New twist- Internet doomed newspapers or saved them?

In case you haven't noticed the newspapers have been using the internet to save there businesses. I thin its ironic  that one industry is using tools from an industry that is putting them out of business, but oh well .The truth is, what most people do not know is that over the past 30 years newspaper readership was at a steady decline. To give you an idea 25 years ago our local newspaper the Miami Herald had over half a million daily newspapers in circulation. Today they struggle to keep 195000 daily issues in circulation  and around 260,000 sunday. I think one major problems (prior to the internet) was the business model. The declines are greater when you factor in that the south Florida population has grown in that time span. For too long the industry relied on a old never changing business model. which is print a paper , sell advertising, and sell the issues. The model has now recently change because of the internet. in 2003 the newspaper industry received 1.2 billion in ad revenue and in 2006 it was up to 2.7 billion. While this may seem as a positive this new model puts them in competition with every single online newspaper not just local ones. It also puts them in competition with every news source, including cspan, cnn, every tv online news out fit, Google , Facebook and twitter , and any individuals blog that collects advertising revenue. Unfortunately for the papers is that they still have the burden of covering the high  costs of ink ,paper and manpower to produce the print version of there news. 

To show you the power of the social media outlets. go to your Facebook or twitter page . Search for any newspaper . Chances are you will find  that the paper has Facebook page and a twitter account.--

Thats right the newspapers are using there competitors media to promote  there business. When was the last time you saw a Facebook ad on a newspaper?  Unfortunately ,the papers will be at a severe disadvantage as long as they continue to absorb the costs of paper ink and man power to physically print and deliver there issues.. But once they move from that old Model , they will be able to survive but not dominate like they once did.

http://mashable.com/2009/03/11/newspaper-industry/

http://gigaom.com/2010/03/28/what-does-the-future-hold-for-newspapers/

Online Identity theft- How Hysteria Creates a Market

You get to the checkout line at the grocery store. After you run your card through the machine with a broken pen, the cashier tells you your card has been declined. "That cant be" you say  as she rolls her eyes knowing she has to restock your entire shopping cart. You then run to the ATM outside. You agree to the $2.99 fee to just check your balance( dam you presto) and there is is - a balance of 0. You are still in denial . So you race home go  online and check your balance its worse, you have a balance of negative 42.99(transaction fee and over the draft fee for the ATM use.  You notice  purchases made in another states. you lose your house the wife leaves you . your doomed. Dont You Wish you had Life Guard online privacy protection. for just 49.99 and 19.99 a year, you can get all the Identity Guard you need.
You may have heard the names of these companies-life-lock, Protect my ID , Identity guard, and Watch Dog. While i believe most of these products do what they claim ,however i wonder do we really need them?
I understand that in this new online world we have can make some people get a little paranoid. I must admit the first time i used MS money i was a little hesitant to provide all this credit card and banking information-even though i never felt that way when i would give my name phone number, address social security number and a copy of my drivers license to a complete stranger at a bank .Today i dont go to the Bank that much anymore
I here more and more about Identity theft so i decided to check some things out (online of course). here is what i found.

• The amount of victims to identity theft in 2003 was 10.1 million in 2007 the amount  dropped   to 8.4 million
• the total amount of money lost to fraud was 55.7 billion in 2006 and it decreased to 49.3 billion in 2007.
• Most thieves still obtain personal Identity info through traditional way rather than the internet. or Almost 70% of the crimes were obtained offline compared to almost 12% online. 
• it is also recommended to receive your banking statement online that by the mail.

How about that its actually safe to receive your bank statement through email then by mail because its easier to steal someones mail. Other more common ways include losing a wallet or purse, giving information over the phone and of course family and friends.

Its also worth noting that you control what info you enter online . Use common sense with the information you post to the world

Alex 

305 555 6792

address 1588 sesame street, fiu fl

social security. 576-67-8656

http://www.privacyrights.org

http://www.identitytheftcreditfraud.com