Why is the business of news so difficult?

The below is from a thread on Threads, reacting to the owner-imposed crisis at the Washington Post and the trend of non-news entrepreneurs thinking that news is an easy business to fix. After all, it just needs better [leaders | ideas | tech].

The thread was also a remix from page 77 in my book An Introduction to News Product Management:

Why is news a tough business:

• It is a public service with a business model bolted on the side.
• It has an ethical requirement to minimize community harm and maximize benefits.
• It publishes on the Word Wide Web, a machine designed for distraction not knowledge-making.
• It is marketing a geographically constrained value to a geographically placeless audience.
• It has been disintermediated from readers and subscribers by tech and social platforms.

And why does it have a bright future?

• Hundreds of small digital-native newsrooms have launched.
• They are mission-focused and usually locally-owned.
• They are often non-profit but are at minimum chasing new diversified revenue models.
• There is a large and growing support ecosystem for their tech, strategy and reporting capabilities.
• Communities need news and solutions will arise - slowly and unevenly but eventually.