Are we obligated to support failing industries? (like, oh, newspapers)
I start pondering this dilemma a while back when I mentioned on Twitter that I was canceling our newspaper subscription. So that you aren't left wondering, we chose to do this for several reasons.
- We never managed to actually read the newspaper articles.
- We can get our news online instead of in print.
- We didn't need the sale ads...we don't shop a lot, and sale ads are available online anyways.
- I don't use that many coupons, and even those are available online from places like
Coupons.com
and SmartSource. (SmartSource is, in fact, one of the publishers of the coupon inserts that come in the newspapers! I am not affiliated in any way with them, though.)
Given all that, a newspaper subscription seemed like a waste of money and resources (paper for printing, gas for delivery, not to mention the production of those plastic bags the paper comes in!), and we felt that it would be wise to cancel our subscription.
Anyways, one of my Twitter followers was a little horrified and wondered why I wasn't putting more money into supporting the newspaper industry.
I do know that the print industry has fallen on hard times, but I haven't really felt compelled to do my part to keep it afloat. I understand that journalism is really important to maintain, but I'm not sure that newspapers as a form need to be around in order for journalism to flourish (though I could certainly be wrong about that!).
The thing is, I'm just not sure that it's possible for print journalism to survive in our culture, at least in the form of newspapers, and I don't think there's much that will save it. It's the internet age, and the odds of people continuing to purchase (and read!) daily newspapers is very low. People get most of their information from other forms of media, like TV, radio, and the Internet. We could argue back and forth about the advantages and disadvantages of these forms, but the bottom line is that most people don't read newspapers anymore.
So, for journalism to survive and thrive in this age, it's going to have to change with the times. Newspapers and other print media are going to have to put more resources into developing a web presence if they want to stay afloat.
This wouldn't be the first time news delivery has changed through the ages...people used to carry news on foot, via stagecoaches, and via telegrams. When stagecoaches were no longer necessary, it would have been kind of fruitless to try to prop up the stagecoach industry, and in the same way, I feel like propping up the daily newspaper industry is sort of fruitless.
Of course, the news industry isn't the only industry this has happened to. I'm sure lots of hairspray and pantyhose companies bit the dust once the '80s were over, and I'd guess that hoopskirt manufacturers faced the same problem when fashions changed.
So, on the one hand, I can easily talk myself into thinking that supporting newspapers is pointless.
But on the other hand, I can get very enthused about supporting small family farms, which, with the rise of factory farming, are getting to be few and far between. If that's the case, why am I not equally enthused about saving newspapers?
I guess it's because at this point in time (and you can try to change my mind!), I feel like the change from small farms to industry farms is more disastrous than the change from newspapers to online news. Basically, I'm more concerned about preserving local food than I am in preserving daily newspapers.
Plus, the local farm issue affects me more directly. My life isn't at all worse without a newspaper subscription...in fact, I think it's better. I have less paper clutter to deal with, I have fewer plastic bags to get rid of, and I'm saving money. But I do think our lives would be worse if the only food we could buy was available from factory farms.
Lastly, I can't really think of a downside to small family farms, but I can think of some downsides to newspapers (they resources, produce trash, and they're a fairly slow way of spreading news).
_________________________
So, what do you think? I'm really hoping that you all will share your input on this topic because I'm honestly not entirely sure of the right solution to this dilemma. And I'm totally teachable on the issue of whether or not the print medium is necessary for the survival of journalism, so feel free to school me. 😉
Photo by laffyk.
disclosure
As someone who has worked at a newspaper for the last 14 years (small weekly locals, not large dailies) I have seen the importance a newspaper has in a small community. However, I was relieved last year when our company finally took the steps to develop a web presence, because in all honesty, that is where the industry in headed. There will always be a print product in my opinion, for those that would rather hold a physical product and those who don't have access to high speed internet. (I live a very, very rural area). I may be cynical, but without newspapers and journalists, corruption will be free to run rampant in local, state and federal government. Citizens who won't take the initiative or time to attend a school, city or county board meeting can read about it in the paper (or online) and continue to be informed citizens and voters.
I love my newspaper. Nothing better than reading the paper while eating breakfast. I can't see myself looking at a computer screen while eating my breakfast. I have to do that all day long at work. Plus, I can take the newspaper wherever I want. To me, it's the same as reading books. I don't want to do either one on a computer.
Oh, I totally feel that way about books. I've never tried an electronic reader, but I do love having a physical book to read, and I'd be pretty sad if paper books went away. I think those will stick around though, at least much longer than newspapers will.
You could should try out e-readers, before you swear off electronic reading completely. My father is a huge book reader, and he a got a Kindle 2 for Christmas and he loves it. At the size of a normal book you can carry basically your entire library, and all your newspaper subscriptions with you at once. In many ways they are superior to books.
Frankly I think the days for print media are coming to end pretty soon. All the kids growing up now and in the future consume content online, not in print. Once e-readers drop in price, its how they will get all their text books and pleasure books as well.
I'm a real-book person. I personally buy two papers per week - Wednesday and Sunday. I'm not terribly impressed with the quality of Cincinnati journalism (Minnesota's was much better), but Wendesday is the day of the Amish Cook column, and on Sunday I like to sit and clip coupons. I also read the local weekly paper (which happens to arrive on Wednesdays). Most of the stuff I could probably find online, but I find it far less distracting to read a real paper than surf on the web - I read the article I found, then maybe one or two more, instead of wasting half my morning!
I don't think we have an "obligation" to support failing industries, but I don't believe that print journalism is really a "failing" industry. It's definitely shrinking, but I don't think it's going to disappear.
And for the record, there are still companies out there who make hoopskirts. 😉 Mostly for theater or SCA folk, but they're not entirely gone.
I only get the Sunday paper now...for the ads and coupons because it's a Sunday morning tradition I just really look forward to... but they insist on delivering it on Friday and Saturday as well. I wish they wouldn't as I never even look at those papers. They go straight into the recycling bin. (But I had an idea yesterday to save a few to make pots for my seeds - my own recycling project!)
I think newspapers will be around for a little while. My parents generation (born in the 50's) are still avid readers and as the previous poster mentioned there is something tactile about actually holding the paper in your hands. I feel this way about books. I always look at those electronic readers and while I think they are neat... it just doesn't seem as fun to curl up in my bed and read electronically.
Having said that, I think that newspapers and a lot of printed material will go away eventually as the generations change. We are becoming more and more electronic based and I bet it won't seem so strange to my future grandchildren to curl up with their electronic readers to read their children bedtime stories.
p.s. I love you blog! It is my first stop every morning!
Oh, I know! I tried to just get the paper with the coupons, but I couldn't get just that paper. I had to get Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday together. So annoying.
I think you're correct in wondering whether journalism requires newspapers. I think it's very important the information be distributed, that someone watch government and private persons, and that we have a way to have a common set of knowledge and of understanding what the other guy thinks. One problem with the splintering of media is that the Glen Beck watcher has no idea what the Charlie Rose watcher knows and vice versa.
But is a physical product required? I've been wondering the same thing. Newspapers have had a number of financial models over the centuries. For at least a hundred years, newspapers were subsidized by the US government. The reason was that information was so critical - the bedrock, in fact - of an informed democracy that it was an appropriate governmental function to support the medium that spread information.
Until the, er, 1960s? 1970s? later?, many newspapers were subsdiized by other parts of a media company - owning a newspaper was prestigious and worth losing money over. Remember the scene in Citizen Kane when someone pointed out his paper was losing a million a year? Kane responded that he expected his paper to do the same next year, and the year after, and in 30 years he'd be broke.
After WW2, newspapers had - in addition to corporate subsidies - two main sources of revenues: advertisements and classifieds. This model broke in the internet era as classified ads moved en masse to online fora. This caused newspapers to lose money, get smaller or raise prices and otherwise lose circulation, which meant advertisers also moved away or negotiated lower rates and the cycle continued.
There's nothing that says online newspapers can't also have thriving classified sections but in practice, few do. This has me worried: what revenue stream is going to support local coverage, or reporters who closely follow planning boards to see misconduct, or government being conducted in the shadows? This is IMPORTANT, folks. It is the underpinning of a working, robust, successful democracy. Without it there is fraud, and discrimination, and public persons taking advantage of their positions for private benefit, and alienation from the body public ("I can't fight city hall, I'll go my own dammed way"). Such alienation leads to poor education, crime, and sometimes riots.
So the question becomes not "Should I support a printed news medium?" but "How do we, as a country, best support the dissemination of information and how do I, as a person, contribute to this?"
I do receive a REALLY local paper that comes out once a month. It's free and is automatically sent to all the households in my suburb. But I don't know how serious the journalists that write for the paper are.
I do want to support journalism, but I'm just not sure how! Paying for a newspaper that I throw straight into the recycling bin doesn't seem terribly smart, though, and I'm not sure how effective it is either. If I don't read the ads, I'm not going to end up supporting the advertisers, which means they won't be getting bang for their buck, and they won't want to pay to advertise.
And I'm pretty sure the newspaper wants me to subscribe so that I will see the ads...they were only going to charge me $.99/week for the paper delivery when I called to cancel, so it's not like like my subscription fees were going to support the journalists much.
William: I second everything you said!
I really love your blog!!
I think when I look at the best funded print newspapers, I see a lack of journalism. Our vice president shot someone (ok, by accident) and the print media was complaining that the White House didn't inform them. Print newspapers are just like the old technology companies: lazy and complacent. I would never rely on them to inform me. Citizen journalism is the way to go. I pay several sites that provide great online coverage and I assume anyone else who truly cares about politics would do the same. I also do my best to get to more than one viewpoint. If Ben Franklin were around today, he'd have a blog.
My Dad had worked at a printing company for 35 years. A year and a half ago they shut the plant down and he was without a job for the first time since he was a teenager. I know this happened to a lot of people in many different lines of work. There is no doubt in my mind that my dads situation was due to the decline in newspaper and print ads. It took a year and a half for him to find a new job. When you are 60 years old and have honed your skills in one area for that many years it is hard to find employment that isn't specific to that area. Thankfully he did find a a job at a Newspaper a few towns over. He now drives 45 minutes to work and has to work night shift. I do agree with you about the newspaper waste and it not being the most efficient way to spread news. I myself have no desire to read the newspaper. I do purchase one on Sunday for the coupons though. My only problem with the decline in newspaper purchases is the workers that it affects. This is so true in many things and as times change needs change. This probably will always be an issue as thing go from popular to obsolete. There is no real solution I suppose. I just wanted to share my thoughts.
Yeah, I agree...industry needs are always changing, and that's always going to cause people to lose their jobs unless the industry can manage to adjust. I feel bad for the people who lost their jobs when the demand for hairspray decreased, but then again, I don't think the solution was for everyone to keep buying hairspray when they didn't need/want it, you know?
I'm so sorry about your dad!
I agree--I feel for people's job situations, but on the other hand, it's not my obligation to spend money in order to save jobs, either. It's my responsibility to spend my money wisely and not go into debt (or further into debt, as the case may be), because doing so (going into debt) is not good for my family, our relationships, and my ability to help other people when the need arises.
While it is always sad when people lose jobs, I have to agree that sometimes that's just the way it goes in a changing industry. For example, I'm sometimes frustrated with the way we desperately cling to a bygone era of Industrial Might from the steel age, when honestly, those jobs are long gone and we should have begun investing money re-training auto workers to do other jobs. We have embraced capitalism and a free market competitive economy and sometimes entire industries just go away- floppy disk makers, 8 track makers, washboard makers, buggy wheel makers, etc. Times change and things change and we have to be able to change with it. Artificially propping up industries with contrived consumer support out of a sense of "duty", subsidies, tax breaks, etc, are, to my mind, all ineffective ways of trying to subvert what we have all agreed to as the economic model for America.
Our local newspaper charges you to view it online. So if you wanted the paper, you could purchase it in stores and in newspaper racks throughout town, or you could have a weekly subscription, or you could purchase an online subscription. I think newspapers are invaluable. And if you wanted to still receive it, without all the ramifications of having all that paper waste, you could always do that. There are only two free parts of the local newspaper online. One is the obituaries and the other is the classifieds. The rest is not free. BUT one advantage that having an online subscription has over paper, if you wanted to find an article in the past, they have all their archived articles online for you to browse.
Kristen,
I know most of these comments are about the newspaper industry but you touched on another industry in your blog as well and I would like to make a few comments on the company owned farm issue. I ,myself, am employed by an integrated poultry company, meaning we do everything in house from growing the pullets that turn into Hens and Roosters that lay the eggs that become the chicken that get sent to merchants. We also mill our feed. And after having worked in many different positions I have to say that I am concerened with the image that is portrayed by the media that gives the public the wrong idea about how things really work at our plants and on the contracted farms. Every poultry company that I am aware of has what is called an animal welfare program. This program insures that the birds are well cared for as soon as they hatch. We have regular audits conducted by us and then even more audits conducted by animal welfare specialists. And when I say specialist I mean people who are educated in this field and not PETA. I also have to take this time to say that i grew up on a farm where we raised our own beef and had it butchered at a local processing plant. However, I have to say after having been in both places I see an definite advantage to the company processed product because USDA has a very tight leash on what goes on there and there are many many regulations and rules that protect the product and its quality. I know this has been extremely long and I apologize but I am very passionate about this subject because there are so many myths about the way that we grow and raise our chickens which is why when I was in college getting my degree in poultry science I was on the Poultry Education Team (P.E.T.) which was a team where we went into schools and even groery stores and tried to dispell any myths about our industry. I hope I haven't taken up too much of your time just wanted to put my two cents in. Thanks and I love your recipes! Can't wait to make those cinnamon rolls!
I know longer subscribe to a newspaper and find myself feeling a bit guilty about it. I read the New York Times online, but I am probably less informed than I should be about local news. The problem with newspapers going under is that there will not be anyone to do the investigative reporting that we need. TV just looks for the two minute story and the 24 hour news stations seem to be very opinion driven. Are we missing stories like the Watergate reporting because there aren't the resources to fund them any more? Still, I hate having to recycle newspapers and honestly just don't have the time to devote to a daily paper. It's a problem.
My apologies for an off topic comment, but I couldn't find your email address under contact me. So, I hope you don't mind. I would love for you to tell me how you decide what to buy at the grocery store each week. I thought I was spending $150-$170 (for our family of 3)...but when I had my husband figure it out in Quicken and add in my mid-week fill-in orders, his Costco trips, etc. we were averaging $209 a week--too high! So, I've been sticking to my one shopping trip a week, and have gotten it down to $140. But I don't know how you, and others figure out what to buy. I look at things like Money Saving Mom, and sit down with all of the coupons I've diligently clipped, and my local store circulars--and I just get OVERWHELMED!!!!!! Help! Where do I start? How do you figure out what to buy? I honestly think our family of three should be able to eat for $100 a week, not $209...but I'm at a loss of how to make that work. HELP!!!!! (please)
Karen, no problem. I can see what you say whether you leave me a comment here, talk to me on Twitter or Facebook, or use my contact form (just so you know, if you fill out the contact form, it just sends me an email. :))
I've put your question into my Q&A folder, so I'll answer it in a future post, promise!
CBC Radio did a piece on this issue in the past few days ( not sure what program), and they discussed that the internet and computers uses more energy and non-renewable resources than actual print papers . I personally like to hold paper in my hands while reading.
That an interesting statement, and I think it would be interesting reading if I could see their sources. This is especially true, considering it would be hard to separate the amount of energy used by a computer to read the paper from everything it's used for. Also the general energy consumption of entire supply chains like the newspaper industry can't be simple either.
I'd like to see the references also. Determining the life cycle cost of anything is tough, and the cost of energy varies so much depending on power source (coal? run-of-water hydro? peak times? and so on and so forth). I do know that papermaking is very hard on the environment, the rest I'd like to learn.
I, too, prefer a physical medium. My father gave me a Kindle last month (he decided after the return period he didn't like it), I haven't so much as cracked the seal yet.
You can send me the Kindle. 🙂
Wish I could trade it for a decent canoe. The two cost about the same.
Last year I did a trial run with my Sunday paper. I subscribed for 3 months (I love to hold the paper in my hands, drinking my coffee on a Sunday morning).
What I found was it had very little content. It was full of ads and coupons that I had no use for. I now read my 'New Yorker' on Sunday mornings!
Thanks for supporting the small farmer- I raise poultry and eggs on a small scale Joel Salentin style. I love that people everywhere are educating themselves about what they eat.
I confess to loving dead wood products -- the Sunday paper is a ritual and, I guess, a luxury. A shrinking one, at that! I love the whole scope of coverage -- local, national, and world, not to mention coupons, book review, and most especially, the comics.
But I totally get your point -- should you support an industry by purchasing a product you don't use? Clearly, that's the responsible view for many people. And history is surely strewn with the corpses of failed enterprise --- that hoop skirt factory that morphed into a pantyhose factory and so on. But -- people created, sold, and bought those hoop skirts and hose in plastic eggs! Without making a value judgment about them, we can say that they certainly added to the overall economic health of of our fair republic!
But, I see your point -- is this really how we want to expend our resources? those wooden hoops have been diverted to building homes for the What IS the government's role in propping up any industry? I think we all have a different idea of what is "important" enough to warrant federal subsidy. Appalling as we may find the subsidized agribusiness model to be, still, we never suffer famine here. While the local food movement is wonderful, and worthy of our support, are we ready to ditch the wider safety net of guaranteed food? Can local replace Big Agro? I'm willing to experiment -- maybe some fed. $$ could be directed to small local growers (is it already being done?) And of course, the individual consumer is voting with their purchases.
O - the newspaper! I hope they find a way to bring that model of editing, fact checking, local coverage, and a multitude of different voices on one opinion page to the net, but i do truly understand where you are coming from.
Sorry, FG, Cant. Stop. Blabbing. Your blog is so thoughprovoking and fun -- i love how you keep jumping into the fire!
I don't think it's your job to save any industry toward which you don't necessarily feel a connection. If the newspaper industry is failing, well, a lot of the blame falls on the newspaper industry itself--not the consumers. Kind of like the U.S. car industry, for which I feel no pity. (I do feel sadness for the newspaper industry, though, but part of the reason for that is I almost launched my career in the field. Luckily, I didn't, as many of my formers classmates are now scrambling for ways to parlay their skills into fields with greater job security.)
It's a matter of preference, too. I've loved my Chicago Tribune (I see you you're featuring a photo from my city, with a Trib visible!) since I started paging through the comics as a kindergartener. Now, I'm a news junkie and get my news online as well as in print from a variety of outlets. Sundays, when I actually have time to pore over the print edition, I like nothing better than to read through every last section while I take a long breakfast. There is something to be said for feeling the newsprint between your fingers (or in the case of a book, the heft of the volume--you can't feel how far you've read when you're using a Kindle). And I agree with the poster who notes that too many online news outlets fail to bring as high a level of quality (in terms of fact-checking, editing, etc.) to their work--it's unfortunate.
I don't take a daily newspaper. I've been throughperiods when I've tried to, but have always given up shortly afterwards when I find myself throwing away (or rather, recycling) papers I haven't even had time to open, let alone read. So I restrict myself to the the Sunday papers which keep me going for the rest of the week.
Deciding which industries to keep and which to let go is never easy, especially when the parameters keep shifting.
However, the most important consideration, whatever form it takes, is that the press should be free and fair and independent. That's an ideal well worth supporting.
This is an intriguing concept, and a timely one for those of us in the Philadelphia area, as our local newspapers were just sold off to creditors for $135 million .. I too was raised with the tradition of a Sunday newspaper and have spent many a Sunday PM reading from cover to cover. However, over the last few years the paper has gone from being a source of bona fide investigative reporting on stories of local interest and/or considered opinion to mostly "old" national news, celebrity fluff and LOTS of ads from the same group of full price retailers - why bother? The very thing that makes local papers appealing for that Sunday afternoon read - intelligently presented issues of local import - was the first thing to go when newspaper management decided to economize. Go figure.
I think that the only salvation for the print media is if they go back to their original intent of providing matters of local interest, even if that means publishing only a few times a week. If I want up to date info on a piece of national news, I turn on CNN; if I want to know the latest on Tiger Woods or Sandra Bullock, I'll consult People magazine on line. And if I want a big honking Sunday paper, I'll get a New York Times.
I only get the Sunday paper because in our town the daily has gone from a great hometown paper to being an outsourced pamphlet. I kept it for as long as I could because my aunt works in circulation, but I had to let it go. My gripes:
---The daily is about the size of a glorified newsletter; very little of the info is news that I haven't already seen on tv or read online.
---They cut local news reporting to bare bones; I also learned that even the captions under the pictures are done by a copywriting firm in India.
---They dumped the youth carrier program 6 or 7 years ago. I have never met my carrier in person and my papers are chucked from a car onto the driveway no matter the weather, which makes it laughable when they send the bill with a line for a tip on it.
---The phone center that takes the customer phone calls is a thousand miles from here.
---The paper laid off all its union truck drivers in favor of hiring a company that underpays its workers.
---Our daily paper takes an hour each-way trip every morning to a center in another town to be folded because it saves them a few bucks.
In all I'd say if they really want to have a beloved community newspaper their approach is on the wrong track.
You shouldn't feel like you need to spend money on something you don't need.
(says the highly-susceptible-to-peer-pressure 22-year-old)
I came over here from a comment you left at moneysavingmom. I'm always looking to find other frugal shoppers concerned with ethics so I was excited to find you 🙂
My husband and I are trying to be more responsible with our finances and a part of that for us is to make more conscious decisions and not spend anything out of any sort of social/peer pressure. I don't feel obligated to support a failing industry w/ our finances. I feel like our money should go for things that our family needs, and causes that we believe in and feel personally compelled to support.
With that said, we do have a SUnday only newspaper sub that I use for coupons. So far it has been worth it to me because I was able to find a sub for $52/52 Sundays, so $1 a paper was a good deal for us and I have saved a ton w/ couponing (although lots of those coupons could have been printed online), and I just like to have a paper copy of the sales papers as well.
I grew up in Cleveland, Oh. and I remember when there was a Morning newspaper The Cleveland Press and the Evening newspaper The Cleveland Plain Dealer (is still printing). There was also and still is for African Americans The Call and Post. The Cleveland Press stopped printing I think about 30 yrs. ago. So Cleveland like a lot of major cities have 1 major newspaper. One of my father's daily routines is to go down his long drive way and get the newspaper. I recently had the newspaper delivered to me, but I had to stop because I was getting behind in my subscription payment. When I get it caught up I'll have it delivered again. I enjoy the Sunday paper. I remember one of the things I did as a kid after church was to read the Comics and other parts of the newspaper.
The reason I'm saying all this is that its so easy to take GOOD things for granted. And I feel in this country, because we've been so use to having GOOD things, that we forget that we can loose those GOOD things and not be able to get them back.
Change comes whether you want it or not. Life is full of change and change can be great. I like the technological advances that has taken place recently. Like WOW!! Its like watching The Jetsons and Star Trek in real life. But there needs to be a balance and I think that with these technological advances we are gaining a lot , but as the same time I think we are becoming more vulnerable to whatever would attack our systems.
I'm totally with WilliamB!
I think community papers are integral to the spirit of community, as well as the only way some local news becomes news. 😉 The large, monolithic ones are dinosaurs, imo. We haven't had a subscription in many years, and haven't missed it a bit.
I miss the days of newspapers, but I like you, get most of my news from the internet. And my books are on Kindle. And my music? MP3. (The record industry is another one that is dying.) Even though we may miss the "good old days...", we have to accept that the times, they are a changin!
I love your blog by the way. I'm a long long way from frugal living, but I try every week, to do something new for green, clean, more frugal living. Your blog is inspiring. And like the other reader, I have difficulty knowing exactly what to buy. Even with menu planning, it's hard for me to be that exact.
This is a great discussion and I too have wondered the same thing. I have never liked the form of the paper (can't stand the feeling of the ink on my hands!), but the information is mostly important. It's not the information, it's the media form. Not only will newspapers change/no longer exist in their traditional formats, but books, magazines, anything on paper! My opinion is that we have to think about a computer not being the way we see it now - not even the projection of the information on a traditional SCREEN! And SO portable - eventually, it won't even be something we have to physically READ - think about the power of listening.... and how much faster and portable IT is!
Anyway - newspapers themselves are very wasteful. I have a friend who used to work (fairly recently) at our local metropolitan newspaper - and honestly? She was aghast at the fact that they DID NOT recycle AT ALL. All office paper, all production left over newspaper? Thrown away in the trash! How terrible is that???
If I could have as much savings with online coupons (printable or E), I'd cancel my Sunday subscription, as yes, it is a pain to keep up with, recycle, the plastic bags, the gas of the vehicles for delivery!! I will rethink this, as I just started my subscription recently - ONLY for the coupons!!!
Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Kristen!
I am an ad designer at a small community newspaper. As I read the comments I am glad to hear that people still have a love of the printed word. I still love reading the printed word whether it is a newspaper, book or my Bible. No,I don't think you should subscribe to a paper you don't read just to provide people with jobs.
It is a scary time for our industry. Most of the larger dailies are owned by companies carrying major debt. Thankfully the company that owns our paper carries no debt. Even without debt there are have been measures taken due to the hit the industry has take from the recent economic crisis. Four out of twenty jobs were eliminated in our office in January.
The newspaper industry is going to have to make changes but I think newspapers will be around for a while. Especially community newspapers. We are a local news source for information no one else is providing. By picking up a local newspaper you can learn anything from a local trial to the school board adding a tax levy for new building, a church youth group raised over $3,000 for world hunger and the schedule for Little League baseball for the week. We provide "refrigerator news"... the news that people clip out and save. My son was mentioned in the youth group article that I mentioned so I have two papers today. One for us to clip and one to mail to Grandma. Can't find that on CNN. We do recycle and anyone can come in and get bundles when they are moving to wrap dishes in.
I love your blog and always have FG yogurt in my fridge now. Wonder if Yoplait is suffering because of that? 🙂
I love, love, love to read the Sunday paper. Frankly, I would read the paper every day if I had the time, but I do not.
When my kids were little, my absolute favorite morning ritual was to get up early (think 5am), have coffee, and read the paper until they woke up. I also used to make notes on the things that were of interest to me - to bring up as discussion topics with friends later.
Now that I am way too busy, Sunday is the only day that I have to sit down and enjoy reading the paper, and our subscription is limited to Sundays only. I don't particularly care for the wasteful parts either (way too many ads), but I love the rest of it.
I wouldn't feel too terribly guilty however, Kristen. I'm pretty sure that your family cancelling their delivery isn't going to bring about the demise of the industry 😉
This is such an interesting discussion topic...I have been thinking about it a lot today (since I read Kristen's post this AM). I personally read the paper each day because it is delivered free of charge to our school. However, it is printed only on weekdays and contains ONLY local news. The small town I live in is very proud of it's residents and (IMO) does a fantastic job celebrating ALL who live here. For example, I coach various sports throughout the year....one item listed specifically in my job description is to call our newspaper after any game and give them our scores, stats, and say a few words.
There are families here, who, for generations have clipped these small things and created beautiful scrapbooks, collages, etc. with these sports announcements.
Aside from high school sports, residents are noted for sustainable activities, philanthropic events, etc.
There is also an online newspaper and it is perhaps a bit more "edgy." There's more opinion sections, contributing writers...in fact I view it as more of a blog than a news source.
If I want to read state or national news, I typically read it online or catch the updates via a widget on my iGoogle page. I haven't had TV in over 5 years, so that's out!
This is rather rambly but my point is more or less...I really enjoy the local paper because it celebrates our community. Most people can say they've been in it for a positive reason at some point in their life. (There's a once a week police blotter...which I think is maybe a not so positive way to make it in the paper!). What are other's thoughts on small local papers focusing solely on community members and happenings? A waste of time and resources or a dying art that we must preserve so our future generations never forget the need to celebrate one another?
My hubby works at a printing company here in Canada. He's been there 10 years and we have seen business drop dramatically in the last three years due to the economy and the internet taking over. I think myself that saving printing is a hopeless cause, but since it brings home our bread and butter I'd hate to see it disappear completely. I agree that most companies now have to jump on board with the internet since the new generation doesn't read newspapers like our grandparents did. I do think my hubby will be looking for a new career choice in the very near future though.
I am probably repeating many of the comments here. I look at the computer all day long. My neck and shoulders suffer from it. I really love just holding a newspaper or book. I love all my books on my shelves and how they look. I love doing the crossword puzzle ON NEWSPRINT. It has a different feel to it. Others make copies of the crossword puzzle but I prefer to do it on the actual newspaper. I am willing to pay more to have my newspaper. But those silly weekly news "ads" that get thrown up on my porch? They can disappear yesterday!
I only get the Sunday paper and only for coupons. I do enjoy local papers and the local coverage they provide. I recently moved from the LA Times market to a mid-sized town so the differences between the two are really staggering--they aren't even really the same thing. I think investigative journalism is important and I hope that doesn't go away when print newspapers inevitably do. I wonder what kind of online news source I would be willing to pay for and how much I would pay? I generally read news online from a variety of sources so I'm not sure I would want to limit myself to one website. And it makes me uncomfortable thinking about advertising supporting online news and the conflict of interest that lies there; although I'm sure advertisers support a large portion of the print media, likely even a majority.
It seems there are so many issues to be concerned about sometimes you feel stretched thin. And I only have so many funds to support all these causes.
I doubt anyone will read this, but here are my two cents. The newspaper is still a vital part of a functioning democracy. Newspapers do something most (virtually all) websites don't: They investigate, verify and do indepth analyisis. Here's the thing, websites largely aggregate news from print sources, they don't gather, veryify, question and dig for the truth. Others do that, newspapers do that. Without our newspapers performing these important functions, you and I and all other voting citizens do not know if the information we get is accurate and fair. A citizenry must be well-informed and have access to information from all sides of any issue to become well-informed, so they can make decisions. I am a newspaper person. I've worked in other industries, but I am passionate about what we do, because no other medium undertakes this task in this way. Web presence is a valuable way to capsulize the news for you, but it takes a news staff to do true reporting. Your radio, television and websites are getting their news from us. Who will the turn to when newspapers are no longer in business? Just something to consider.
I read your post, and I loved it. Brava!
I mentioned in my post that I feel a connection to the newspaper industry though, ultimately, I never built my career on it. (I interned a bit in print journalism.) I agree with what you say. Do you ever feel discouraged, however, by the extent to which people opt NOT to be well informed? It might not be conscious; maybe it's more out of laziness. People might be addicted to Googling info, but a lot don't seem to know what's happening in the world--or even in their own communities--simply because they don't bother reading or tuning in.
Thanks for your post.
Its kind of off topic, but I believe its easier to be informed by electronic means then with a paper. I use a RSS reader hooked to the feeds of several major news outlets, blogs, tech sites, and all my personal comics. I spend probably an hour+ a day, broken up among morning, lunch, and evening skimming through headlines and reading interesting articles. Two of sites I watch, BBC and CNN, do plenty of investigative reporting themselves, but plenty of the content is reposts from the AP, WSJ, or other "print" sources. All of this without having to cart around large amounts paper, or shuffle and fold pages.
Do you ever care to take in some in-depth reporting? Very few news outlets--print, TV, or other--produce this type of content.
I'm not very familiar with CNN, as I don't have cable, but my understanding it is all about the headlines--just getting all those headlines out. Correct me if I'm mistaken.
I love poring over in-depth pieces in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. I used to subscribe to the New York Times, which also had something to offer in this regard. Some magazines, such as the Atlantic and The New Yorker, also offer this type of high-quality writing and reporting.
when you put it that way, "Are we obligated to support failing industries? (like, oh, newspapers)" of course not.
but consider how that news gets produced. and what you're teaching your children when you have a paper in the home that they see you reading.
some of us who earn a living from writing news for you are doing our best to adjust. but our salaries that feed our families has to come from somewhere. so as readers decline, our colleagues get cut, our pay gets cut and our commitment to watchdogging for you and other taxpayers gets harder to keep up with because we worry about our job security. meanwhile, all the spin artists - the PR reps and government spokespeople - are making a lot more money than us.
i'm just saying. some of us write for a living, not just for the fun of it.
Oh yes, I do think watch-dogging needs to happen. I'm just not sure it needs to keep happening in print form (or that it's realistic to expect it to). I think this is a little bit like trying to turn the Titanic around...the current populace is already so geared towards TV and the internet, I think it will be hard to revive/save newspapers.
I do feel sad for you journalists, I really do. I hope I didn't sound flippant about that...a low level of job security is super hard to deal with.
My thought is no more government subsidies for any failing company regardless of the industry. Taxpayer money should be going to paying down the debt or instituting REAL healthcare reform.
There really has been no investigative journalism in the area I live (SF Bay Area) for years whether it be print or TV news; too much celebrity news and the like instead of news that matters. If I want that type of fluff I can buy People magazine.
As a government wonk, I wonder what localities and courts will do with the requirement to print certain things in the "local newspaper of wide repute," or whatever the reigning law says. If you've ever seen those postings about child custody disputes, estate probates, auctions of government property, and so on, those listings are usually required by a law somewhere. The public value of The Newspaper is that it is practically free, widely distributed, and generally held in high regard concerning its content and veracity (I know, we all have papers we love to hate). I agree, of course, that consumption of most of the content in the paper can currently happen online, but what will take over this role of The Newspaper: Information Source for Everyone? I can't see the local TV news taking time out of a broadcast to list the people filing for child custody in absentia, and I am not sure if the Internet is yet *quite* as universally-available as a newspaper because it requires an expensive device. A fellow traveler at the airport will give you a newspaper they're done reading; I doubt many people would hand a stranger their laptop to peruse while taking a little gate-side nap.
Another commenter here wondered who will take over the role of investigative journalism? In my house, we read a lot of magazines. The magazines that we read (from "Money" to "Entertainment Weekly") seem to be doing increasingly more feature writing. The articles are more like long-form writing, and often researched over months. To me, the magazine industry seems to be trying to make their products less disposable than in recent years, giving them a perceived value beyond their paper pages. And I like that sort of ability of an industry to evolve.
I heard someone ask "If I were investing in a new business where yesterday's news was sent to you tomorrow, distributed by a bunch of pre-teens on bicycles" would you buy into it? No. Because the model is old and doesn't meet the needs we have today. People want news immediately (hence Twitter, news online) and we want just what we're interested in reading.
Personally I won't support a failing industry just for the sake of propping it up for another year or two. Oh, and I'm one of the bloggers out there who also works for a newspaper!