The paradigm was established by Steve Jobs. You get beaten up in the press and you don’t respond.

Antithetical to schoolyard ethics, but it seems to be the only solution these days. You see the mob will bring you down.

Bob Dylan said it best:

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society’s pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he’s in.

"It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)"

If you want to make any progress, you can’t listen to the naysayers. You can’t wade on to the Net and take on all comers. They’re not really interested in what you’ve got to say as much as dragging you down to the miserable level they’re at. Funny, the more you’re looking for the glory, the more you’re susceptible to Net hatred. And, on the Net, contrary to what many old school players believe, the ravings of one lunatic in Missouri are as powerful as the words of anybody writing for the "New York Times".

And speaking of the "Times", have you noticed the steep drop in advertising revenue for newspapers this year? On the order of 15%?

They blame the Internet. More specifically, Craig Newmark and his miserable free site, craigslist.org. They’ve been charging for those classified ads for years! If you wanted to sell something, reach the public, you had to take out an ad. You had to pay. No more!

Despite attacking Mr. Newmark and his site in print, they haven’t sued him like the record companies. Sure, he hasn’t stolen their intellectual property, but he has stolen their business model. And now, newspapers are sinking.

But, but, but, it’s a right to be able to read the printed newspaper with my morning coffee! I like to listen on CD, read physical books…

About the only time I listen to a CD is when I’m inserting it into my computer drive to rip it. Tell me all you want about sound quality, physical artifacts, I’ll tell you about convenience. About having thousands of tracks a click away. About listening to more music than ever.

And reading more news than ever online.

Yes, today’s supposedly ignorant younger generation? Its members are more up on what’s happening in the world than you ever were at that age. Because the news is at their fingertips. Online. Updated, in depth, constantly. Whereas the newspaper is firm, calcified as of yesterday.

Actually, you can read the newspapers today. On the west coast, the "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" go live, in their entirety, at 9 PM. The "Los Angeles Times" at midnight. I get all three physical newspapers, but not for breaking news, only secondary stories. Breaking news lives on the Web. Just like twenty four hour cable news killed network news, the Net is killing newspapers.

And newspapers cannot respond. Oh, they’ve got the right, just not the capability. Online custom states the newest story is first, and in descending order are all the old stories. None of the newspaper sites utilize this structure. They all look a bit like the physical newspaper. Give me the breaking news at the top. Give me clickable sections on the left. The newspaper giants are proving to me, just like their record company brethren, that they’re online ignorant, even if they can speak the language, they’ve got no insight, because they don’t utilize the damn thing.

And now papers have bloggers on their sites. I’ve got to ask you… When I can go directly to most bloggers’ pages, do you really think I’m going to dig down deep on a newspaper’s site to find some blog written by some old school fart beholden to the old game?

In other words, you can’t find the stories online. Steve Jobs’ mantra? Usability? It’s absent from each and every newspaper site except for the "Wall Street Journal"’s. And isn’t it funny that Murdoch is now making that a mainstream paper, invading the "New York Times"’s turf. I hate his right wing politics, but the "New York Times" doesn’t see it coming. The battle for news is now online.

But what to do with the physical newspaper?

Sell it.

That’s how Sam Zell ended up with the Tribune Company. And, I don’t know the backstory, but he hired radio people to run it. Randy Michaels, and, in turn, Lee Abrams. And they’re wreaking havoc, the old guard is flipping out. But, they want to save the paper, they just don’t want to save what once was.

So, they’re redesigning each paper to make it more user friendly, an easier read. There are graphics and colors and stars… Which TV started employing decades ago. And, Mr. Abrams wants to eliminate the jump. He says no one likes the jump. Got to agree with him there.

But, their greatest heresy is they want the reporters to work harder, to write more.

I find that funny. In the record business everybody complains how hard they’re working, but what are they doing? Are they working efficiently or just wasting time? The acts too. If Bob Dylan could put out an album a year in the sixties, each and every note better than anything you’ll ever do, why does it take you years to create an album today? Has songwriting changed? Has human DNA changed?

And maybe the exec shouldn’t go to lunch. Maybe he shouldn’t be doing half of what he already is. Maybe he’s wasting his time. Maybe he’s inefficient.

Guy Hands is trying to revolutionize EMI, but I read nothing about more product, nothing about employees being more productive, all I see are endless reorgs in the service of balancing the books.

I’m not going to say that record-making is equivalent to reporting. Then again, how many stars are emerging in the music world these days? Very few. With an ever-decreasing footprint. Maybe the musicians and their lawyers should get off their high horse, certainly the wannabes and never-happeneds. But, as long as Lyor Cohen makes millions, they see no reason to sacrifice. We’re not all in it together in the music business, it’s us versus them. With the artist on the losing end of the stick.

But what about Live Nation you say?

Well, you don’t see AEG Live making those expensive 360 deals. Because Phil Anschutz owns the damn company outright, and he’s not looking to sell it. Those 360 deals don’t make good business sense, they just gussy up Live Nation for sale.

Who is going to right the music business?

Outsiders. Who are not encumbered by the so-called rules. Who can think outside the box.

It’s coming.

Because it has to. Because traditional business is just that bad.

And will these new people care when the old people complain? Shit, better not complain about P2P, your audience will excoriate you.

About as heavily as the traditional news business is excoriating Lee Abrams. For his endless memos, complaining about his grammar. For his occasional gaffe. And for his new ideas.

If those running the newspapers were so damn smart, they wouldn’t be in this predicament. Lee Abrams is looking to save their business. Whereas the Netizens are looking to kill it.