Picard's reading

In class, we discussed a little about R& D and how newspapers do not like to conduct research because they do not feel the need to. They are a monopoly in an area so they find it unnecessary. In Picard's reading of chapter eight where it states that research is unpopular because there is a highly negative cash flow since there is nothing sold and cost being occurred, perhaps this is part of the multiple causation attributed to the decline of print newspapers. For a long time, newspapers have been almost the gospel of towns. What the newspaper reports is important, worthy of your attention and is the voice of authority but that no longer is the case. With newspaper companies shunning research, they have contributed to their decline today. They haven't kept up with the happenings of a rapidly changing world and now they've awoken to an audience who no longer welcomes them. Perhaps they should alter their perceptions and view research as a form of investment that will pay off in the long run? Could this be possible?