Print
I.
We take newspapers for granted. They have been so integral a part of daily life in America, so central to politics and culture and business, and so powerful and profitable in their own right, that it is easy to forget what a remarkable historical invention they are. Public goods are notoriously under-produced in the marketplace, and news is a public good--and yet, since the mid-nineteenth century, newspapers have produced news in abundance at a cheap price to readers and without need of direct subsidy. More than any other medium, newspapers have been our eyes on the state, our check on private abuses, our civic alarm systems. It is true that they have often failed to perform those functions as well as they should have done. But whether they can continue to perform them at all is now in doubt.
Even before the recession hit, the newspaper industry was facing a mortal threat from the rise of the Internet, falling circulation and advertising revenue, and a long-term decline in readership, as the habit of buying a daily paper dwindled from one generation to the next. The recession has intensified these difficulties, plunging newspapers into a tailspin from which some may not recover and others will emerge only as a shadow of their former selves. The devastation is already substantial. At the Los Angeles Times, the cumulative effect of cutbacks has been to reduce its newsroom by one-half--and that was before its parent company, Tribune, declared bankruptcy. Another company weighed down by debt, the McClatchy chain, which includes The Sacramento Bee, The Miami Herald, and twenty-eight other dailies, has laid off one-quarter of its workforce in the past year; according to one executive, the editorial downsizing is under 20 percent but is now cutting "close to the bone." And highly leveraged media companies are not the only ones that are retrenching. At the largest daily in New Jersey, The Star-Ledger, 45 percent of the editorial staff took buyouts in October when the owner, Advance Publications, threatened to sell the paper if its targets for cuts were not met.
Newspapers are also shrinking in numbers of pages, breadth of news coverage, features of various kinds, and home delivery of print editions. All over America, as newspaper revenues plummet--by the end of 2008, ad sales were down about 25 percent from three years earlier--publishers cannot seem to shed editors, reporters, and sections of their papers fast enough. And there is more pain to come. According to a December forecast by Barclays Capital, advertising revenue will drop another 17 percent in 2009 and 7.5 percent more the year after. Even The New York Times, which has seen its cash reserves fall and its debt downgraded, is unlikely to escape the massive contraction now accelerating throughout the industry.
Should we care? Some observers, confident of the blessings of technology, refuse to shed any tears for the traditional giants of journalism, on the grounds that their troubles are of their own making and of little consequence to the general welfare. In this view, regardless of whether newspapers successfully adapt to the Internet, new and better sources of news will continue developing online, and they will fill whatever void newspapers leave. Others are so angry at the mainstream media--the reviled "MSM"--that they see the economic misery of the press as a deserved comeuppance. Let the bastards suffer.
These reactions fail to take into account the immediate realities and the full ramifications of the crisis threatening newspaper journalism. This is no time for Internet triumphalism: the stakes are too high. Nearly all other news media, except for online news, are also retrenching, and--particularly at the metropolitan, regional, and state levels--the online growth is not close to offsetting the decline elsewhere. Despite all the development of other media, the fact is that newspapers in recent years have continued to field the majority of reporters and to produce most of the original news stories in cities across the country. Drawing on studies conducted by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director, says that as of 2006 a typical metropolitan paper ran seventy stories a day, counting the national, local, and business sections (adding in the sports and style sections would bring the total closer to a hundred), whereas a half-hour of television news included only ten to twelve. And while local TV news typically emphasizes crime, fires, and traffic tie-ups, newspapers provide most of the original coverage of public affairs. Studies of newspaper and broadcast journalism have repeatedly shown that broadcast news follows the agenda set by newspapers, often repeating the same items, albeit with less depth.
Online there is certainly a great profusion of opinion, but there is little reporting, and still less of it subject to any rigorous fact-checking or editorial scrutiny. Other than news aggregators such as Google News--which link to articles from publications that still derive most of their revenue from print--the most successful news sites are oriented to specialized audiences. No online enterprise has yet generated a stream of revenue to support original reporting for the general public comparable to the revenue stream that newspapers have generated in print.
Whether the Internet will ever support general-interest journalism at a level comparable to newspapers, it would be foolish to predict. The reality is that resources for journalism are now disappearing from the old media faster than new media can develop them. The financial crisis of the press may thereby compound the media's crisis of legitimacy. Already under ferocious attack from both left and right for a multitude of sins, real and imagined, the press is going to find its job even more difficult to do under economic duress. And as it retrenches in the face of financial pressures, Rosenstiel says, "More of American life will occur in shadows. We won't know what we won't know."
One danger of reduced news coverage is to the integrity of government. It is not just a speculative proposition that corruption is more likely to flourish when those in power have less reason to fear exposure. The World Bank produces an annual index of political corruption around the world, based on surveys of people who do business in each country. In a study published in 2003 in The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Alicia Adsera, Carles Boix, and Mark Payne examine the relationship between corruption and "free circulation of daily newspapers per person" (a measure of both news circulation and freedom of the press). Controlling for economic development, type of legal system, and other factors, they find a very strong association: the lower the free circulation of newspapers in a country, the higher it stands on the corruption index. Using different measures, they also find a similar relationship across states within the United States: the lower the news circulation, the greater the corruption. Another analysis published in 2006, a historical account by the economists Matthew Gentzkow, Edward L. Glaeser, and Claudia Goldin, suggests that the growth of a more information-oriented press may have been a factor in reducing government corruption in the United States between the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era.
Such studies cannot prove a causal connection, or predict the effects of diminished news coverage in the future--but there are other grounds for concern. Newspapers are cutting bureaus and staff that enable the public to monitor government as well as business, and some papers are laying off veteran reporters who have exposed major scandals. When they were financially strong, newspapers were better able not only to invest in long-term investigative projects but also to stand up against pressure from politicians and industries to suppress unfavorable stories. As imperfect as they have been, newspapers have been the leading institutions sustaining the values of professional journalism. A financially compromised press is more likely to be ethically compromised.
And while the new digital environment is more open to "citizen journalism" and the free expression of opinions, it is also more open to bias, and to journalism for hire. Online there are few clear markers to distinguish blogs and other sites that are being financed to promote a viewpoint from news sites operated independently on the basis of professional rules of reporting. So the danger is not just more corruption of government and business--it is also more corruption of journalism itself.
II.
These developments raise practical questions for anyone concerned about the future of American democracy. If the traditional ways of sustaining professional journalism are insufficient, what models are there to support the genuinely vital public functions that the press has traditionally performed? How do these alternatives fit into the new digital environment? To answer those practical questions, it is necessary first to ponder a more theoretical one. Along with other new technology, the Internet was supposed to bring us a cornucopia of information, and in many respects it has done so. But if one of its effects is to shrink the production of professionally reported news, perhaps we need to understand the emerging framework of post-industrial society and politics somewhat differently.
For the past three hundred years, newspapers have been able to develop and flourish partly because their readers have almost never paid the full cost of production. From the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century, many newspapers were politically subsidized, directly by governments or through political parties. Then, as consumer markets expanded, newspapers increasingly sold not just news to readers, but also readers to advertisers. And the more advertisers they gained, the less dependent they were on any single one.
The key to the rise of independent and powerful newspapers in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was their role as market intermediaries--that is, in connecting large numbers of sellers (advertisers) and buyers in a local area. That role required changes in content, language, and design, so as to appeal to a wider public that included women, working-class, and immigrant readers. Instead of narrowly focusing on politics and business, newspapers now had an interest in presenting a wider range of stories. The result was a succession of editorial innovations in the coverage of sports, crime, entertainment, and community life, and the addition of such features as interviews, comics, and gossip columns. The coverage of politics and business changed, too, as newspapers increasingly presented more color, context, and analysis instead of reprinting long speeches by politicians or merely chronicling events--a shift that intensified once radio and later television took over much of the business of breaking news.
The situation is not just a concern to liberals. We non-religious, fiscal conservatives also have a vested interest in newspapers. The article is timely, since I find my self reading the Washington Post and the NY Times on line, even though I receive the Post in print. The article has made me reconsider dropping my rather expensive home subscription to the Post. I read them online BECAUSE they are copies of the print edition in a form that makes for quick reading when I arrive at the office. I do not find the networks, CNN, MSMBC, BBC, etc. to be comparable even for international or national news. The possible exception is the Nightly News on PBS, but it can hardly be comprehensive. I ... view full comment
The situation is not just a concern to liberals. We non-religious, fiscal conservatives also have a vested interest in newspapers. The article is timely, since I find my self reading the Washington Post and the NY Times on line, even though I receive the Post in print. The article has made me reconsider dropping my rather expensive home subscription to the Post. I read them online BECAUSE they are copies of the print edition in a form that makes for quick reading when I arrive at the office. I do not find the networks, CNN, MSMBC, BBC, etc. to be comparable even for international or national news. The possible exception is the Nightly News on PBS, but it can hardly be comprehensive. I may rarely agree with the Post's or the Times' editorial positions, but I do not question their diligence on facts (even if some bias may show in the selection of which facts are used). As they say in print - full disclosure requires me reveal my age bracket as over 65 - a demographic that sees following the news as a requirement of citizenship and critical to self-preservation in a complex society.
Paul Starr's valuable piece, a sad bookend to his excellent "The Creation of the Media", is marred by an unfortunate error. Rather than cutting its Washington Bureau in half, as Prof. Starr writes, the McClatchy Co. is fighting to preserve its brand of foreign, national and regional reporting in the face of the worsening problems he describes. The bureau's reporting and editing staff is down about 17 percent, and while that's more than anyone would like, it's not 50 percent, and it's certainly not extinction.
John Walcott
Washington Bureau Chief
The McClatchy Co.
Paul Starr's valuable piece, a sad bookend to his excellent "The Creation of the Media", is marred by an unfortunate error. Rather than cutting its Washington Bureau in half, as Prof. Starr writes, the McClatchy Co. is fighting to preserve its brand of foreign, national and regional reporting in the face of the worsening problems he describes. The bureau's reporting and editing staff is down about 17 percent, and while that's more than anyone would like, it's not 50 percent, and it's certainly not extinction.
John Walcott
Washington Bureau Chief
The McClatchy Co.
I know a little about being on the inside of The Fourth Estate, as I have been a contract freelancer for disability resource web sites which have long since vanished, and strung up a few decent bylines after that, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, which Starr references, but I am not sure I know what to say. Anyone of us who know something about how the game is played knows the media is a liar, even as it is also the narrative exposure for those of us who care about getting a low down on the inside skinny. I cannot imagine the drive which makes for great investigative journalism will disappear, even if a good chunk of the web is turning into a spamalot for the new corporate powerhouses. T ... view full comment
I know a little about being on the inside of The Fourth Estate, as I have been a contract freelancer for disability resource web sites which have long since vanished, and strung up a few decent bylines after that, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, which Starr references, but I am not sure I know what to say. Anyone of us who know something about how the game is played knows the media is a liar, even as it is also the narrative exposure for those of us who care about getting a low down on the inside skinny. I cannot imagine the drive which makes for great investigative journalism will disappear, even if a good chunk of the web is turning into a spamalot for the new corporate powerhouses. That said, Starr has written a decent requiem for a beast even minor practitioners like myself can't help but love.
It is frustrating to read this article written by an obviously erudite man whose sincerity ought not be questioned -- and yet filled with naive idealization, circle-the-wagons professionalism and paeans to monopoly power and clubby authoritarianism. Too much time and too many rhetorical flourishes do no more, really, than cry out for a past painted more with flattery than facts. Too little time and, from this very smart man, too little insight and effort are spent looking at how we actually live life today and tomorrow and then identifying as well as proposing myriad ways (including but well beyond nonprofit efforts) to carry into that best future a best part of our shared past. In the en ... view full comment
It is frustrating to read this article written by an obviously erudite man whose sincerity ought not be questioned -- and yet filled with naive idealization, circle-the-wagons professionalism and paeans to monopoly power and clubby authoritarianism. Too much time and too many rhetorical flourishes do no more, really, than cry out for a past painted more with flattery than facts. Too little time and, from this very smart man, too little insight and effort are spent looking at how we actually live life today and tomorrow and then identifying as well as proposing myriad ways (including but well beyond nonprofit efforts) to carry into that best future a best part of our shared past. In the end, Mr. Starr's piece seems, unfortunately, yet one more tired attempt to 'seize the narrative' -- to end the conversation instead of actually beginning something worthwhile. Disappointing.
Newspapers are in trouble. News is not. And, though the arguments are well articulated in this article, neither is democracy at this point. First off, news people are not necessarily paper people. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLINE!!! If that isn't saying something about the state of news I don't know what is. I am a journalist and I am from a generation that reads virtually all its news online. The trend is unattainably fierce: when I sit down to read the morning news I go to at least five different websites -- my local daily, the Globe and Mail (I'm from Canada), The New York Times, BBC, and Slate or Salon. Sometimes I read blogs; sometimes I w ... view full comment
Newspapers are in trouble. News is not. And, though the arguments are well articulated in this article, neither is democracy at this point. First off, news people are not necessarily paper people. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLINE!!! If that isn't saying something about the state of news I don't know what is. I am a journalist and I am from a generation that reads virtually all its news online. The trend is unattainably fierce: when I sit down to read the morning news I go to at least five different websites -- my local daily, the Globe and Mail (I'm from Canada), The New York Times, BBC, and Slate or Salon. Sometimes I read blogs; sometimes I watch YouTube videos. But the real point is I get my news from a variety of different sources and that is good thing. In some ways it is shame that newspapers are no longer overstaffed with journalists who are essentially covering the same thing as their competitors, but in other ways this is blessing. Do I really need 20 different reporters telling me 20 different versions of the same press conference with the same quotes? No. What I need -- what I have come to expect out of the new I read -- is journalism that is original, quality content that varies in opinion and analysis, and offers a wide variety of insightful, factual information. In order to survive in any form, newspapers will have to become more than just headlines, and by doing so will not online enrich our democracy but also our understanding of ourselves.
THIS ARTICLE, I HOPE, IS NOT ENTIRELY RIGHT. IT MAKES ME WANT TO CRY FOR ALL OF US WHO NEED TO READ AND WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD AROUND US AND ESPECIALLY OUR OWN NATION IN THIS "MID-LIFE" CRISIS. WE WILL RECOVER-THIS IS NOT THE 30'S; IT'S MORE AKIN TO THE 70'S AND 80'S. AMERICANS ARE INVENTIVE AND STRONG AND WE ARE STILL UNITED IN STRANGE WAYS, ESPECIALLY DURING HARD TIMES. SO WE ALL WILL MAKE CHANGES, PROBABLY FOR THE BETTER. I SO ENJOY
RESEARCHING AND READING THE PAPERS, JOURNALS, ETC. ON LINE THAT I AM NOW "HOOKED" AND I DON'T EVEN BUY A PAPER ANYMORE. I KNOW WE AMERICANS DESPERATELY NEED THE PRESS AND NEWSPAPERS TO REMAIN A MAINSTAY IN OUR LIVES. THE COMPANIES MUST ... view full comment
THIS ARTICLE, I HOPE, IS NOT ENTIRELY RIGHT. IT MAKES ME WANT TO CRY FOR ALL OF US WHO NEED TO READ AND WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD AROUND US AND ESPECIALLY OUR OWN NATION IN THIS "MID-LIFE" CRISIS. WE WILL RECOVER-THIS IS NOT THE 30'S; IT'S MORE AKIN TO THE 70'S AND 80'S. AMERICANS ARE INVENTIVE AND STRONG AND WE ARE STILL UNITED IN STRANGE WAYS, ESPECIALLY DURING HARD TIMES. SO WE ALL WILL MAKE CHANGES, PROBABLY FOR THE BETTER. I SO ENJOY
RESEARCHING AND READING THE PAPERS, JOURNALS, ETC. ON LINE THAT I AM NOW "HOOKED" AND I DON'T EVEN BUY A PAPER ANYMORE. I KNOW WE AMERICANS DESPERATELY NEED THE PRESS AND NEWSPAPERS TO REMAIN A MAINSTAY IN OUR LIVES. THE COMPANIES MUST FIND A WAY TO SURVIVE AND I
AM A FIRM BELEIVER THAT THEY WILL. GIVING UP NEWSPAPERS IS AKIN TO GOING WITHOUT THE ARTS-CIVILIZATION NEEDS THEM TO "SURVIVE". THERE HAS TO BE A WAY AND I KNOW THAT THAT WAY WILL BE FOUND. THANKS FOR THE ARTICLE-B.DAVIS
Reading the newspaper online is for young people.
We older people still love to sit back and enjoy reading our newspapers with a cup of coffee.
I hate this computer and the internet. Paying for the up-keep on this thing will buy many news papers.
computer want last long, hang-in-there.
Reading the newspaper online is for young people.
We older people still love to sit back and enjoy reading our newspapers with a cup of coffee.
I hate this computer and the internet. Paying for the up-keep on this thing will buy many news papers.
computer want last long, hang-in-there.
I consider myself an avid newsreader yet forced to digest what appears to be ideology with a shrunken brain philosophy. There appears to be nothing uniquely relevant to regurgitating a controlled AP's internet news feed. Some news sheets even expanding stories to remarkably good editorials following a political line, but that would be proper. What was missing for me was balance and veracity. No hard hitting investigative work worthy of merit. Just plain old polarized political agenda's. I listen to BBC world news for a different perspective, and just ignore the mainstream histrionics. I have also thrown out the idiot box as a further protest. There was once upon a time an unimpeachabl ... view full comment
I consider myself an avid newsreader yet forced to digest what appears to be ideology with a shrunken brain philosophy. There appears to be nothing uniquely relevant to regurgitating a controlled AP's internet news feed. Some news sheets even expanding stories to remarkably good editorials following a political line, but that would be proper. What was missing for me was balance and veracity. No hard hitting investigative work worthy of merit. Just plain old polarized political agenda's. I listen to BBC world news for a different perspective, and just ignore the mainstream histrionics. I have also thrown out the idiot box as a further protest. There was once upon a time an unimpeachable job, and that was a news reporter. These people made their papers what they were. Today all that is required is that you are publicly and aesthetically pleasing, and conform to government speake.
Cheaper, bigger e-ink displays would save newspapers.
Cheaper, bigger e-ink displays would save newspapers.
Given the totally biased coverage the main stream media (to include newpapers) of the Obama campaign and Presidency, any pretense of objective journalism has put the nail in the coffin of all American newspapers. Just like buggy whips, we no longer need them. The left will read the Dailykos and the right will read The American Thinker on line.
Given the totally biased coverage the main stream media (to include newpapers) of the Obama campaign and Presidency, any pretense of objective journalism has put the nail in the coffin of all American newspapers. Just like buggy whips, we no longer need them. The left will read the Dailykos and the right will read The American Thinker on line.
But the point is it not is that what you read online, newspapers, will not be there to read online, if they don't succeed in making themselves economically viable?
But the point is it not is that what you read online, newspapers, will not be there to read online, if they don't succeed in making themselves economically viable?
When newspapers lost their objectivity and started to follow the route taken by the supermarket papers, they became creaters rather than observers.
I, for one, felt that the actions by newspapers in the last election cycle in using their print to espouse ideologies turned me off. I no longer see them as a truthful purveyor of news.
When newspapers lost their objectivity and started to follow the route taken by the supermarket papers, they became creaters rather than observers.
I, for one, felt that the actions by newspapers in the last election cycle in using their print to espouse ideologies turned me off. I no longer see them as a truthful purveyor of news.
Like there is any significant fact checking going on at the papers. In the rush to get print on paper, "If it bleeds, it leads"; and who cares about the other stories?
We grow weary of the tireless agenda of the mainstream media, whether ink or electron based. That is why I am a new devote to blogs...I can track who does and does not check their facts and who I estimate will offer objective reporting. Good riddance to the papers.
Like there is any significant fact checking going on at the papers. In the rush to get print on paper, "If it bleeds, it leads"; and who cares about the other stories?
We grow weary of the tireless agenda of the mainstream media, whether ink or electron based. That is why I am a new devote to blogs...I can track who does and does not check their facts and who I estimate will offer objective reporting. Good riddance to the papers.
The newspapers were biased, not objective and just became a pulpit for liberals. They are as responsible as anyone for the mess we're in. Good riddence
The newspapers were biased, not objective and just became a pulpit for liberals. They are as responsible as anyone for the mess we're in. Good riddence
I see part of the problem is the newspapers being tied to the wire services, which engage in propaganda and editorial bias. I don't want to read the opinions of AP, UPI, etc. reporters. I don't want to read the ever present alarmism of the global warming hoax, Islam apologists, anti-American celebrities and the list goes on.
I also try to steer clear of these things on the internet.
We will eventually have small, local newspapers becoming dominant. The same applies to TV stations, the local news is all that I watch.
I have a list of national and international news sources that are outright propgandists, in the style of the old Soviet Pravda. I do all that I can to ignore them ... view full comment
I see part of the problem is the newspapers being tied to the wire services, which engage in propaganda and editorial bias. I don't want to read the opinions of AP, UPI, etc. reporters. I don't want to read the ever present alarmism of the global warming hoax, Islam apologists, anti-American celebrities and the list goes on.
I also try to steer clear of these things on the internet.
We will eventually have small, local newspapers becoming dominant. The same applies to TV stations, the local news is all that I watch.
I have a list of national and international news sources that are outright propgandists, in the style of the old Soviet Pravda. I do all that I can to ignore them and not patronize their advertisers!
If newspapers printed news, instead of disguised, agenda driven, content they would sell papers.
When leaders in the industry realize liberals don't buy papers the problem will be solved. The WSJ, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and the DrudgeReport don't thrive because they are financially driven, they drive because they report news and commentary people who buy news want to read.
If newspapers printed news, instead of disguised, agenda driven, content they would sell papers.
When leaders in the industry realize liberals don't buy papers the problem will be solved. The WSJ, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and the DrudgeReport don't thrive because they are financially driven, they drive because they report news and commentary people who buy news want to read.
Kudos to all of you who commented on Mr. Starr's article, although, I must admit, I never liked TNR much since I became familiar with it thirty-eight years ago while working in the university library where I attended higher education. I especially want to express my sympathy to a fine writer such as Jozanny whom one can see immediately that the reason she isn't offered more lucrative employment is because her honest assessment of situations would gaul the neo-fascists who control the modern media. That is why they would prefer to employ the generation of brain-washed neophytes who get their information online and which basically comes from the same sources.
The best to you all anyway!
Kudos to all of you who commented on Mr. Starr's article, although, I must admit, I never liked TNR much since I became familiar with it thirty-eight years ago while working in the university library where I attended higher education. I especially want to express my sympathy to a fine writer such as Jozanny whom one can see immediately that the reason she isn't offered more lucrative employment is because her honest assessment of situations would gaul the neo-fascists who control the modern media. That is why they would prefer to employ the generation of brain-washed neophytes who get their information online and which basically comes from the same sources.
The best to you all anyway!
For all of you that think the news papers are not biased are full of scat,The owners and big shot editors are so one sided, I could quote so many examples that it would be years for you to read them,Big head lines sell papers and screw the truth and commitment to the real world , i have seen it in the local papers here in the st louis area and it is the same everywhere els in this country.The days of telling the truth and making sure justice is served are over for these rags .Hey you guys get a computer and a web page go for it, garbage in garbage out. Thats been the rule for news papers for a long time (decades), and the real shame is people believe your one sided bull ,no one takes the un ... view full comment
For all of you that think the news papers are not biased are full of scat,The owners and big shot editors are so one sided, I could quote so many examples that it would be years for you to read them,Big head lines sell papers and screw the truth and commitment to the real world , i have seen it in the local papers here in the st louis area and it is the same everywhere els in this country.The days of telling the truth and making sure justice is served are over for these rags .Hey you guys get a computer and a web page go for it, garbage in garbage out. Thats been the rule for news papers for a long time (decades), and the real shame is people believe your one sided bull ,no one takes the under dog on anymore to give an unbiased opinion , so why buy a news paper they all tell the same story. Dont worrie though you people that write these stories have a good chance to get a job writing try washington dc,You all will do well writing speeches for congress on both sides of the aisle good bye good luck good ridence!!!!!
What has been negleted in the reporting of the reasons for decline of the News Paper busness is the real under lying cause. And that is that The major news paper neglect to continue to keep thier correspondences politically motivated reporting of all News balance with those who have different political veiws. When the majority of the reporters of these old institution only report liberal and progressive news through their eyes and opinions only then they have lost the confidence and SUBCRIPTIONS of the traditional conservitive audience because it is NOT balanced. Simple as that!!!
What has been negleted in the reporting of the reasons for decline of the News Paper busness is the real under lying cause. And that is that The major news paper neglect to continue to keep thier correspondences politically motivated reporting of all News balance with those who have different political veiws. When the majority of the reporters of these old institution only report liberal and progressive news through their eyes and opinions only then they have lost the confidence and SUBCRIPTIONS of the traditional conservitive audience because it is NOT balanced. Simple as that!!!
The failure of the print media will hurt America and more corruption. The fault lies in the combined effort to see corruption as only a Republican problem. Democrats caught are routinely not identified by their party Republicans always are. The inability to play more evenly dooms them.
The failure of the print media will hurt America and more corruption. The fault lies in the combined effort to see corruption as only a Republican problem. Democrats caught are routinely not identified by their party Republicans always are. The inability to play more evenly dooms them.
I love newspapers, or I used to until they were filled with political onesided dribble. I got so tired of seeing nothing but how terrible the Bush adm was destroying the world...I suspect it is more onesided now than ever, telling us how great the Obama adm is doing..Report something else for a change and maybe newspapers will make a comeback.
I love newspapers, or I used to until they were filled with political onesided dribble. I got so tired of seeing nothing but how terrible the Bush adm was destroying the world...I suspect it is more onesided now than ever, telling us how great the Obama adm is doing..Report something else for a change and maybe newspapers will make a comeback.
What a joke of a whitewash...the word "bias" is used only once and it is against the newer media. The reason newspapers are failing is because of their total "in the tank", one sided, Liberal activist slanted reporting. I used to enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper, but they have gone so far to the loony-left I only pick up the "free" newspapers to use in my garden.
If newspapers ever want to stop their demise, go back to school and learn difference between Journalism and blatant one sided propaganda.
What a joke of a whitewash...the word "bias" is used only once and it is against the newer media. The reason newspapers are failing is because of their total "in the tank", one sided, Liberal activist slanted reporting. I used to enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper, but they have gone so far to the loony-left I only pick up the "free" newspapers to use in my garden.
If newspapers ever want to stop their demise, go back to school and learn difference between Journalism and blatant one sided propaganda.
The failure of the print media will hurt America and more corruption. The fault lies in the combined effort to see corruption as only a Republican problem. Democrats caught are routinely not identified by their party Republicans always are. The inability to play more evenly dooms them.
The failure of the print media will hurt America and more corruption. The fault lies in the combined effort to see corruption as only a Republican problem. Democrats caught are routinely not identified by their party Republicans always are. The inability to play more evenly dooms them.
Millions of square feet of timber will be spared for transitory newsprint (how can we justify it in this "green" age?) No more biased newsrooms spending hours trying to decide who to endorse (as if the Republican ever stood a chance). No Frank Rich to trash a play on the first night to destroy careers in a heart beat. I have waited for this moment for a long time. I get my news on the internet and wish that I always had. The King is Dead...long live the King.
Millions of square feet of timber will be spared for transitory newsprint (how can we justify it in this "green" age?) No more biased newsrooms spending hours trying to decide who to endorse (as if the Republican ever stood a chance). No Frank Rich to trash a play on the first night to destroy careers in a heart beat. I have waited for this moment for a long time. I get my news on the internet and wish that I always had. The King is Dead...long live the King.
Quality newsgathering is like quality medecine: aside from a few specialized examples, in general there's no profit in it. It has to be subsidized. The nature and source of the subsidy is the big question here. In what Starr rightly calls "the age of newspapers," that subsidy came in the form of rents extracted from metropolitan advertisers (department store chains, auto dealers, realtors etc) whose dominant market position allowed them to pass on the costs to their consumers. The realtor mafia still has its 6% pound of flesh, but the retailers and auto dealers are going bust, and there simply is no advertising model, online or social-networking or otherwise, that will ever fill the revenue ... view full comment
Quality newsgathering is like quality medecine: aside from a few specialized examples, in general there's no profit in it. It has to be subsidized. The nature and source of the subsidy is the big question here. In what Starr rightly calls "the age of newspapers," that subsidy came in the form of rents extracted from metropolitan advertisers (department store chains, auto dealers, realtors etc) whose dominant market position allowed them to pass on the costs to their consumers. The realtor mafia still has its 6% pound of flesh, but the retailers and auto dealers are going bust, and there simply is no advertising model, online or social-networking or otherwise, that will ever fill the revenue hole. No one clicks on banner ads, and only when you get north of ~5m page impressions per day can you even hope to support an operation costing $3m or more per year. Multiply that $3m by 250 MSAs, and it becomes clear that only a national trust of at least $1B-- and it should be many billions if it's to support investigative journalism and overseas reporting as well-- can properly subsidize quality reporting. Who should fund that trust? That's obvious: the boys whose search engine killed paid media. Larry and Sergei, step up. Time to quit kite-surfing and partying on your private 737 and start funding the replacement of what you helped to destroy.
The problem is that newspapers have become agendas for pushing specific political agendas (mainly Liberal). By so doing newspapers like the NY Times have alienated at least half of their potential audience. What ever happened to concise, unbiased, accurate and comprehensive news reporting? Many people, myself included, now turn to the internet or outlets such as the BBC or Drudgereport for my news.
The problem is that newspapers have become agendas for pushing specific political agendas (mainly Liberal). By so doing newspapers like the NY Times have alienated at least half of their potential audience. What ever happened to concise, unbiased, accurate and comprehensive news reporting? Many people, myself included, now turn to the internet or outlets such as the BBC or Drudgereport for my news.
The 4th estate has an obligation to be a neutral observer and report on the facts as they occur. What has occurred over the last almost 50 years, is the newspapers have become an organ, as the visual media has, of one specificx party pushing a specific agenda, socialism/communism,and as opposed to reporting the facts, they have colored the facts with opinion, propaganda and just plain lies. IF the 4th estate, newspapers and the visual media, would return their real path and be fair and objecting, as opposed to just being an organ of the left, they might not be facing obsolesence. Obsolesnce occurs when becomes outdated and outmoded and only presents their opinions as fact. Why has the NY ... view full comment
The 4th estate has an obligation to be a neutral observer and report on the facts as they occur. What has occurred over the last almost 50 years, is the newspapers have become an organ, as the visual media has, of one specificx party pushing a specific agenda, socialism/communism,and as opposed to reporting the facts, they have colored the facts with opinion, propaganda and just plain lies. IF the 4th estate, newspapers and the visual media, would return their real path and be fair and objecting, as opposed to just being an organ of the left, they might not be facing obsolesence. Obsolesnce occurs when becomes outdated and outmoded and only presents their opinions as fact. Why has the NY Times readership dwindled as much as it has? Because it has forgotten how to report facts and places a slant that is wrong on all its so called news. IMHO
Since it was newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post that helped to change opinions about Vietnam and get our troops pulled out prematurely maybe it will be a good thing for them to diappear.
Since it was newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post that helped to change opinions about Vietnam and get our troops pulled out prematurely maybe it will be a good thing for them to diappear.
Mr. Starr bemoans the decline of newspapers because it will reduce the amount of quality news available. But the small minority of the time when great investigative work exposes corruption pales in contrast to what another poster called the "regurgitation of the AP news feed" and the extreme redundancy of most "reporting", as a moment's glance at Google News will indicate. The immediacy of video, the fact that people do more and more business oblivious to physical distance, and the overwhelmingly cautious behavior of journalists eager to preserve "access" to the heavy spin of government news conferences... these factors are the true harbinger of a new era of direct news, an era which tears d ... view full comment
Mr. Starr bemoans the decline of newspapers because it will reduce the amount of quality news available. But the small minority of the time when great investigative work exposes corruption pales in contrast to what another poster called the "regurgitation of the AP news feed" and the extreme redundancy of most "reporting", as a moment's glance at Google News will indicate. The immediacy of video, the fact that people do more and more business oblivious to physical distance, and the overwhelmingly cautious behavior of journalists eager to preserve "access" to the heavy spin of government news conferences... these factors are the true harbinger of a new era of direct news, an era which tears down the true walls of ignorance and shadows Mr. Starr decries. Unbounded news forces a responsibility upon consumers to research for understanding, to use knowledge, to incorporate news into daily life, to truly make news relevant and active instead of herding humans into the manicured zoo of press which passes off a few caged beasts as a representative of the incredibly vast nature of man around it. Let's save the trees and appreciate and use ever cheaper, ever more powerful technologies blow away the false walls which separate people and enslave us to the hoary traditions of the past. Life is news, and the best way to reduce corruption is to distribute power so broadly that corruption never has a chance to get out of the gate the watchdogs of press claim to watch so well.
I wellcome the death of traditional newspaper, They created monolopy of openion.They never published different openion,they are outof date for new era.I wish they must close their shutter as posible as early.
New genration donot like to read their bigted openion.
They are wested too much paper, their utitality is over.
I wellcome the death of traditional newspaper, They created monolopy of openion.They never published different openion,they are outof date for new era.I wish they must close their shutter as posible as early.
New genration donot like to read their bigted openion.
They are wested too much paper, their utitality is over.
Newspapers stopped covering political corruption along time ago. The Chicago Tribune, or the Children's Tribune as I call it, runs front page articles on dating and restaurants while ignoring the wholesale plunder being perpetrated by the kleptocracy that is Illinois government. The Tribune deserves to die, and the sooner the better. The City of Chicago has seen its tax revenues skyrocket over the past two decades, yet the city is up to its ears in debt because Mayor Daley lost interest in standing up to the public employee unions along time ago. The Tribune shows no more interest in investigating public employee union contracts than it does in the weather of Mongolia. Goodbye Tribune a ... view full comment
Newspapers stopped covering political corruption along time ago. The Chicago Tribune, or the Children's Tribune as I call it, runs front page articles on dating and restaurants while ignoring the wholesale plunder being perpetrated by the kleptocracy that is Illinois government. The Tribune deserves to die, and the sooner the better. The City of Chicago has seen its tax revenues skyrocket over the past two decades, yet the city is up to its ears in debt because Mayor Daley lost interest in standing up to the public employee unions along time ago. The Tribune shows no more interest in investigating public employee union contracts than it does in the weather of Mongolia. Goodbye Tribune and good riddance!
Robert Hill, you are practically illiterate. You wouldn't know how to read good journalism when you saw it.
Robert Hill, you are practically illiterate. You wouldn't know how to read good journalism when you saw it.
Once again, an informed, well written and politically unbiased article is being hijacked for online partisan railings against liberal bias. Just read the comments condemning the "loony left" etc. and you'll know what to look forward to in a NYT- and WP-less age - "good ridence (sic)" to quality writing, reporting and editing and hello to more Fox-style news.
Instead of Mr. Starr, Ms.Dowd or Mr.Brooks' voices, I'll be able to enjoy more "news you can use" about Oprah's Acai berry weightloss and octuplets'grandma's foreclosure on yahoo news- where the advertisements are as "deep" as the 400-word news bites.
As for local, community news upstarts supplanting newspapers with global r ... view full comment
Once again, an informed, well written and politically unbiased article is being hijacked for online partisan railings against liberal bias. Just read the comments condemning the "loony left" etc. and you'll know what to look forward to in a NYT- and WP-less age - "good ridence (sic)" to quality writing, reporting and editing and hello to more Fox-style news.
Instead of Mr. Starr, Ms.Dowd or Mr.Brooks' voices, I'll be able to enjoy more "news you can use" about Oprah's Acai berry weightloss and octuplets'grandma's foreclosure on yahoo news- where the advertisements are as "deep" as the 400-word news bites.
As for local, community news upstarts supplanting newspapers with global reach - can you really compare the work of NYT reporters and commentators to that of local stringers who get paid 10$ per online story for covering their local courts, or,if nothing's going on there, the local happy hour? These websites offer journalists "valuable exposure" but consider payment for the story a great privilege. Neither do they cover any expenses for producing the story. I am left to wonder how all the "unbiased," online journalists will butter their bread when online advertisement doesn't generate any revenue and they're paid 1 cent per hit? That's the myopic journalism you can expect as the Starrs, Dowds, Kristofs and other pros accept those speechwriting jobs letter writer Robert Hill wants them to take in order to survive. Teppy, you are a radical visionary, even if so far, only a Mexican telecom billionaire has stepped up to the plate.:)
It seems that none of you have read the article. Starr acknowledges that newspapers aren't perfect in holding politicians feet to the flame. A lot of the dismissal of this issue (the demise of newspapers) emanates more from an anger about recent failures(which I would say most notably occured in the virtually unquestioned run-up to a disastrous invasion of Iraq), rather than an actual examination of the effects of said demise. A number of you succumb to that very problem.
Also, many of you forget that the news you read, or hear, on Drudge or Rush, (truly unbiased sources, it would seem) or on other blogs right or left, is generated by newspaper newsrooms. Rush doesn't do original investigat ... view full comment
It seems that none of you have read the article. Starr acknowledges that newspapers aren't perfect in holding politicians feet to the flame. A lot of the dismissal of this issue (the demise of newspapers) emanates more from an anger about recent failures(which I would say most notably occured in the virtually unquestioned run-up to a disastrous invasion of Iraq), rather than an actual examination of the effects of said demise. A number of you succumb to that very problem.
Also, many of you forget that the news you read, or hear, on Drudge or Rush, (truly unbiased sources, it would seem) or on other blogs right or left, is generated by newspaper newsrooms. Rush doesn't do original investigations, neither does Drudge, nor Kos for that matter, and when they do, they are often based on rumors which frequently turn out to be false. Sources like these primarily take stories that have been generated elsewhere and comment on them. Which is all well and good, but sadly doesn't get to crux of the problem, a lack of public-service journalism resulting from demise of the newspaper.
Also, one potential consequence the author mentions is the rise of hyper-partisanship among the news junkies, and apathy in the middle, a phenomenon that many people find distressing. You may think this is fine, or that you really are actually right about everything and the other 90% who disagree with you are the pawns of the MSM, but those of us who keep an open mind, including Mr. Starr it would appear, continue to desire news sources that profess to neutrality in these matters. You argue that newspapers cannot (or intentionally do not) live up to these standards, but if you cite Rush as a source for someone who does, well, you're deluding yourself.
Does anyone on the right know how to spell "riddance?"
Finally, to those who respond by saying all news sources are biased and problematic, that you'll only read local papers about local issues, clearly this article isn't meant for you. If you can't buy into the oft repeated premise that it is important, even a civic duty, to be informed not just about local issues, but also state, national and international developments as well, than nothing will convince you that the demise of newspapers is a disconcerting phenomenon.
We won't shed a tear when the Mercury News rag goes out of business. This "newspaper" couldn't do a piece of original investigative journalism if an alien spaceship from another planet landed on top of their headquarters. The Mercury News doesn't provide any service to America, and when they close their doors for good, it will be a good day in America!
We won't shed a tear when the Mercury News rag goes out of business. This "newspaper" couldn't do a piece of original investigative journalism if an alien spaceship from another planet landed on top of their headquarters. The Mercury News doesn't provide any service to America, and when they close their doors for good, it will be a good day in America!
Unfortunately, most newspapers in the US, including the hallowed NY Times and Washington Post became PART OF THE CORRUPTION in the US today, by NOT doing their jobs of holding politician's feet to the fire...
Instead they became willing partners and participants in passing propaganda from the ruling class to fool and confuse their readers!
How much stronger would they be if they were actually muckrakers instead of corporate a$$ kissers!
Newspapers DESERVE to die...they lost any relevance years or decades ago!!!
Unfortunately, most newspapers in the US, including the hallowed NY Times and Washington Post became PART OF THE CORRUPTION in the US today, by NOT doing their jobs of holding politician's feet to the fire...
Instead they became willing partners and participants in passing propaganda from the ruling class to fool and confuse their readers!
How much stronger would they be if they were actually muckrakers instead of corporate a$$ kissers!
Newspapers DESERVE to die...they lost any relevance years or decades ago!!!
Dear god can you wingers please knock of the bs about the liberal Media failing! What about the numbers for the Wall Street Journals, The Washington Times, The New York Post, News Corp! For Cripes sake. Did you even pay attention how you've gotten spanked in the last two elections?
Dear god can you wingers please knock of the bs about the liberal Media failing! What about the numbers for the Wall Street Journals, The Washington Times, The New York Post, News Corp! For Cripes sake. Did you even pay attention how you've gotten spanked in the last two elections?
A "New" Era of Corruption? As if the big city dailies have had any real effect on "old" corruption? Match the papers with cities and assess their effectiveness in combatting "corruption" - Boston, The Globe and Herald. Chicago - The Sun-Times and the Tribune. Philadelphia - The Inquirer. Los Angeles - The Times. Etc, etc, etc. New Orleans, Newark, St. Louis. Mark Twain said it best - "If you don't read the newspapers, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you are mis-informed." Spare me the crocodile tears. Pretty hard to expose and fight "corruption" when you're in bed with it.
A "New" Era of Corruption? As if the big city dailies have had any real effect on "old" corruption? Match the papers with cities and assess their effectiveness in combatting "corruption" - Boston, The Globe and Herald. Chicago - The Sun-Times and the Tribune. Philadelphia - The Inquirer. Los Angeles - The Times. Etc, etc, etc. New Orleans, Newark, St. Louis. Mark Twain said it best - "If you don't read the newspapers, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you are mis-informed." Spare me the crocodile tears. Pretty hard to expose and fight "corruption" when you're in bed with it.
The era corruption is already here. It has been brought to us by newspapers for they are in fact just as corrupt as the corruption they purport to report. They have long ago stopped reporting factual news but now spin a leftist socialist democrat agenda account of events that they want their readers to believe. As readers we are too dumb to arrive at our own conclusions or we might not arrive at the “correct” conclusion therefore they now do this for us. This is one of the primary reasons so many people do not trust the mainstream media. The failure of newspapers will have little effect on most people except for not finding out the latest sports scores, reading the comics, and locating t ... view full comment
The era corruption is already here. It has been brought to us by newspapers for they are in fact just as corrupt as the corruption they purport to report. They have long ago stopped reporting factual news but now spin a leftist socialist democrat agenda account of events that they want their readers to believe. As readers we are too dumb to arrive at our own conclusions or we might not arrive at the “correct” conclusion therefore they now do this for us. This is one of the primary reasons so many people do not trust the mainstream media. The failure of newspapers will have little effect on most people except for not finding out the latest sports scores, reading the comics, and locating the best sales.
Hey, Craig, when speaking of timber, the term used is not square feet, it's board feet.
Hey, Craig, when speaking of timber, the term used is not square feet, it's board feet.
Go back to school, Robert Hill, and learn the language and how to spell!
Go back to school, Robert Hill, and learn the language and how to spell!
You're correct, Bettina, it was well-written and unbiased - two things that are hard to find in today's "journalism."
You're correct, Bettina, it was well-written and unbiased - two things that are hard to find in today's "journalism."
Boy, gflib, you certainly covered the entire spectrum of conservative media without using the hand tied behind your back.
Boy, gflib, you certainly covered the entire spectrum of conservative media without using the hand tied behind your back.
What fools we mortals be. Most of the attacks on newspapers comes from those that don't understand a failing industry. Remember our founders thought enough of freedom to include the press, which now includes TV and the Internet.
I'm a retired newspaperman that's saddened by the Fall of the printed Fourth Estate. Say what you will, we need a free media. You all that call the big dailies bias apparently ignore the obvious, vitriolic, slanted news reporting on Cable by so-called liberals and conservatives.
Hey, when you disagree with reports, you knock thge source. But without the printed word, which had some controls, pales when compared to the uncontrolled Internet.
God help us ... view full comment
What fools we mortals be. Most of the attacks on newspapers comes from those that don't understand a failing industry. Remember our founders thought enough of freedom to include the press, which now includes TV and the Internet.
I'm a retired newspaperman that's saddened by the Fall of the printed Fourth Estate. Say what you will, we need a free media. You all that call the big dailies bias apparently ignore the obvious, vitriolic, slanted news reporting on Cable by so-called liberals and conservatives.
Hey, when you disagree with reports, you knock thge source. But without the printed word, which had some controls, pales when compared to the uncontrolled Internet.
God help us.
TAPPI, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, states that 24 billion newspapers are printed each year in America. Over 500 paper mills are in operation in America and we produce 87 million metric tons of paper and paperboard each year, one-third of the world's total production. When was the last time you drove by a paper mill and took in that wonderful aroma? How much polluting energy is needed to produce all that paper. How much chlorine is pumped into the environment? How much CO2 is added each year? I suggest you will find the answer on the Internet and you don't need a paper journalist to tell you.
TAPPI, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, states that 24 billion newspapers are printed each year in America. Over 500 paper mills are in operation in America and we produce 87 million metric tons of paper and paperboard each year, one-third of the world's total production. When was the last time you drove by a paper mill and took in that wonderful aroma? How much polluting energy is needed to produce all that paper. How much chlorine is pumped into the environment? How much CO2 is added each year? I suggest you will find the answer on the Internet and you don't need a paper journalist to tell you.
Boo F ing Hoo. The market place has spoken. Good riddance to the Lib bias, blatant Dem agenda reporting. You broke trust with the people you had an obligation to report fairly and professionally to. Have fun in the un-employment line.
Boo F ing Hoo. The market place has spoken. Good riddance to the Lib bias, blatant Dem agenda reporting. You broke trust with the people you had an obligation to report fairly and professionally to. Have fun in the un-employment line.
Thank you the correction. See more interesting figures in comment 46.
Thank you the correction. See more interesting figures in comment 46.
Really, is a nine-webpage long moan necessary; couldn't you have shortened it to two. You would have a point and I'd care if reporters and editors did there jobs properly. As it is, we have, for one example, Chicago politics alongside the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times. I'm sure you could think of other examples. The press would rather determine the meme and editorialize than report the boring who, what, when, where, why and how.
Really, is a nine-webpage long moan necessary; couldn't you have shortened it to two. You would have a point and I'd care if reporters and editors did there jobs properly. As it is, we have, for one example, Chicago politics alongside the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times. I'm sure you could think of other examples. The press would rather determine the meme and editorialize than report the boring who, what, when, where, why and how.
Good riddence?
Good riddence?