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Venerable American newspapers face extinction

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The New York Times once epitomised all that was great about American newspapers; now it symbolises its industry’s deep malaise. The Grey Lady’s circulation is tumbling, down another 3.9% in the latest data from America’s Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). Its advertising revenues are down, too (12.5% lower in March than a year earlier), as is the share price of its owner, the New York Times Company, up from its January low but still over 20% below what it was last July. On Tuesday April 29th Standard & Poor’s cut the firm’s debt rating to one notch above junk.

At the company’s annual meeting a week earlier, its embattled publisher, Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger, attempted to quash rumours that his family is preparing to jettison the firm it has owned since 1896. Carnage is expected soon as dozens of what were once the safest jobs in journalism are axed, since too few of the staff have accepted a generous offer of voluntary redundancy.

Pick almost any American newspaper company and you can tell a similar story....
marcozarco

22 responses // Venerable American newspapers face extinction

  • watch this comment being used here, here, here, here, here, and here
    I still enjoy reading a newspaper, but they've become really irrelevant given that one can find constantly updated news on the internet as it happens.
    NcSchu
  • if they took newspapers away, it would be realy hard to know what going on in the world that is not about a celebrity
    knightlynight200
  • The disgraceful job they did selling the LIES is their own demise.

    This may also be true for ALL BIG CAP media who continue to this day to SELL the LIES.

    Once upon a time it meant something to be reporting the news. NOW it simply means singing the OLIGARCHIES SONG and DANCE. WHAT IF PEOPLE BOYCOTTED THIER ADVERTISERS? WE ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BUY THEIR CRAP.

    Both the NYT and CBS have shown a minor shift lately and that has been noticed. MY guess is that is only due to the REAL FACT OBAMA just might win.

    THEY ALL MIGHT BE WISE TO THINK ABOUT THAT POTENTIAL REAL EVENT.

    How about a few reports on the faith based so-called leaders connected to HRC and McGain.

    As for Wright. He could have followed Obama's lead and chosen to bring this NATION together. SADLY he has forgotten the most important aspect of loving service. TO FORGIVE. TO SEEK TO HEAL. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...

    TO LOVE ALL.

    I can not condemn him for this as i have a problem with all these things myself. I will have a problem forgiving Wright for what he has done to OBAMA.

    It Obama were to come up short now, I would blame Wright.
    1Eco_Media
  • The USA Today and WSJ just reported an INCREASE in subscribers.
    oneparkave
  • i don't read newspapers so i couldn't really care less. i do like the crosswords though
    diode
  • This all bespeaks the fate of what symbolizes the last generation's major means of communication. Al Gore talks about this in 'The Assault On Reason'...has video killed the radio stars and the good 'rag' journalists..? Whatever happened to the really good editorials about the blatant corruption in government etc...too many lilly livers afraid to lose their jobs...or did the ones who tried to speak out end up mysteriously dead in Iraq..and other controversial places..? Hmmm...maybe we need some good investigative journalists to investigate what happened to the missing investigative journalists..?

    Are the youth of today too caught up with watching too much TV on a daily basis..?
    PlatoTacius
  • watch this comment being used here, here and here
    saddness...if the newspapers die all we wiil have left is electronic media...then what happens when the government decides to censor based on a "national emergency"? or maybe just pull the plug and force a blackout...keep your walkie-talkies charged....
    jimmyp
  • PlatoTacius you nailed it on the head. TV has ruined us and we need old school muckrakers back in the biz. I like this webpage/tv thing here myself, but it cannot be relied upon. Good old solid printed word needs to stick it out if we want to stay in the know...
    Kati_kat
  • who cares about newspapers...

    blah blah blah...

    the ink always gets all over my hands. i mean, really, the only benefit i get from the newspaper is that every morning i get a free plastic bag which i use for picking up my dogs droppings during the morning walk...

    think of all that wasted paper... recycled or not... save the trees man!!!!!
    djaudible27
  • Two things come to mind about blackouts and needing to stay in the know. First, if we are to avoid reliance on outside sources to provide power then blackouts would be a very effective means of mind control or mindless control, but if more and more of us develop and use alternative and/or private energy sources, then it will become very difficult for them. We could still stay in touch by use of our computers... Second, if that method somehow gets debunked, then we could always go back to the printed word... So, don't throw away those old typewriters...where to get a ribbon though? And, If they've blacked us out, how far does that go? How long is the government control arm? Who woul deliver the mail? If bad goes to worst, I've got one of those old printing presses that you crank down to get the image...

    It's probably better if we just TAKE BACK AMERICA !!!
    PlatoTacius
  • Maybe this is the kick in the butt that they needed to get back on the right track. Isn't most of what they report is junk?
    Tomcatt
  • One of the reason newspapers are falling, is because people have to pay money to get the news. With TV and the internet you get your news for free. You may have to pay a provider to get (cable) TV and the internet and buy equipment, but that's not a daily charge and you get to view other channels and websites.

    Newspapers will have to be more like TV and internet, otherwise the newspaper won't survive.
    Future_America
  • The death of the newspaper is inevitable, when you can log online and looked at 5 different opinions of the same story and check all of your sources, watching news on TV or reading it in a paper will only be a humorous way to examine one corporation’s agenda over the others.
    kiko_deep
  • We wouldn't be missing much if large news papers went under. They aren't alternative press. They're owned by the same companies that own televised news. Plus they have to vie for advertising dollars too so that limits what they can print.
    Analogue4Digital
  • whats going on with this?
    i mean i read the newspaper time to time but TV shouldn't be our only source of news of this country.
    if we were to have another attack or emergency what would happen?
    and anyways isn't this what people in the time of the early 20th century and before lived off of?
    yeah it might be a environment problem but it wouldn't be if every single one of us recycled.
    KareuhJEAN
  • To hear that the American newspaper is on the road to extinction, as is the CD, it makes me feel reminiscent of analog things. I have my dad's old turntable and a milk crate full of records that I've collected or bought. Every now and then, when iTunes is pumping out nothing but shitty mp3 format, I switch to vinyl, where music is there, in your hand, each single groove detailing every sound and tonality.

    I hope newspaper sales don't depend entirely on the nostalgic senior demographic.
    guntown_kid82
  • why read the newspaper when you can have current?
    laurahrahrah
  • it's an obsolete media why pay for the newspaper and read stuff that is up to 24hrs old when you can read it on the internet as its happening
    sephig
  • This is so sad but true...The LA Times edtior came to our class and spoke of so many people being laid off. At the end of the day, blogs will end up dominating instead. In fact the LA times and NY Times have started up blog sites also..
    Spiral9
  • There is much to be said about all that is wrong with the print media but I fear Spiral9's prediction of blogs dominating the news will come to pass. Blogs are great for offering up opinions, putting forth an agenda, even a fast (but usually shallow) offering of real news, but we still need the type of journalism that allows for deep, long-term investigation. Television with it's ratings mentality has never offered this up, and most of the web based media isn't up it either (fast and real-time doesn't lend itself to deep investigation and analysis).
    zenpilgrim
  • @zenpilgrim... thanks for the perspective...

    i read our local paper cover to cover nearly every day. i learn a lot that way... local and regional issues that can really affect ME on a daily basis... organizations and fun things i can participate with or go watch.

    as for the www... so far, it has given me 3-500 spams every day, recently a peak of over 1400, plus pop-up ads for blockbuster and netflix [i already am a customer of each...] and tons of up-to-the-second commentary by literally millions of people who have not had an original thought in years, but can forward those "ideas" to me in the flash of a photon, mostly so i can find the same thing on snopes.com with a big red FALSE next to it.

    quantity isn't quality, and there are more trees in the USA today than there were a hundred years ago.

    the visual media has totally gone to hell, with so many people watching "news" which is mostly an excited rehash of the latest auto accidents and local murders. our state was arguing against its own lottery because it was an "illegal" game of chance, yet people get excited when Howie challenges contestants to "guess right" on Deal or No Deal... which is 100% A GAME OF CHANCE... as if their prayers or the cheers of the audience can change the outcome of their choices.

    let alone "reality tv" of all kinds.

    i'll be sad if the newspapers continue to decline, but i'll blame THEM for not taking up the opportunity of MAKING GOOD CHANGES in our lives through influence and reporting, rather than just telling us crap that's not making any difference.

    yes, BRING BACK THE MUCKRAKERS!



    also, "For your consideration," as Rod Serling used to say...

    http://www.plusaf.com/newspapers.htm
    plusaf
  • At one point in time the NYT was the newspaper of record, now much of the news is so slanted so as to mimic blogs. Living well outside of NYC I really can't believe they sell many papers at all.
    auto10

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