Newspapers Won’t Die ‘Cuz TV Needs Them

In a recent interview with Editor & Publisher, the WP’s Ben Bradlee responded to the claims that newspapers are dying. The newspaper “has been and will continue to be the main source of news for television, if you really study it. They process newspapers until they get their own reporters into the story,” Bradlee said.

Yesterday the CBS Public Eye blog expanded on this point by examining the trajectory of the Ambien side-effects story. The story broke in the New York Times on March 8. CBS picked up on it that morning, and both CBS and NBC ran stories on their evening newscasts. The next day, ABC followed up with a new “nugget.” The Times’ follow-up story on March 14 was followed by another round of TV stories. Hillary Profita has the full chronology.

As if you needed more evidence, today’s Akron Beacon Journal includes this comment from former paperboy Tim Russert: “I am very reliant on newspapers. I read them all, six or seven a day.”