by Becky Tan

A professor of journalism, a documentary film maker and a film critic* discussed the future of the printed word on paper. Whereas film makers had no worries about the future of film in an internet world, these three were pessimistic about the future of newspapers. In Germany, five to six newspapers have disappeared and the Frankfurter Rundschau is no longer published in Frankfurt. There are fewer subscriptions and fewer advertisers. The panel expects that local newspapers will have disappeared in ten years. The good news is that newspapers have been forced to improve the content, to become more clever and intellectual. There is an increase in editorials and less straight news. Compared to the U.S., where Americans watch TV instead of reading newspapers, Germany is doing well. The discussion was an introduction for those of us preparing to see Page One: Inside the New York Times.

*) Volker Lilienthal, Gisela Tuchtenhagen

and Simone Schelhammer.

Moderator was Matthias Dell from Der Freitag newspaper.