Tennessean editor Mark Silverman had plenty to say about the role of media (newspapers in particular) in maintaining democratic societies. Acknowledging that the Internet has rapidly taken away the industry’s “monopoly on information and advertising revenue,” he noted that while 60 percent readership was once common in terms of newspaper penetration, in recent years even 40 percent has only been realistic “if you’re lucky.”

Responding to changing consumer demand for information, Silverman repeatedly mentioned The Tennessean’s (and Gannett’s) push to develop an array of individual products–not just the newspaper–in order to make money.

One notable concern he noted amid the swift and ongoing evolution of the media is the  tendency for people to insulate themselves from points of view other than their own because they have more available information sources than ever before. That kind of isolation, he said, is a “scary prospect for a democracy to let people take.” One of his goals as editor of the paper will be to “shake people out of the narrow stripes of their comfort zones” by challenging them with competing points of view. The format may be changing, but newspapers must remain a “marketplace for ideas,” he said. I agree.