Change Leaders Create a Strong Sense of Urgency

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Print newspapers have existed in America since 1690, largely following the same processes for more than three centuries. Try leading change in THAT industry.

Courts shut down the first newspaper after only one issue in 1690. The Boston News-Letter, the first continuous newspaper in America, began publication in Boston in 1704.

It started with a single sheet of paper with two columns of news on both sides of the sheet. The first ads appeared in that paper during the same year, according to the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Newspapers are largely unchanged in 300 years. Credit: U.S. public domain

Think about it. Newspapers from more than 300 years ago had news and advertising on paper. They had a purchase price, a printing process and a circulation process. They had publishers, editors and writers. The news and ads appeared in columns.

In those respects, newspapers of today are not much different. The processes are similar, although the procedures and laws governing them have evolved over time.

In one other respect, newspapers of today are much different. They have the Internet. Because of that fact and their lengthy history, newspapers are a laboratory for the…