It's my job to be a dispassionate analyst of the media industry, but the sudden death of the Rocky Mountain News is hitting me hard. Not unexpected, but it all came down sooner, more abruptly than expected -- with some ominous implications for other ailing metros. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
This is as much an introspective piece as a news analysis, and Rick Edmonds hits all the majors points, via excellent prose, although he lingers overmuch on joint operating agreements ... and that's not where the problem lies. I'm also not so sure newspapers, especially big city ones, may weather the economic storm, although the Detroit Free Press is making a go at it (I'll provide a link).
Weaker papers in chains will be weeded out to give the rest a fighting chance to get through the recession and recover in better times. Money-losing papers are on a very short leash to cut expenses very quickly — especially union contracts — or face closure or bankruptcy.
And few will lament their loss, which is a collective social loss, as journalism informs the community rather than affirms the target market.
It's time we analyze whether the platform of Internet can sustain news that tells people what they need to know, rather than what they want to know. We see the same phenomenon on NewsTrust in review ratings.