Comments on Paper Pains

Wow. The Monitor was at one time as good as any newspaper in the world.

You know what's funny about this? I read that story on the Seattle Times website and promptly canceled my Times subscription as a result. I'd been thinking about doing it for a few weeks (and I have received a daily paper almost my entire adult life), but the news that the CSM, a paper I adore, is going online was all the further inspiration I needed. So, yay Times for finally freakin' putting Doonesbury on the comics page, but the Burner coverage has SUCKED and on the whole, I'd rather not waste the trees.

Good for them. I've long been impressed by the Monitor and this step shows that they are still as forward-thinking as ever. I may subscribe as a result.

I wonder if they ever considered a few pages of escort ads? They really brighten up any publication.

"Paper Pains"?... "Paper Cuts" is way more pun-talucar, even at the expense for being pendatic and all.

@3, It has less to do with forward thinking vs backward thinking, and a lot more to do with the bottom line. For most papers, including both of Seattle's dailies, print ads continue to bring in over 90% of the revenue. When 10% of the revenue (the share that online brings in) can pay for the whole cost of a newsroom, more papers will go online only. Until then, thanks for your support.

This works for the CSM now only because they get a lot less of their revenue from ad $ and a lot more from subscriptions. Plus they're nonprofit and have a church behind them. Their business model doesn't work for everyone.

I know it's really fun to smugly laugh as paper circulation plummets, but if you knew anything about the role of Media in society you would know that (as a bigger picture) this is bad.

Good luck blogging when you have no sources. Good luck checking into wars with no international beauros. Good luck bankrolling investigative journalism with no budget whatsoever.

Yeah, everyone, HAAAAA HAAAA! (idiots.)

I hesitantly see it as a good thing: the Monitor is keeping all of its overseas bureaus open because of this step. I'd much rather see this step than have them close those bureaus and keep print. I'll subscribe online.

Dammit, I was actually thinking about subscribing to dead tree CSM. I subscribed to online previously, but it was far too unwieldy.

Besides, dead tree is much easier to read on the bus when you can't get a fucking seat and have to stand in a rumbling metal box driven by an unmitigating leadfoot for forty minutes. Or when you get shafted with the buses that don't have wifi.

For Peace Corps Volunteers and other Americans working in foreign countries, the Monitor's weekly international edition provided a lifeline to the states. Too bad the company never tried or even allowed (I remember how it rejected subscription requests) a stateside circulation of the weekly international edition.

I think the CSM has remained principled and has done a superb job of journalism and editorial integrity for decades. I really hope they survive in our Age of Short Attention Spans.

Amusingly, my Wall Street Journal subscription runs out next week - and I won't be renewing, cause you can get the Times or PI at Bulldog News for $3 for the semester ... and they have way better comix.

I own a small tree farm. We are environmentally responsible and only cut small growths at a time. Trees are a renewable resource. They are farmed as a product like corn or cotton. Trees are thinned responsibly and only small portions of a crop are cut. The majority of the tree farm stand stays intact, and is wildlife friendly and a boon to the environment.

You aren't wasting trees when you buy a newspaper. The newspaper gets recycled, and a young tree stand grows where the older stand had been. This is healthy for the tree farm forest as a whole. Trees in a tree farm need thinning to keep the forest healthy, just as controlled burn wildfires keep a forest healthy. Controlled burns sweep the tree farm forest floor, and the incidence of uncontrolled burn is sharply reduced.

We always want to have tangible books, newspapers, and magazines. Those are things to cherish, of cultural and historical relevance. A first-edition book is a joy. I hope the next generation understands that stewards of tree farms are responsible for one of our great environmental treasures, trees. We understand their enormous importance on this earth. We respect them as we walk among them. Trees are a renewable natural resource and a gift to the planet. We who own and manage tree farms do not take our responsibilities lightly.