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Friday, February 8, 2008

It Just Keeps Getting Worse

posted by on February 8 at 15:18 PM

This paragraph from yesterday’s NYT is true:

Not long ago, news like that would have drawn much commentary and hand-wringing in the newspaper business, but in the last few months, reductions have become so routine that they barely make a ripple

Proof that it’s true: Here at Slog, we failed to post this downright hopeless story about daily papers.

I didn’t even notice it until yesterday afternoon, when bored with the O-jobs in the front section, I flipped to the business page.

RSS icon Comments

1

Well as long as I can keep reading the Slog, the PI and the Times for free...

Posted by Cale | February 8, 2008 3:23 PM
2

And what was Bill Virgin (a bright spot at the dreary P-I) talking about when he warned in his column the other day of a bubble bursting in the online-advertising economy? That kind of freaks me out.

Posted by tomasyalba | February 8, 2008 3:39 PM
3

It really is getting pretty ugly out there for newspapers. Joke all you want, but how would you like it if you woke up one morning and both the Times and PI had gone out of business. Yes, their websites too. Don't laugh - that day may not be too far off.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty | February 8, 2008 3:39 PM
4

I get all the news I need from the voice in my head.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | February 8, 2008 3:43 PM
5

Newspapers are closing because they suck. They are more interested in selling ads than news. The news they do have is bought from AP or Reuters, except for the Opinion pages and they usually suck.

At least the Stranger has transgendered hookers, rampant drug abuse, Tourette's Syndrome and David Schmader.

Posted by blank12357 | February 8, 2008 3:51 PM
6

It's their own fault for being so far left that they have falling circulations. The most arrogant place on earth is the editorial room of the Seattle PI.

Posted by raindrop | February 8, 2008 3:52 PM
7

@3

I wouldn't care at all. And I'm not laughing, because it isn't funny. Yet. It will be funny when it happens.

Posted by Mr. Poe | February 8, 2008 3:53 PM
8

If print revinue is down and online ad revinue is nearly non-existence how will this not effect the stranger too?

Posted by Hmmmmmmmmmm | February 8, 2008 4:01 PM
9

Damn you Craigslist! Stealing bread from mouths of children! DAMN YOU!

Posted by JC | February 8, 2008 4:10 PM
10

If this keeps up, Frank Blethen may not need to care about the inheritance tax.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | February 8, 2008 4:13 PM
11

"Oh noes, not teh local papers!" . . . does anybody seriously think that there's gonna be an unmet need for local news? There is a fierce desire to know what's going on in one's city, and new technology allows this info to be disseminated at near-zero marginal cost. If the papers die, it's because people have found a better way to get local news. And if that's the case, then what's the problem?

Posted by nbc | February 8, 2008 4:13 PM
12

If that's so, then how come so much of what's in the P-I and the Times goes unreported in the bright and shiny web world?

For all the "new media" cheerleading that goes on, web publishing is even more dependent on advertising than newspapers are. The downturn in advertising revenue is going to hit everywhere, and anyone who's struggling to get by on blog ads is in for an even bigger shock than local newspapers.

Posted by Fnarf | February 8, 2008 4:19 PM
13

There's also the sustainability issue of getting logs into newsprint and moving that newsprint into print plants and then recovering all that newsprint from the users. Newspapers are valuable, for sure, but the medium they're using for maximum ad dollar return is not a sustainable medium. Not only that, it's very deleterious to our planet. But then so is almost everything.

Posted by chas Redmond | February 8, 2008 4:35 PM
14

The newspapers put the towncriers out of work and though the townsfolk lamented the loss of their crier, they appreciated the convenience of the new medium. Now the cable networks and interweb are putting the newspapers out of business. Doubtless the townsfolk will once again both lament the loss and find ways to appreciate the new media.

Posted by behelden | February 8, 2008 4:35 PM
15

It's one thing to be all "oh hah hah newspapers suck and they're going to fail!"

It is quite another thing to consider where investigative journalism is going to come from when bearuaes can no longer afford it.

I can't believe that this NYT piece didn't address the impact to Democracy an impotent press will leave. The press is supposed to be the WATCHDOG. Who is going to monitor and investigate our government?

Bloggers? They STILL get their content from larger dailies. They have neither the resources nor the knowhow to crack big stories...and then we get into international news. Who is going to be able to afford to "embed" journalists in future wars?

Who's going to be there?

This may seem like a silly rant, but the effects of collapsing press organizations should be considered as dire. It's very disheartening.

Posted by Non | February 8, 2008 4:40 PM
16

How is it The Wire can continue to stay so topical? David Simon, dogged genius.

Posted by laterite | February 8, 2008 5:24 PM
17

Good news for you then huh Josh? If all the reporters are leaving the Times and PI that means your resume is now on the top of the stack!

Also, if the local papers are such shit why does the Stranger continually rely on their content to prop up all the fluff they post online?

Posted by I'm a Nuclear Bomb | February 8, 2008 6:07 PM

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