As Cities Go From Two Papers to One, Talk of Zero

New York Times by Richard Perez Pena | Mar. 12, 2009 (Special Report)
For Papers, a Downsizing Trickle Becomes a Flood

The history of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer stretches back more than two decades before Washington became a state, but after 146 years of publishing, the paper is expected to print its last issue next week, perhaps surviving only in a much smaller online version.

And it is not alone. The Rocky Mountain News shut down two weeks ago, and The Tucson Citizen is expected to fold next week.

At least Denver, Seattle and Tucson still have daily ... Full Story »

Posted by Kristin Gorski

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Kristin Gorski
3.8
 by Kristin Gorski - Mar. 12, 2009

Another article tracking the ongoing trouble facing newspapers and journalism in the U.S. Quotations from newspaper critics and from online-only media outlets are important: even they don't want newspapers to fail, as it would cut down on the flow of information we need. Could be more in depth, including more details on what is being done to save papers.

If newspapers go online only--resulting in smaller news operations, how does this affect investigative journalism, which often requires more time and effort to produce compelling results?

For more than two centuries, newspapers have been the indispensable source of public information and a check on the abuses of government and other powerful interests. And they still reach a vast and growing audience. Daily print circulation has dropped from a peak of 62 million two decades ago to around 49 million, and online readership has risen faster, to almost 75 million Americans and 3.7 billion page views in January, according to Nielsen Online. But no one yet has unlocked the puzzle of supporting a large newsroom purely on digital revenue, a fact that may presage an era of news organizations that are smaller, weaker and less able to fulfill their traditional function as the nation’s watchdog.

A democratic society needs a robust, informative press — it looks like the U.S. is getting closer to not having this. The negative ripple effects could be astounding.

Kristin posted this story.

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