.physorg.com

Francis Gurry, who heads the World Intellectual Property Organisation told the daily La Tribune de Geneve that "in a few years, there will no longer be printed newspapers as we know it today."

"It's an evolution. There's no good or bad about it. There are studies showing that they will disappear by 2040. In the United States, it will end in 2017," he said.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.dailytelegraph. com.au
www.tdg.ch

The importance of the opinion is belied by the brevity of the source article.

A key problem is the revenue system. "How can editors find revenues to pay those who write these articles?" asked Gurry, noting that "the copyright system must be safeguarded as a mechanism to pay these writers."

When the Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) makes a pronouncement; it's not just technocrats and faux-politicians paying attention. The WIPO is a huge UN "specialized" agency, it's mission to protect the meme that protecting corporate dominance of copyright and patent properties is the same thing as protecting authors, artists, and inventors.

This was the same entity which pronounced in 2003 "... open-source software runs counter to the mission of WIPO, which is to promote intellectual-property rights...To hold a meeting which has as its purpose to disclaim or waive such rights seems to us to be contrary to the goals of WIPO."

msl1.mit.edu...

Now, imagine if you will, a world without newspapers. By this we mean a world where the only way to access the kind of news and reporting that Newspapers can provide,. written and cite-able, must be done in front of, or via, an electronic device.

Think carefully about what that means, and what suddenly stands in between you and the "news" (such as it may be.)

We, as a community, apparently even on a global scale, are being further removed from the source of information, with profiteering monopoly holders between us and the capacity to be "well-informed."

... all to "protect" rights... rights which have more importance to these global bodies than those of the individuals they are supposed to represent.

I hope there's some food for thought here.....



www.physorg.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

EDIT: Note the word "printed".......

I think it's a natural idea. Technology has become so advanced that I could easily see the implementation of digital paper in 4-5 years or so.

Although tech has its costs as well, not using paper could mean that we could save a lot of trees from being cut down.

Also, tablets will become more popular and more versatile as well as gloves like Minority Report will be a reality. It will be fun fun fun

Here in DK we are working on removing phone books because of them being completely obsolete. I haven't opened a phone book in 5 years or so.

In regards to safeguard copyright etc. I know for a fact that stock companies are already working on a system where they buy the stories etc from the authors along with footage and then anyone who wants to bring the story can buy it and the author will be credited.

reply to post by flice


Yes... "Printed" as in non-rectractible, non-volatile, media. Paper may be "obsolete" to some, but when the day comes when dissemination of public information rely's solely on a virtual medium, we will also suffer from a vulnerability that goes beyond warm fuzzies like 'saving trees' and idealistic visions of a Utopian model of 'informed citizens."

Relying on technology to maintain communications between people is fine. Making it the only way to do so is foolish and will serve only the profiteers and "middlemen" who 'decide' who gets credit for what, and when; as well as how much.

I find it amazing that this would be viewed as a good thing. If newspapers are eliminated (printed news) we can never regain our press once it becomes clear that it has been utterly usurped and corrupted. The virtual medium is controlled, and completely out of the hands of the people who rely on it....

Now, as never before in history, news articles can 'disappear,' 'change,' or 'be revised.' Unfortunately, such actions seem never to be in the direction of anything other than political and corporate expedience. Surely we can't be so detached from the corporate reality as to think this is not a bad sign.

now we just need cnn, and fox news to follow suit, and disappear -- maybe a little quicker..

Originally posted by flice
EDIT: Note the word "printed".......

I think it's a natural idea. Technology has become so advanced that I could easily see the implementation of digital paper in 4-5 years or so.

Although tech has its costs as well, not using paper could mean that we could save a lot of trees from being cut down.

Also, tablets will become more popular and more versatile as well as gloves like Minority Report will be a reality. It will be fun fun fun

Here in DK we are working on removing phone books because of them being completely obsolete. I haven't opened a phone book in 5 years or so.

In regards to safeguard copyright etc. I know for a fact that stock companies are already working on a system where they buy the stories etc from the authors along with footage and then anyone who wants to bring the story can buy it and the author will be credited.

edit on 3/10/11 by flice because: (no reason given)

I hope not.


You can't go 'round and collect all the printed news papers to hide facts once printed... but with the stroke of a key one could alter any historical record online.

scary thought.

reply to post by Maxmars


I can see that happening sooner rather than later...
two newspapers I used to work for are gone...
S&F as always

all this means is,the people that feed
us lies and propaganda on paper will
now be doing so digitally.
same old story.

reply to post by Maxmars


I knew this day would be coming as only my parents/grandparents are/were newspaper subscribers; I have only subscribed to the WSJ (hard-copy) as a class-requirement for businesss courses in school. Just a fading newspaper population.

I wonder what they would say about magazines within the same future time-frame?

This is a great business idea for someone in the future, as well...

Start a non (or for) profit entity in charge of exclusively printing the electronic/digital media if it's all that's available.

That would solve the problem.

S/F

I think the UN should disappear starting yesterday! It has proved to be a usless and blatant money scam.Take the UN during Kofi Annan leadership.talk about looting the till when no one was looking, all the while blasting the US. They should also be evaluated to see just how much paper they waste on usless information and reports.

Well that's certainly not a good thing.

Newspapers and physical kinds of media are vital even in our electronic age. Anything on the internet can be changed at the drop of a hat, but printed news is proof and factual. It's especially important when cross referencing material for research and such.

I'm sad that real journalism has seen it's best days. A good thing is that communities like ours are picking up the slack, but the trend isn't growing as quickly as I would like. Nor are the beltway media taking any notice really.

We need to have real journalists again, with real motivations for truth and real ethics, which should be law IMO.

~Keeper

reply to post by tothetenthpower

That might be true in a perfect world but most of the articles are just copy-pasted from Reuters, AP, some other source. There is no real news anymore so it would seem, its lies, diversion, misinfo and a lot of upskirt shots from scantily clad females who were so hurried they didn't have time to don some underwear, from what I see in the online versions here anyway. In other words, the days that a newspaper contained any real news are long gone imho.

I notice that some of the digital attempts are finding trouble gaining paid subscribers. Coincidence? When was the last time I read some truly investigative journalism unfettered by corporate bonds or regional patriotism? Its been a while...

reply to post by CaptGizmo

I think the UN should disappear starting yesterday! It has proved to be a usless and blatant money scam.Take the UN during Kofi Annan leadership.talk about looting the till when no one was looking, all the while blasting the US. They should also be evaluated to see just how much paper they waste on usless information and reports.

I agree with you 100% re: the UN (aka the United NOTHING).

While I can't speak for the OP, I would say that he/she was just using alternative info. found without any type of preference for the UN, and establishing it for our peruse.

As an example, do you subscribe to any print journalism newspapers?

Newspapers, hard-copy, are a dying breed...it is what it is is.....and you can find this among *many, many* analysist/media sources, not just the UN...

Non-profit archicivists have a future here that I see...worth investigation at least...

I personally think the man is talking absolute bollocks!

In 1979 I joined a Newspaper as an apprentice Compositor. My lecturers said then that Newspapers would be no more by the end of the century. There are more now than ever.