What will we do without newspapers?

re: What will we do without newspapers?

connie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:16:02 GMT

The newspapers, like the auto industry, isnt keeping up with the times....providing news...not headlines, will sell papers. Give the local community something they can only get in a newpaper and you will have a faithful following, we have overlooked the attraction of seeing our own news in the paper lately and its no wonder people dont buy.......Local sports coverage with photos of your neighbor's kids? Obits with information and a photo, or small autobiography about the person? Interesting facts about the local businesses or residents? Anything you wont find on the net but will want to know about in your town.....that will sell the paper!!!!!! Hello out there, are you listening?

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Sallie Dara — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:56:06 GMT

My entire life I've read the Atlanta Journal & Constitution (THE AJC) until the price went up a few months ago. The cost increase was only $.25 per day, but it was something that could be cut from my budget. I still get the Sunday paper, but I really miss reading the paper daily. I much prefer reading a real newspaper to reading my news on-line, but as long as my salary fails to keep up with the cost of living, the daily newspaper is a tiny luxury I can give up.

I also gave up reading the magazines I’ve loved for years. I still read books, but they come from the library, Goodwill or used bookstores. If the AJC gave me a year’s free subscription, I’d be the happiest woman alive.

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Dave — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:13:40 GMT

It's never about what people want – it's about cost effective and what can survive the long march to free.

I loved albums. I loved CDs. I loved dictionaries, encyclopedias and cookbooks – all slated to see their end within years.

It's about change – what works on what platform. If your model is news, get ready to find a way to pay for it. News is a money-loser. It costs a lot to get, prepare and present, and they need to cover those costs. The web makes everything free – and raises expectations that everything will be available online for free. Newspapers, television, books and magazines all devalued their content when it went online for free (or at least paid with an ad model).

The simple fact is there are too many newspapers, too many TV networks, too many websites and too much of just about everything. The strong will survive, but more efficient delivery will reduce the amount of players in the next five years.

The recession will only speed the process. Hang on to your hats.

David

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Kim — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:43:59 GMT

I would be miserable. I have been reading the paper since I was 12 years old and am now 48. Whenever it is late, my husband dreads having to walk back in the house to tell me the paper hasn't arrived yet. I can't start my day if I don't have my coffee and newspaper. I am out of sync the entire day! I love email, reading articles online, shopping, online banking, and every other convenience the internet brings. But, to lose my newspaper? Horrors!!!

re: What will we do without newspapers?

a former journalist — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:22:12 GMT

Newspapers shrink for lack of revenue, not manpower. As circulation declines, the papers are unable to charge their advertisers as much money for ad placement (why pay last year's rate for a quarter-page 4-color ad when 10,000 less subscribers will see it this year?).

The best way to help a paper stay afloat is to subscribe to it -- and, of course, advertise in it. Volunteer work to provide content is all well and good, but without the revenue, the publisher will still slash inch count (pages) and they won't have ROOM for your content, much less needing to worry about how to pay for it.

There have been many factors coming into play for reasons why revenue has gone. Yes, readership is down because this generation coming up is used to alternative sources for news, as well as the plain and simple fact that many of us just don't read news anymore. It's celebrity gossip/fashion mags if we do read at all! But I have seen some papers integrate their Web site very well with their print version (utilizing the print format for beautiful feature pieces, while using the Web to update/break news), and other papers struggle to keep their Web site relevant because they still stubbornly think their print is what they do. No, you may be called a newsPAPER, but you're still supposed to deliver up-to-date, RELEVANT news ... and to ignore your most powerful tool of doing so - the Web, the so-called paper-killer - is to accommodate your self-fulfilling prophecy.

But also, sites like Craigslist have severely cut into Classifieds revenue for papers, and the housing market downturn took away revenue from Realtors advertising in the paper for open houses, new listings for sale, or prospecting for new clients (as well as spin-off services like mortgage brokers and home improvement services). The economic downturn has auto dealers scrambling to make their bills, much less continue to take out full-page 4-color ads in the paper.

Very few businesses continue to advertise in their local newspaper. Few readers continue to subscribe to it. Newspapers, in turn, either fail to recognize or refuse to recognize that they must change with the times and use all of the tools in their arsenal to stay relevant. It's a cycle that feeds on itself. Poor circulation numbers + declining revenue from advertisers + not integrating alternative options is what's killing the newspapers.

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Shawna — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:16:32 GMT

I understand that not everyone has a computer, but don't most people have a tv or a radio? Can't you get your news that way??? Take your yearly subscription money and buy a clock radio. I admit, I'd be lost without newspaper to put under my kids' art projects, but I think this article is going a little too far to say that people will be completely without information.

www.2workingparents.wordpress.com

re: What will we do without newspapers?

writer — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:05:44 GMT

Newspapers bring a community together. As the economic times worsen and layoffs happen, newspapers shrink for lack of man power. Well how about the community helping with the load? We can give back to our newspapers by sending in photos of interest. News stories, human intrest. Talk to your editors and see what they need. They can't pay you, but mayber someday they can repay you for your voluntering spirit.

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Toby Radloff — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:21:32 GMT

What will I do without my daily Plain Dealer? Sleep on the rapid transit train until I get to work?

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Tom — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:58:18 GMT

I live in Detroit and I just go to www.detroitmichigannews.com to check my daily news. The next generation will not even have newspapers. Everything will probably be online. Its just more convenient and costs lower for publishers. This deep recession will force more newspaper businesses to close their doors.

re: What will we do without newspapers?

Miss Thrifty — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:57:13 GMT

Sadly, we Brits have already given the heave-ho to our newsprint fish and chip wrap! Health and Safety banned it some years ago, so now we chow from recycled paper and polystyrene platters. Not quite as atmospheric though, is it?