Leonard Pitts Jr.'s dire assessment of the future of newspapers.....

[marmar]

from the Miami Herald:



Newspapers still needed, but going fast
By LEONARD PITTS JR.
[email protected]


Maybe I should revise my estimate. Lately, many people have asked me about the fate of the American newspaper in an era when circulation, advertising and staff size are all sharply down. I've told them what editors have told me: The next 18 to 24 months may well see the first major U.S. city without a daily paper.

It's a time frame that makes people swallow hard. ''That soon?'' they say. And I say yes. The end could begin in less than two years.

Now I'm wondering if it's going to take that long.

Recent weeks have brought the usual bad news for the news business: layoffs at The Dallas Morning News, The Miami Herald and The Los Angeles Times, The Star-Ledger in Newark losing 40 percent of its newsroom.

But here's the headline that made me do a double take: Last month, The Christian Science Monitor announced it would become the first major paper to abandon print altogether. Beginning in April, the paper will be available only online, though it will produce a weekend print magazine. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/761681.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. 8 years of Brown Nosing the republicons sure ain't helped the 'news' business

So many 'news' outlets have lost all cred becuase of their brown nosing of the republicons and their corrupt cronies.

I certainly don't trust the so-called 'news' anymore. And I know I am not alone.

[nichomachus]

2. He leans awfully heavily on the Christian Science Monitor

That isn't a bellwether for anything. The newspaper business is in deep shit, but the CSM has always been a money loser. The church has had to subsidize it since god knows when -- 30 -40 years.

It was a respectable paper, but too in-depth and analytical for mainstream consumption. Also, I don't know the figures on Christian Science membership, but I can't imagine it's growing. They don't really proselytize. When I lived near the mother church, the membership was really pretty old. Sunday mornings looked like the nursing home had let out.

It's too bad, it was a decent paper, but I don't think it represents the industry at all.

However, things aren't good and I think that media concentration has hurt newspapers as they've shifted from serving the community to sucking as much money as they could out of the community to feed the corporate beast.

[MrsBrady]

3. the paper is supposed to support the church, but it's been the other way around

for quite a while.

They let go of the print to try to save money. They have been bleeding money for years.

They can't let the paper go, they are bound by church rules to keep it going. So the online version is a way to follow the rules.

[nichomachus]

4. Bound by church rules? I did not know that.

Too bad they're not Mormons. Whenever they need to do something different for financial or political reasons, God just comes through a convenient "revelation" and it's a new ball game.