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Thread: Newspapers in crisis

  1. #1
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    Default Newspapers in crisis

    So newspapers (even aside from the Reader) are not doing so great lately. The Chicago Tribune went bankrupt in December. Closer to home, both of Detroit's newspapers are now only doing delivery Thursdays and Fridays, and on other days are selling a much smaller version only at newsstands. The New York Times has been hurting pretty badly as well. And my own local newspaper seems to be getting smaller by the month.

    The economic climate seems to have dealt a pretty stunning blow to the newspaper industry, in other words. So what are the effects of this going to be? Throughout most of this country's history, newspapers have been the most important newsmedia in terms of real investigative reporting. Is that all in the past? Are newspapers going to be a minor part of our media landscape in the future? Has the internet made physical newspapers obsolete (and are we going to see online media empires to rival the New York Times in the coming years?) Will there be less real investigative reporting in the future? If so, what effects will that have?

  2. #2
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    The main thing that supported newspapers in the past was advertising, particularly classified ads. The decline in that source of income because of the Internet is what's killing the newspaper industry.

    So, the question is, what will happen to the good journalism -- particularly the investigative journalism -- that the ads used to support? I don't see what that can't move onto the Internet, too.

  3. #3
    Prehistoric Bitchslapper Sarahfeena's avatar
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    Quote Originally posted by Giles
    The main thing that supported newspapers in the past was advertising, particularly classified ads. The decline in that source of income because of the Internet is what's killing the newspaper industry.
    It's all Craig's fault, him and that damn list!

    So, the question is, what will happen to the good journalism -- particularly the investigative journalism -- that the ads used to support? I don't see what that can't move onto the Internet, too.
    I think periodicals...there are still magazines that seem to get decent readership and quality reporting.

  4. #4
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    Quote Originally posted by Sarahfeena
    So, the question is, what will happen to the good journalism -- particularly the investigative journalism -- that the ads used to support? I don't see what that can't move onto the Internet, too.
    I think periodicals...there are still magazines that seem to get decent readership and quality reporting.
    It seems like periodicals have a small reach though. It is not the same.


    What was the actual heyday of the papers and good journalism though? From what I can see and have read from the time Hamilton created his rag in NYC through at least the 20s there was precious little good journalism. Was it WWII or the Great Depression that got use good journalism? Are we at the end or only nearing it?

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    I'm reading a book that touches on this topic. (It's Scott Gant's We're All Journalists Now, and it's about law more than it is about this, but there's some good information in there.)

    Modern journalism as we know it is a product of the 20th century. The press went from being politically funded and partisan to priding itself on objectivity. The early 20th century saw the founding of schools of journalism that teach (or are supposed to teach) professionalism and ethics in addition to reporting skills. Most, if not all, cities had two papers, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. I think it's safe to say that the "golden age" of modern journalism started to decline when CNN went on the air in 1980.

    What puts newspapers in a precarious position is the rise of news/talk radio, 24-hour news channels, and the Internet. The other three media can bring audiences up-to-the-second news. The best a newspaper can hope for is to offer more in-depth analysis and more of a local focus. Ad revenue is way down; craigslist, job-search sites and online Yellow Pages sites have taken much of the classified revenue. Even municipalities, which generally have to publish solicitations for bids and contracts, meeting notices and auctions, are starting to use their websites for those announcements; the local paper could always rely on the revenue from those. Papers, which traditionally based their prices on ad revenue, are forced to raise their prices to the reader; my local paper now charges $.75 a copy where it used to be $.50.

    Another issue is that blogs and message boards can report news on a much more local level than a newspaper can. If I want to know why I heard police sirens in my neighborhood last night, all I have to do is go to my paper's boards and chances are someone's got some information. Of course, it's equally likely that the poster is talking out of his ass, but there's not much difference between that clown and Jaysen Blair. And, frankly, a lot of the posters on my local paper's board are morons. But there have been good "hyperlocal" blogs that do a great job of reporting and analyzing a particular area or even a specific issue; Durham-in-Wonderland is a great example. This is a blog whose author has covered the Duke lacrosse scandal. The blog can cover the scandal in much greater depth than any newspaper could ever dream of.

    To be fair, newspapers have tried to use the Internet, but they've been shooting themselves in the foot by offering the same stories online that they do in print. If I can read a story at noon on Monday for free, why would I buy Tuesday's paper to read the same story? They couldn't figure out a decent revenue stream when they had the opportunity to do so, and now they're paying for it. The smart ones will figure out a way to move to the Internet, the dumb ones will die off.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    MsRobyn, that book sounds interesting. Would you recommend it?

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    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    Another massive cost issue is that paper, which used to cost $300 per ton, now costs $800 per ton.

    According to my editor, at least.

    The reasons for the decline of print news popularity and the advertorial issues have been pretty well covered already, but bear in mind that the main answer (or attempt at one) that newspapers have found is to do the same (or enhanced same) stuff online as in print.

    Well, if it's all free online, why bother with print?

    So one of the ideas my newspaper has is to make the online stuff different.

    Will it work? No idea. But this year, we'll find out.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    I hope we'll see the rebirth of pamphlet publishing.

    I've been disappointed with newspapers since the late 80s.
    I would read several papers per day (long story) and they consisted mainly of two things:

    1) Stories copied (purchased, whatever) from the AP and UPI.
    2) Advertisements

    I so infrequently needed the things that the advertisements offered that those essentially held no interest for me.
    The stories from the AP and UPI could be digested more quickly from TV, then later the internet. So why bother with the paper? Reading them was just a waste of time.

    I turned to independent newspapers, the Reader, the Phoenix, the Independent, the Observer and found the kind of interesting local and investigative journalism that I missed. Great columns and great cartoons thrown in for free. Even these are now hurting due to the lack of advertising revenue.

    But I still want something to read on the train, or when I'm eating eggs at IHOP, so if you put something that looks mildly interesting in front of me I am likely to pick it up and read.

    So I hope we see new pamphleteers. Go on, give me some crazy, give me some poetry, give me some cool pictures...and, if you give it to me good enough I and some of my fellow travelers through the world might go to your associated web site...buy your t-shirt or your coffee mug or your book...and give you the inspiration to print another pamphlet.

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    Elephant
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    Quote Originally posted by Excalibre
    MsRobyn, that book sounds interesting. Would you recommend it?
    I'm not quite halfway through, but it's fascinating so far. Much of it has to do with legal issues, but the law is worth knowing if you're a serious online participant. So yeah, I'd definitely recommend it.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

  10. #10
    Elephant Wheresgeorge04's avatar
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    Quote Originally posted by InLucemEdita
    I hope we'll see the rebirth of pamphlet publishing.
    Do I smell a new issue of Factsheet 5 coming?

    Joe

  11. #11
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    Default Re: Newspapers in crisis

    The current issue of the Columbia Journalism Review has an article about this. I'm too tired to focus right now, but I'll go through it later and summarize it here.
    There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. -- Ray Bradbury's "Coda"

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