I sometimes tell groups that my first job in news was for The New York Times. When I was in high school. After an appropriate pause, I add, "And those papers were heavy, too".
As I picked up this morning's Press-Register, I missed those days of good, thick newspapers. The Monday papers lately are down to three sections instead of 4. Instead of 2 pages of editorials, it's down to one. The editorial section on Sunday was folded into another section. The Living section, which my wife reads more than I do, has been losing weight as well. That, combined with reports of longtime newspaper reporters being offered buy-outs, spells trouble.
It's not that the paper hasn't been trying to change with the times. It does have an on-line presence, as clunky as it is. But its attempts at integrating video into stories have the look of a Flip Video camera and somebody being told, "While you're out there, shoot a little footage, too."
I've been reading a morning newspaper as long as I can remember, whether it was the Hartford Courant, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Columbus Dispatch or the Press Register. But I can tell you, I'm part of the market that is fading away. When I ask my students at Spring Hill which papers they read, I find they don't. Sure, they scan the internet and grab a few headlines here and there, but that's it. That unfortunately seems to be the future of your traditional, daily newspaper.
Thank goodness the TV news audience has remained pretty stable. Don't take my word for it. Click
here to read a recent study by the Pew Reseach Center for the People and the Press.
Papers have been hard hit by advertisers who are either moving to other media, or not spending as much. It's a sign that sometimes change isn't a good thing.
