Worth Reading - are American newspapers the odd ones out?

Earl Wilkinson of the International News Marketing Association, has some interesting observations from Australia, where those in the news industry suggested America is not the best example of newspapers' future.

Among the observations he sends on:

The two trains of thought among publishers worldwide are that:

• The United States is an early warning system of consumer and advertiser behaviour.
• Or, that the U.S. publishers have so under-invested in their print products that they have no root system when disruption hits. Thus, the U.S. story is avoidable in other parts of the world. ...

 What the Americans get wrong in print, I was told, is projecting a templated, soulless environment for the consumer who wants to slowly browse. In the past decade, this is an increasingly gaunt-looking print environment reflecting poorly on local media brands that haven't gotten a workout in decades. While quality print newspapers should be platforms for deep engagement, U.S. publishers have created tools to get readers in and out of their print pages in shorter and shorter time increments.
Advertisers won't invest in such a platform, my friend said. They don't want to be associated with platforms devoid of sizzle.