Since newspapers and media companies represent a substantial base of clients for NewsGator's Media & Consumer products, and since nearly every day recently we hear of another newspaper either on its death bed, or being shuttered all together -- along with some seemingly sounding the death knell of the entire industry -- I stumbled along an article today that I think is highly pertinent to the discussion of this topic.

A this year's SXSW, author Steven Johnson said, "I am bullish on the future of news.  I am not bullish on what is happening in the newspaper industry; it is ugly and it is going to get uglier. Great journalists are going to lose their jobs and cities are going to lose their newspapers."

However, Johnson makes sure to say that he believes that "panic that newspapers are going to disappear as businesses," is unfounded.  He adds, "then there is panic that crucial information is going to disappear along with them. We spend so much time figuring out how to keep the old model on life support that we don't figure out how to build the new one."  This serves no purpose either, according to Johnson.

To read more about what he has to say on this compelling topic, and some of his predictions for the future of the industry, check out the full AFP article here.

More importantly, perhaps, check out the full text of the speech that he gave at SXSW, available on his website.