Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 08:05 AM GMT+5 Contributed by: Rolf
My father was the editor and now a writer for newspapers in New England, and I have a love for them that causes me sadness as I watch their demise occur in my lifetime.
This story available at the link below, was so bizarre that I thought it read more like an article in The Onion.
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Newspapers Are Desperate And Dying
Authored by: cgrotke on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 08:26 AM GMT+5
My mom was a reporter then editor, too.
The Post's newsroom fired back this morning saying no way, no how,
would they ever participate in something like this, and in a snarky
way seemed to want to remind Weymouth that this makes her look
like she's being bought by hosting sponsored salons in her home.
They also pointed out that she could be reached for comment as she
was on vacation. Ouch.
Authored by: Rolf on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 08:50 AM GMT+5
Things like this make me truly sad, even a little depressed.
It's so obviously morally bankrupt to offer access to newsmakers and newswriters for a hefty fee that
it makes me see black, as in despair, not red as in anger.
It reminds again about that Martin Luther King quote on moral relativism, and the coming of the "moral midnight".
It's also seems obvious that newspapers do not have a viable game plan for survival. Maybe this is wrong.
As much as I love the reporting that Lise, Chris and others do on ibrattleboro.com, I think having a staff of people who are writing and editing about town and state news EVERYDAY, just cannot be fully replaced.
ibrattleboro is a wonderful resource, but loosing the Reformer will be a loss, when it happens. I know its weaknesses, but I fear local news will not be covered in the same frequency and depth when it closes.
Loosing local newspaper will be like loosing the local rail lines, and the trolley in town.
I am personally responsible, in a way, for my paper's demise. When I advertise with craigslist, I am not supporting this local resource. I feel somewhat guilty. Nor have I ever contributed to ibrattleboro.com other than rants and posts.
Authored by: tiny on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 09:20 AM GMT+5
Interesting post.
Newspapers, like "local merchants/downtown stores" are undergoing similar change. I read recently that Walmart stands to be replaced by Amazon or some other bigtime internet store in the future. Going to Craigslist? Do not be guilty. I recently sold a Fender Tweed Amp to someone in Mississippi and there was no fees involved and none of the hassle of dealing with Ebay, PayPal, a music store,etc. It was a direct transaction and from first post to deal consummation, a 3 week deal. Truly a huge time and money saver. I also bought some chickens, from a local person, using the same forum. Both deals done very quickly and in a timely fashion.
As for the Reformer, it is not as horrible as some accuse of being and i think its very survival will depend on it being more local orientated. The fact is the many who complain about it don't even buy it. Or advertise in its clasiffied ads. The Commons to me, is still an "alternative paper."
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 09:34 AM GMT+5
I think it's survival would be aided if it offered its
readers more balanced reporting and presentation of
the facts. I cancelled my subscription because of the
constant bashing of what I believe in.
Authored by: pjmelton on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 09:35 AM GMT+5
Many who complain about it don't buy it ANYMORE, you mean.
I think you are right that a local focus is what they need, rather than trying to cut costs with more AP stories. I find their local coverage, especially in the arts and features area and the columns, to be quite good. It's the preponderance of AP cookie-cutter articles that bothers me. Good local coverage is intensive and an investment, but I think they would find it was worth it if they actually tried. The hometown staff, sadly, are completely at the whim of someone who doesn't even live here.
The Commons is an "alternative," though a good one, because it is still mostly monthly. But they are doing more frequent stories on their website now, and are considering printing weekly.
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"Economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings." -- FDR
Authored by: pjmelton on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 09:42 AM GMT+5
"Nor have I ever contributed to ibrattleboro.com"
If you click "Feed the Kitty," you can set up a monthly PayPal subscription. Makes it very simple to contribute a small amount each month to keep the servers (and moderators) humming. You can also do a one-time donation.
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"Economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings." -- FDR
Authored by: cgrotke on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 12:06 PM GMT+5
Lise and I are accepting sponsorships of $25,000 to $250,000 for
anyone who wants to come over for dinner at our place to discuss the
Washington Post series, now cancelled, that would allow advocacy
groups access to reporters and administration officials.
Feed the Kitty has been over in the right column beneath the
upcoming two weeks of events and the poll for years and years. We
don't want blinky animated things on the site to distract from your
stories, so the sleepy kitty works fine for us.
Even better is to encourage businesses you patronize to advertise
here. The rates are good for tough times, ads link to your web page
for further info, and we have excellent visitorship/pageviews for
anyone wanting to reach people in this area online.
And best of all - write good news stories for your neighbors about
things you know, notice, question, attend, heard about, etc.
Authored by: pjmelton on Thursday, July 02 2009 @ 12:37 PM GMT+5
Ezra Klein, who was recently hired by WaPo as a policy blogger, was pretty horrified by the flier. He thinks the media should be publicly funded, like the BBC. At the end of his piece on this subject, he says, "There are only bad models. And the pressures of the advertising model are getting rapidly worse: News-gathering institutions are closing, sensationalizing, selling off their news-gathering capabilities or losing their souls. At what point do the drawbacks of a partially public model become less than the drawbacks of a fully private model?"
The Post's newsroom fired back this morning saying no way, no how,
would they ever participate in something like this, and in a snarky
way seemed to want to remind Weymouth that this makes her look
like she's being bought by hosting sponsored salons in her home.
They also pointed out that she could be reached for comment as she
was on vacation. Ouch.
I sense this drama isn't quite over.