The 49er going online only would be a terrible mistake. I knew from experience that not too many students read the dead-tree version of the paper. More readers were faculty than students. An online audience would get even less eyeballs than the print paper.

Cal State Long Beach is a commuter campus. The CSU system is expansive through California, so for most students it’s not an isolated four-plus year adventure away from home. Over 85% of students lived (and live) within 50 miles of campus. CSULB does not have the school spirit of most other universities. That also means activities such as working on — or reading — the campus newspaper aren’t such a high priority for the student body.

With that said, keeping the newspaper is vital to the campus. Most students are not going to follow the transition to online, and the readership would be even more concentrated to faculty and employees.

It’s also important to the journalism students, as writing in a newspaper is final and authoritative. It compels the writer to focus on being factual, concise and interesting. The problem with online journalism is that it’s well … online.

The internet is more than just a tool to find news. Anything and everything can be found there. And that’s a problem, one that most media managers should keep in mind. On the internet, newspapers and other media outlets are not competing with one another for the best story. Millions of web sites, with all sorts of purposes, must compete with one another for audience attention. The internet has transformed information at a size and scope unprecedented in human civilization, but it has not figured out how to make more than 24 hours in a day.

News must compete with every other bit of information on the internet, as an ever-expanding number of sites must grab a slice of a static 24-hour pie. And there’s a hierarchy of what audiences gravitate to:
1. Porn. Seriously. Pornographic sites have been the most viable businesses on the net since mass use started in the 1990s. The internet made porn private, instantaneous and inexpensive — better than all other distribution channels. And, well, it’s porn. Nuff said.
2. Entertainment. Most people use the internet the way they use TV: as a source of amusement. It’s a movie house, video game arcade and public library from a small box.
3. Information. People seek out information the way they seek out food when they’re starving. Notice, though, it’s less important than sex and amusement. And when they do seek out information, it will be the way they have done so with TV: gravitate toward the most recognized brand with the most video.

The internet is going to make online news, especially for a campus, pushed back into a darker corner than it already is. On the other hand, print media is strengthening as it’s weakening. It becomes harder for new players to establish themselves in print, and the more print outlets are cut back, the stronger the remaining players become.