Goodbye, daily newspapers in Detroit

[classicman]

Yup Dar - I heard the same thing.

Seattle paper stops the presses, goes online only

Reporters, editors and photographers at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer prepared their final contributions to the paper, toasted one another with shots of Wild Turkey and packed up their desks in an "eerily clean" newsroom as the final edition of the paper went to the presses Monday night.

The paper published its final print edition Tuesday as the P-I makes a transformation into an online-only news outlet. A skeleton crew of 20 to 25 staffers will remain at the new Seattle PI.com while more than 140 staffers will lose their jobs.

"Its been an opportunity to experience your community first-hand," staff photographer Meryl Schenker said of her 13 years with the paper. "You meet people from all walks of life, and that's been a real privilege."

P-I journalists coming into the newsroom Monday morning were told by management that they would "put the paper to bed for the last time" that day. Other reporters and photographers on assignment when the news broke received texts about it from their colleagues.

The P-I is the largest paper to go under in an economic climate where newspapers are facing a steep drop in advertising revenues and readership. At the same time, newspapers are also forced to compete with Web sites that republish news stories but do not share the costs of producing them.

Here is another

Ex-Rocky Mountain News staffers plan news Web site

DENVER (AP) - Former Rocky Mountain News staffers plan to start an online newspaper if they can get 50,000 paying subscribers by April 23.

That date would have been the News' 150th anniversary.

The E.W. Scripps Co. shut down the News last month, citing mounting losses.

The founders of InDenverTimes.com say the site will go live on May 4 if they meet the subscription goal.

The Web site would be free but subscribers who pay $4.99 a month would get interactive chats, columns and other extras.

The site calls the subscriptions an investment "to encourage a bold, creative effort to continue a vision based on a 150-year Denver tradition."

InDenverTimes.com includes 30 reporters and editors who worked at the Rocky.

[dar512]

I don't think that investigative journalism will go away entirely. What you'll see is more organizations like AP and UPI supplying stories to the web news providers.

[Undertoad]

AP sucks worse than most newspaper reporters.

We haven't had much true journalism anywhere in the system for some time now. Most local newspapers reprint a combination of information anybody can get, and information fed to them by people wanting publicity or stories.

Half the "real" news is not from reporters calling people, it's from people calling reporters. This information will move to wherever the eyeballs are.

Aside from the real news from NYT and WaPo, we simply aren't losing that much actual news from newspapers. Here are the Philadelphia Inquirer front page stories from Monday (yesterday):

1. Suburban school districts are finding it harder to get extra money from fund-raisers and so can't afford the special "extras" outside their traditional budgets. Unavailable due to cuts: chamber music coaches, Arabic teachers, smartboards. Not news: the precious snowflakes will have to learn the basics for a while.

2. Pakistan to reinstate chief justice. an AP story, and not a very important one. News failure: the importance of Pakistan's chief justice will be lost on all but 1% of readers, and there are about 50 more important stories in the region.

3. Storage unit auctions on the rise. When people abandon their rented storage units, the contents are auctioned all at once. Happening more often right now. A hard-working reporter wasted time to bring you this front-page item.

4. Fumo trial status. Highly-visible local corrupt politician gets closer to his jail sentence. News.

5. AIG lists payouts from its bailout. Washington Post story. News.

What do you miss by the loss of the Inquirer, the biggest daily in the 5th largest city? Two actual news stories, one which appears nationally anyway, and a local one which can wait for the trial's verdict. One item which doesn't mean much to anyone. And two "non-news" stories of little importance to anyone.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Throw out the front page, actually the whole "A" section. The value of the Local paper is in the other sections, that's what's hard to get elsewhere.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Throw out the front page, actually the whole "A" section. The value of the Local paper is in the other sections, that's what's hard to get elsewhere.

Bingo.

[Undertoad]

Well, somebody has to tell them, because they are paying big money for those AP and WaPo stories.

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by classicman

Huh?

When Mercury goes Retrograde, it appears the planet is moving backward. It isn't really, it is an optical illusion. But, Mercury rules communication, so when it's retrograde, it's said there is all kinds of miscommunication, and anything dealing with communication and understanding goes haywire. Hence my little joke. :p

When Mercenary goes retorgrade, all bets are off.

[sugarpop]

It makes me very sad. Obama is worried about the auto industry going away, but has he said anything about this? Why aren't we trying to save newspapers?

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

How do their broaden their horizons on Fark?

Oh, believe me, I've learned MANY things on Fark I had never known about before.

[classicman]

:bites tongue:

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

4. Fumo trial status. Highly-visible local corrupt politician gets closer to his jail sentence. News.

Yeh - who was gonna read any of that when the BIG story was the verdict that already came out?

[monster]

The Ann Arbor News joins the ranks:

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/...se_in_jul.html

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by classicman

Yeh - who was gonna read any of that when the BIG story was the verdict that already came out?

I did, to find out what he was guilty of and the collateral fallout that they think will happen.

Tonight I posted a clipping in Chisinhuston's Cape Town thread that I never would have seen on the internet. I'm sure it's there somewhere but I wouldn't have gone looking for it, because it's too off the wall.

[classicman]

I agree with your second point Bruce and thats what is going to suffer. As far as the Fumo trial ... There was no need to wait till the next day to find out that info, that was posted the moment it happened.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes, but in bits and pieces, some didn't actually come out until they were well into the trial. It's the difference between, he's accused of climbing a mountain, and he's convicted of climbing a mountain, while trespassing on Joe Blow's land, and with the help of Mr Somebody cut down trees for firewood.