DRabbit
Registered
Just thought I'd share a recent M8 image... "Suffolk Life" was one of those little local papers that everyone knew about, that showed up free on your doorstep, or you could pick up for free down at the local deli. Like a lot of newspapers these day, it is no more.
35mmdelux
Veni, vidi, vici
Excellent photo. THKS for the FYI.
Al Kaplan
Veteran
Even the major dailies are cutting pages and laying off staff. The internet is finishing off what TV stated.
BillBingham2
Registered User
Yes, most excellent shot.
The internet is not the only thing. I think a lot of the MTV - Get It NOW - WANT IT NOW has helped too (cable, got fill 257 channels with something).
I'm hoping that people will try to start local internet news blogs/sites. Sell low cost advertising, drive customers to local shops with discount coupons. There needs to be a local focus to the adds and I bet it could live.
B2 (;->
The internet is not the only thing. I think a lot of the MTV - Get It NOW - WANT IT NOW has helped too (cable, got fill 257 channels with something).
I'm hoping that people will try to start local internet news blogs/sites. Sell low cost advertising, drive customers to local shops with discount coupons. There needs to be a local focus to the adds and I bet it could live.
B2 (;->
photogdave
Shops local
Cool shot. Exactly the kind of paper I started at in the 90s.
R.I.P. community journalism.
R.I.P. community journalism.
Al Kaplan
Veteran
I've thought about selling local ads on my blog. I give too damn many free plugs and the Google ads only produce pennies a day. There was a recent article (New York Times? Wall Street Journal?) about blogs taking on many of the attributes of a local news source. I know that a lot of my regular readers are there for local political coverage. During the last mayoral race my coverage was getting more hits than the Miami Herald website. It turned up on the top of the list if you googled something like "North Miami election" or "North Miami mayor's race". http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com
swoop
Well-known
I work at one of those free weeklies. Even though I'd rather my checks came from elsewhere. It's still sad to see any paper go. Hopefully things will get better in time.
BillBingham2
Registered User
Google is after funding their own bottom line and looking for stuff that is way bigger in scale. The problem is that you need to come up with an approach to that not only drives the business but does so in a trackable, almost irrefutable way. Maybe that by having coupons that are submitted and scanned in a clearing house (virtual clearing house mind you).
Pennies a day is not the answer for any small business, though it might not be $100's of dollars a day either. It needs to start small and slow. The key is tracking back real customer traffic and generating an increase in purchasing. You want to be able to tell if these are existing customers of an establishment or new (within the starting of the advertising program).
Perhaps it's a portal that blends blogs and images and stuff for a local market.
B2 (;->
Pennies a day is not the answer for any small business, though it might not be $100's of dollars a day either. It needs to start small and slow. The key is tracking back real customer traffic and generating an increase in purchasing. You want to be able to tell if these are existing customers of an establishment or new (within the starting of the advertising program).
Perhaps it's a portal that blends blogs and images and stuff for a local market.
B2 (;->
N
Nikon Bob
Guest
I like the photo very much. The ripple effect of all the newspaper closures and down sizing has also been a death knell to the North American pulp and paper industry. Very sad state of affairs for everyone involved.
Bob
Bob
squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
Indeed, great shot! My own local paper is presently destroying itself with Gannett-provided content and the firing of anyone with seniority, and the best newspaper in town is now my friend's online reportage site, half of which is simply made up:
http://www.tinytowntimes.com
http://www.tinytowntimes.com
newspaperguy
Well-known
So sad.
I've been watching this from the inside since 1964.
Many of us spoke out, but beancounters don't listen.
I've been watching this from the inside since 1964.
Many of us spoke out, but beancounters don't listen.
wgerrard
Veteran
Pity. My local daily is shrinking, literally. Fewer and narrower pages. A new round of buyouts every few months.
The key factor in all this is the migration of advertisers from newspapers to the net, TV, etc. Only a minority of people ever really read a newspaper in any depth. Most folks skim the front page, then jump to the features they like: sports, comics, etc. When your local daily runs a long wire service story on page 6 about the latest Mideast flap, for example, how many people actually read it? I've known a lot of people who tell me they only read the first paragraph of any story. Sort of a homebrew version of radio news at the top of the hour.
This is all by way of arguing that newspaper woes aren't caused by a sudden loss of interest in news. Most people don't have that much interest. Hence, the popularity of talk radio and cable TV, which raid the news for source material, much like Jay Leno's writers.
The key factor in all this is the migration of advertisers from newspapers to the net, TV, etc. Only a minority of people ever really read a newspaper in any depth. Most folks skim the front page, then jump to the features they like: sports, comics, etc. When your local daily runs a long wire service story on page 6 about the latest Mideast flap, for example, how many people actually read it? I've known a lot of people who tell me they only read the first paragraph of any story. Sort of a homebrew version of radio news at the top of the hour.
This is all by way of arguing that newspaper woes aren't caused by a sudden loss of interest in news. Most people don't have that much interest. Hence, the popularity of talk radio and cable TV, which raid the news for source material, much like Jay Leno's writers.
DRabbit
Registered
Thanks everyone!
It's in Riverhead, NY
Wg... don't get me started and the loss of interest in news and the news media. I'm all for freedom of the press, but the press, these days, does more opinion than fact and it's become very difficult to find a good neutral source of factual news. The 24-hour TV news stations do a POOR job. Blogs are opinions. Official news websites are so full of advertising it can be annoying (and a lot of them are no more than their TV counterparts). It also seems that the newspapers that have survived themselves have their own slant. I'd like someone in print or on TV to just report that facts.
Like I said, don't get me started....
It's in Riverhead, NY
Wg... don't get me started and the loss of interest in news and the news media. I'm all for freedom of the press, but the press, these days, does more opinion than fact and it's become very difficult to find a good neutral source of factual news. The 24-hour TV news stations do a POOR job. Blogs are opinions. Official news websites are so full of advertising it can be annoying (and a lot of them are no more than their TV counterparts). It also seems that the newspapers that have survived themselves have their own slant. I'd like someone in print or on TV to just report that facts.
Like I said, don't get me started....
Al Kaplan
Veteran
Every city with more than one paper has always had two or more "slants", and that's as true with TV news. They cater to a demographic.
BillBingham2
Registered User
I wonder if Current would be a place to develop local sites and stories of interest.
There was an online service years back before browsers, began with a P. People spent most of their time down loading adds rather than content.
B2 (;->
There was an online service years back before browsers, began with a P. People spent most of their time down loading adds rather than content.
B2 (;->
danwilly
Established
Ironically, newspaper readership is at an all-time high. It is just no longer necessary to buy the physical paper to get the news. Newspapers are the source for all the other news outlets, it is just that their business model is now obsolete. For example, Craig's List and other add outlets have picked off the most lucrative part of the business. I am speaking as a 26-year employee in the business.
wgerrard
Veteran
I spent the major part of a career as a media analyst, whatever that might be. The number of people who are willing to spend money to receive a steady diet of in-depth hard news has always been insufficient to fund a newspaper, and very likely any other source. That's why newspapers have always been chocked full of material that is not hard news: Sports, lifestyle, stocks and business, comics, TV schedules, movie reviews, recipes, etc. Look at any daily or weekly serving a smaller town or a neighborhood in a large urban area. You'll probably see a lot of coverage of local clubs, churches, schools, etc., and minimal coverage of local politics. More people will buy that newspaper to read about high school sports and look at bad photos of high school kids than care about what the town council did last night.
The content of newspapers, and the rest of media, is, indeed, controlled by the people that own it. Running a newspaper is not a charitable activity. Publishers want profit. That means attracting eyes to look at ads. Frankly, it is a small miracle that so many decent newspaper publishers still think they can make money and deliver real news at the same time.
In the U.S., (we aren't alone) we have a long history of journalism that is less than careful with the facts. Consider Hearst, for example. For that matter, Jefferson and Hamilton funded newspapers to attack each other when both were in Washington's first cabinet.
The latest manifestation of this is, of course, talk radio and cable TV. It's electronic tabloidism, not news.
The content of newspapers, and the rest of media, is, indeed, controlled by the people that own it. Running a newspaper is not a charitable activity. Publishers want profit. That means attracting eyes to look at ads. Frankly, it is a small miracle that so many decent newspaper publishers still think they can make money and deliver real news at the same time.
In the U.S., (we aren't alone) we have a long history of journalism that is less than careful with the facts. Consider Hearst, for example. For that matter, Jefferson and Hamilton funded newspapers to attack each other when both were in Washington's first cabinet.
The latest manifestation of this is, of course, talk radio and cable TV. It's electronic tabloidism, not news.
tbarker13
shooter of stuff
There is a huge appetite out there for news. But the scary thing is, very few businesses are finding it all that profitable to provide it. (Of course, many newspapers still make money, but generally only thanks to massive cost cutting).
Television stations are having the same problems. They're cutting veteran staffers and replacing them with younger "backpack" journalists responsible for shooting, editing, reporting, etc. They're replacing legitimate news shows with what amounts to infomercials. (morning shows sponsored by a local restaurant, etc.)
In some markets, they're even sharing content/reporting. You may think you have 4 local stations, but two or three of them may actually be providing the same stuff, just repackaged.
Television stations are having the same problems. They're cutting veteran staffers and replacing them with younger "backpack" journalists responsible for shooting, editing, reporting, etc. They're replacing legitimate news shows with what amounts to infomercials. (morning shows sponsored by a local restaurant, etc.)
In some markets, they're even sharing content/reporting. You may think you have 4 local stations, but two or three of them may actually be providing the same stuff, just repackaged.
wgerrard
Veteran
There's a huge appetite out there for something a lot of people call news, whether it is or not. But, I'll need to be convinced that there has ever been a large appetite for in-depth hard news. Otherwise, every newspaper would look like the front section of the New York Times, and the networks could sell ads to sustain two-hour newscasts and would remove their news divisions from the control of the entertainment divisions.
Damaso
Photojournalist
Very nice image...