I could make this exact same post every day for the next week because the headlines keep coming. The newspaper industry is royally (and by royally I mean completely, utterly, inescapably) FUBAR’d.
Today’s headlines alone:
Times Co. to borrow against building – International Herald Tribune.
Tribune Co. flirting with bankruptcy
Miami Herald reportedly for sale
Last week, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver was put up for sale. There are at least 30 daily newspapers across the land for sale right now.
And no one is buying. Why would you buy a newspaper right now?
We’ve known newspapers were hurting for a while, and at first the headlines seemed to come slowly. A newspaper in trouble here, a for sale sign there, but nothing major to get worried about.
Other forms of media companies are hurting right now too, but it seems none are hurting on the level of newspapers. And from talking to people in the newspaper business, you know, the grunts who do the work and not the executives behind their mahogany desks, there’s a lot of worry.
Adam Benson, a former Herald Journal reporter and current reporter at the Bristol Press in Connecticut that is for sale and reportedly will shut down if no buyer is found soon, is a leader in a local cause there to save the newspaper. There’s a major value of local papers. Benson will join is on For the People tonight to talk about his efforts in Conn. and feelings on the downturn in the industry in general.
More locally, at The Herald Journal, the sense of urgency also exists. Here’s this from one staffer at the local paper:
“People are definitely worried about the future of the newspaper industry … with the takeover of the Internet and all other things digital, it’s a concern that soon people just won’t be interested, or the time or patience, to read newspapers anymore.
That’s why so many newspapers are spending so much time, energy and money on their Web site, in hopes that readers will continue to rely on them, even if the printed version dies out. I think the CSM stopped printing a hard copy of their newspaper; you can only find it online now.
It’s a scary thing. people just don’t read newspapers anymore. Although I think the older generation does only because they don’t know how , or don’t want to learn how, to use all the newer technology. As soon as they’re gone, though, who knows? Nobody will want to read a newspaper anymore.”
I know this is a subject that we’ve discussed before, but it really feels like we are in the last days of this traditional type of media and we are about to soon see a major, major shift in how we get information. We’ve long held the belief the “dead trees”, at least those with local stuff printed on them, would always be useful to some people, but now, I’m really starting to wonder.
-Tyler
