Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, had some interesting things to say to Fortune magazine’s Adam Lashinsky when interviewd about the future of newspapers and whether Google could “save” them. The opening question sets the tone of the piece:
Is there some grand gesture Google can make to solve the newspaper industry’s problems?
It’s not obvious what the grand gesture would be. Google can’t make the cost of newsprint go down. We also can’t materially change the way consumers behave, and consumers are in fact moving their lives online. We have been able to send clicks to their Web sites, which they can monetize. So that provides some revenue. The problem is that doesn’t provide enough revenue to offset the loss of the other revenue.
The interveiw is interesting because Schmidt makes it clear he wants news brands to survive, to provide content, but thinks the print model is losing the fight and doesn’t know what to do to save it. Lashinsky has posted a follow up to the story. Chris Snyder weighs in at the Wired blog network.
We are insulated, for the moment, from newspaper challenges here in Australia because of our smaller marketplace and the different newspaper distribution system. However, we have kidded ourselves for too long into thinking that the US and European troubles for newspapers will never happen here.