We don’t know what’s going to happen … For sure there won’t be a single outcome – meaning the answer to News in the Future is the tablet-sized, electronic flat panel, or online networks, or the Daily Me. There’s a sense within the research facility that the right answers will be multiple. Knight-Ridder might have the right answer, Tribune Co. might have the right answer. There might be six or seven right answers. There just a sense that there’s an awful lot to be done
Predictor: Hynes, John
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for American Journalism Review, Kate McKenna reports on how the newspaper industry plans to get involved in the age of computer networks, interviewing John Hynes of MIT. McKenna writes:”At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, experts are working on a personalized daily newspaper attuned to the likes, dislikes and information requirements of each individual subscriber. Affiliated with this News in the Future (NIF) consortium, which came together last summer, are 19 news organizations that contributed up to $100,000 each. These include Times Mirror, Gannett, the Globe Newspaper Co., the Tribune Co., Newhouse Newspapers, Capital Cities/ABC Publishing Group and Ziff-Davis … The aim of the five-year project is unclear. Says MIT spokesman John Hynes, ‘The goals are vague for a reason … because we don’t know what’s going to happen either. For sure there won’t be a single outcome – meaning the answer to News in the Future is the tablet-sized, electronic flat panel, or online networks, or the Daily Me. There’s a sense within the research facility that the right answers will be multiple. Knight-Ridder might have the right answer, Tribune Co. might have the right answer. There might be six or seven right answers. There just a sense that there’s an awful lot to be done.'”
Date of prediction: October 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Journalism/Media
Name of publication: American Journalism Review
Title, headline, chapter name: The Future is Now: Newspapers Are Overcoming Their Fears of Technology and Launching a Wide Array of Electronic Products
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Volume 15, Issue 8, Page 16
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney