Newspapers going broke

[Haunted]

What do y'all make of this trend of newspapers going down? The NY Times is being bailed out by a gentlemen from Mexico for $15M at 14%!! Is it that the other media are more searched out by news seekers??

I myself cruise the Net for news but still read two weekly papers from DC.

Where do you get your news??

[brownmouse]

We get the Enquirer- not that one- the Cincinnati Enquirer- everyday. My golden retriever will be very bummed out if he can't bring it in for us every morning! Honestly- this is his one job and he takes it very seriously!

[smjohn]

I get our local paper everyday...well, in theory I get it everyday. It seems like around the time they take my money out of my account I miss the next day or 2. When I call to let them know I didn't get it, they actually offer to bring it to me the next day. Please. Why would I want todays news tomorrow. Also, I do the crossword everyday. However, today's crossword is completely screwed up and can't be done. They apparently put the wrong clues in for the wrong grid. The problem, as I see it, is customer service. I don't expect "the customer's always right" theory, however, I do expect at least some level of customer service. It seems like the new generations are not learning this. I have so many examples of this it's sickening.

[Haunted]

for subject:


http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2009/03/17/newspapers-survive/

[smjohn]

I get our local paper everyday...well, in theory I get it everyday. It seems like around the time they take my money out of my account I miss the next day or 2. When I call to let them know I didn't get it, they actually offer to bring it to me the next day. Please. Why would I want todays news tomorrow. Also, I do the crossword everyday. However, today's crossword is completely screwed up and can't be done. They apparently put the wrong clues in for the wrong grid. The problem, as I see it, is customer service. I don't expect "the customer's always right" theory, however, I do expect at least some level of customer service. It seems like the new generations are not learning this. I have so many examples of this it's sickening.

UPDATE: Today's paper printed two crosswords. They admitted that yesterdays crossword was 'incorrect' and added yesterdays and todays:)

[Deavlynn]

What's a newspaper? :)

Newspapers are becoming obsolete quickly and in my opinion they deserve to be obsolete. There will always be news, but this format was never really a good one. It's very wasteful, in that each and every day you have to rid yourself of the old one. I mean really, how much paper machete do you need? Not to mention the delivery costs and the whole printing process. The newspaper companies should have realized long before now that they needed a more disposable format.

The internet works very well - I read reuters.com personally, but I really think RSS feeds are the way to go. Just pump it into the other applications like E-mail clients and chat clients. If I want to know more than the headline, I'll click.

[JohnDalglish]

What's a newspaper? :)

Newspapers are becoming obsolete quickly and in my opinion they deserve to be obsolete. There will always be news, but this format was never really a good one. It's very wasteful, in that each and every day you have to rid yourself of the old one. I mean really, how much paper machete do you need? Not to mention the delivery costs and the whole printing process. The newspaper companies should have realized long before now that they needed a more disposable format.

The internet works very well - I read reuters.com personally, but I really think RSS feeds are the way to go. Just pump it into the other applications like E-mail clients and chat clients. If I want to know more than the headline, I'll click.


Hi,

I agree, electronic transmission is definitely the way to go forward for the newspapers IMO.

They should be thinking of being available on the Kindle, Nintendo DS and any other devices that become available. Although how they fund their operation beats me.

I recommend bbc.co.uk/news for unbiased news from an organisation independent of advertising revenue.

Long days and pleasant nights

[arista]

I myself find it easier just to use the internet on line newspaper..my part in going green.

[BRUMMIEYID]

I recommend bbc.co.uk/news for unbiased news from an organisation independent of advertising revenue.




I have to agree with John, The national papers in the UK seem to be filled with utter junk nowadays!
I tend to buy what we refer to as a 'Red top' for the sports pages in the morning, but for more serious matters- (other than what Posh Spice is wearing, or who's dating Kate Moss, or what new mobile phone can I buy!!!) - we also tend to watch the BBC for news, either on-line at the website or on TV with the news 24hr channel.

[JRLauer]

What do y'all make of this trend of newspapers going down? The NY Times is being bailed out by a gentlemen from Mexico for $15M at 14%!! Is it that the other media are more searched out by news seekers??

I myself cruise the Net for news but still read two weekly papers from DC.

Where do you get your news??

Well that's the sign of the times, no pun intended. Most newspapers are going out of business because its an outdated form of news information. Most people get their news from either TV, the radio, or the internet. Its time for the news papers to go bye bye anyway.

No one bailed out 8 track tapes when they went out.

[PatInTheHat]

What's a newspaper?

Newspapers are becoming obsolete quickly and in my opinion they deserve to be obsolete. There will always be news, but this format was never really a good one.



But you have to understand, back in the "good 'ol days" when Franklin was cranking out Daily Planet's, apples were uhhh...apples.
Consequently, it took them a way bunch longer to download stuff and other newspapery junk:oo:.
Ahh the future...who knew:dunno:!!?
Well, come to think on it, I guess history does give us Johnny Appleseed!
A true visionary to the future of that moldy 'ol fourth estate, a little known fact that should now be widely excepted throughout journalism.
If only they'd have listened:oh:!

(Hey, any closet Johnny Appleseed fans out there? You know who you are:wink2:!
You should stop by Fort Wayne Indiana if your ever close by, and visit his grave.
They have a Johnny A. Fesitval I've been to too...Yeah, I know, just a wee bit of that little green apple in the summer time jealous now ain'tcha?)
:laugh:

[Deavlynn]

Hi,

I agree, electronic transmission is definitely the way to go forward for the newspapers IMO.

They should be thinking of being available on the Kindle, Nintendo DS and any other devices that become available. Although how they fund their operation beats me.

I recommend bbc.co.uk/news for unbiased news from an organisation independent of advertising revenue.

Long days and pleasant nights

As for the funding part, I think it's really quite simple - they should go the way that online television is going - offer two models. Give one away for free and pack it full of ads. Also, offer a subscription model that is ad-free but has a reasonable cost associated with it.

If I want to watch a movie for free, I watch it on hulu, but I realize that I have a limited choice of movies and I have to put up with commercial breaks. If I want to be uninterrupted, I rent/buy it from itunes.

Newspapers need to realize that they have a large audience and they need multiple approaches. If I owned a paper, I would be hiring the best possible tech people and watching what they did in their every day lives. If twitter is the current thing, I would be getting them to work on putting our paper all over it. The key to it is keeping up with the newest, hottest stuff which is always a challenge with the net.

[tillyn]

Sign of the times, internet , who needs a paper? (i get our local one and enjoy reading it. Although it is available on the net.)

[Patricia A]

I for one am going to miss the Seattle Post Intelligencer who's last copy came out this week. Seattle is now a one newspaper town and that's sad. I don't care for the Seattle Times as it seems to cater to a more... how would one say... conservative readership.
The PI still has a website so all is not lost but it seems weird to not have my paper sitting in the driveway in the morning.
I'm going to miss Pearls Before Swine too, one of my favorite comic strips. I'm just a Dinosaur I suppose.

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr12/wcabbott/toetag3.jpg

[phidgt]

It is unfortunate that the newspaper industry appears to be on the verge of extinction. We just lost the Rocky Mountain News here in Colorado. However, they only have themselves to blame. Why isn't the Rocky Mountain News still available online? One reason would be that they lacked adaptability. A lot of these papers are old publications and so stuck in their ways that they never looked at the Internets as a viable way to run a paper. The Christian Science Monitor is a good example of a paper that realized where the future was going. They stopped publishing their print paper and have a wonderful site on the web.

I can't remember the last time I read an actual newspaper. Yet, I read the news from at least a dozen different outlets daily on my computer. I will miss newspapers in the winter, however. The make for good fire starting in my wood stove.