News books

One advantage that traditional print media has over every other kind of news outlet — whether that is TV, radio, or the Internet — is the capacity to publish in-depth, serial stories. These long pieces of investigative reporting exemplify journalism at its best, but they can be tough to read in full online and even more difficult to reproduce with the limitations of television.

Now this kind of work just might offer newspapers an important new revenue stream for the future:

Later this month, a coalition of news organizations — including the [Washington] Post, Los Angeles Times, and Memphis Commercial Appeal — will try selling some of their multipart series as repackaged “digital newsbooks” for e-reader devices.

So far, the publishers have not found out a way to make these ‘newsbooks’ available for the Kindle and the Sony Reader — the two devices that command the largest audiences — but plans are already in the works for future editions that will be customized for portable devices like these or even the iPhone.