Hal Varian: The Economics of the Newspaper Business

This one is from Brad DeLong's "noted" list:

Hal Varian: the economics of the newspaper business: Thank you... I am an economist by training, and only a part-time journalist, so I want to focus my remarks on the economics of the newspaper business during this period of transition.

1. Printed  newspaper circulation has been declining for 50 years...

2.  The internet is a superior way to distribute and read news...

3.  The basic economic problem facing news is increased competition for attention...

4.  Newspapers never made money from news...

5.  Offline news reading is a leisure time activity, online news reading is a labor time activity...

6.  Ad revenue depends on reader engagement...

7.  Tablets give newspapers a way to reclaim some lost audience...

8. The fundamental challenge facing newspapers is to increase the time people spend on their content...

(He explains each point in the longer version.)