The year is 1929 and a kid is screaming the headlines of the day on a street corner in downtown Portland..."MARKET CRASH...READ ALL ABOUT IT"......"HOOVER RAISES TAXES"......BEAVERS IN LAST PLACE".......The hey day of the newspaper industry, even though most business owners were having a tough time ringing up sales. The problem today for newspapers as we all well know is the competition of modern technology that has caught up with old school news reporting. Young people have no interest in reading a paper, they get their news drift from clicking on a news channel or watching Jon Stewart.
So it goes that it has become a boomer business just like the morphing of record stores, which is all too sad for this Stumptown kid. I don't care what the experts say, there is nothing like holding the pulp between my fingers while sipping on a Stumptown Roasters cup of Joe in the morning & reading the paper. My eyes get tired reading news on line, and I find myself just reading headlines and not the actual story. I enjoy clipping a story that might have interest for a friend or business associate and mail it to them. I guess I'm old huh? So are newspapers really on there way out? They are all losing millions of dollars every year and letting staff members go in huge numbers, all with the exception of the Wall St Journal and possibly the NY Times. Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland has introduced his Newspaper Revitalization Act- it would allow newspapers to operate as non-profits for educational purposes giving them status similar to churches & charity organizations. Under this agreement, they could print stories but have no voice such as a political endorsement. They might as well shut down if it gets to this! What a horrible idea. I'm sitting here racking my brain trying to come up with an idea to SAVE THE DAY FOR MY PAPERS.... sorry I'm clueless. I guess they should of concentrated on LOCAL news and more feature stories, but that takes talented staffing. Take the Letterman wedding story....Oregonian had that TWO DAYS AFTER I KNEW ABOUT IT. It was old news. Newspapers are becoming old news....and that really saddens me. I will go through major withdrawal if papers cease to exist. You read it right here, ON LINE.
Interesting that a comedy show was the only media outlet to call bullshit on Jim Cramer's antics on CNBC. Real journalism is turning up in some non-traditional places and in many cases being presented by amateurs.
Do check pdxwiseguys.com (They're not amateurs!) The Oregonian and Trib don't get it yet.
For as bad off as newpapers are, television and radio are worse off. Huge debt. The advertising model is totally out of date because of the Internet. Broadcasting commercials to eyeballs and ears that aren't looking for what the message is selling is a waste of money and clients are just beginning to figure it out.
Sure hope every town in America maintains one printed paper as least five days a week. I'm afraid when we're dead so will newspapers be. Very few people under 35 look at them.
Posted by: Bill | March 30, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Oregonian sure is getting skinny!
Posted by: steve | March 30, 2009 at 10:17 PM
And it is not only the newspapers that arre entirely out of date. TV and Radio news shows are out of date also-for I can read or hear about stories on the Internet two to five daysd before they are broadcast to the masses listening to radio or tv.
Example-when the actress from Maude and The Golden Girls: Bea Arthur passed away-I read it on the Internet news just thirty seven minutes after her death was announced on AP.
Posted by: Glen W Livingston-"Roofs 'R' Us!" Stm | April 28, 2009 at 07:36 PM