Stop The Presses!...No Seriously, No More
"Hey, what were those huge pieces of gray paper called? You know, those massive ones that our parents used to read when we were little? C'mon! My dad use to swear under his breath when he used to check the sports scores on these things...OH YEAH!!! THE NEWSPAPER!!!"
The sad thing is, in 50-60 years this may not be an uncommon question. I remember doing mazes on the back of the Frootloop box when my father used to read the newspaper at the breakfast table. This is no longer the case. Now all the information one could possibly want it right at your fingertips. To be perfectly honest, the internet is giving newpapers a good hard boot.
The Rocky Mountain Press is one of many newspaper that have closed it doors because of low advertising revenue, and new online news sites. It closed its doors on February 27, 2009 because of operating at a $16 million dollar loss. The Rocky Mountain Press had considered online press, but even ad revenue would nto be able to support the debt. The Rocky Mountain Press is the winner of four pulitzer awards, and the proud owners of a sports section, photo section, and writing staff who are voted top 10 in the nation among newspapers each year. This just goes to show that even with a stellar staff no newspaper is safe from shutting down.
If the Rocky Mountain Press is not enough warning to other newspapers, then the Boston Globe most certainly is. In the past years, the Boston Globe has not exactly been making a profit. It is actually $1.1 billion in debt. The New York Times Co. is threatening to shut down the Boston Globe, if the Globe does not pay $20 million in union concessions. Tobe Berkovitz, communications professor at Boston University said, "It is a huge warning shot across the bow of the newspaper industry. If this can happen to the storied Boston Globe, pretty much nothing is safe." The Boston Globe has won 20 pulitzer prizes.
If big names newspapers like these two can be shut down, then online journalism really is on the up and up. Onlin journalism has the all the information of a normal newspaper and then some. It is true that print journalism carries history and tradition with it. However, in the global recession some newspapers are just to expensve to continue printing. In cases like this sometimes it is best to just go with the flow of the times.
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ReplyDeleteThere were several things that I liked about your post. The first being your opener. It works for me as a lead when the story is something I can relate to. Even if I may not have had the exact experience, your lead caught my attention.
ReplyDeleteI thought the information on The Rocky Mountain Press was very interesting. Like you said, it goes to show that there may not be anything that can save the newspaper now. I think it makes a very good point for other newspapers. The only thing that I think you could have improved on, was the fact that you found one fact (a few certain newspapers shutting down) and you ran with that, making a couple paragraphs boring, and leaving some to be desired.
Overall a good post, and informative!