Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Death of News (Dinosaur Media DeathWatchâ„¢)
The Nation ^ | November 15, 2006 | Nicholas Von Hoffman

Posted on 11/15/2006 12:33:32 PM PST by abb

Hope for haters of "the media" of whatever stripe or flavor! Judging from recent events, they may not have much media to kick around any more. Things are definitely on the droop in news-media land.

One reason morale is down is reportorial work is getting exceedingly dangerous. In recent weeks Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist, was murdered in Moscow; so far this year in Iraq twenty-six journalists have been killed; and just the other day, according to the Associated Press, "Misael Tamayo Hernandez, editor of El Despertar de la Costa, was found nearly naked, with his hands tied behind his back, in a room of the Venus Motel on a highway, Zihuatanejo police officials said." Incidents like that can put a chill on recruiting at the J-school job fair.

While foreign journalists are losing their lives, journalists in America are losing their jobs. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "daily newspapers in New York, Boston, Houston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and elsewhere are laying off or buying out hundreds of newsroom employees, as well as other workers." And talk about covering your own funeral: The Monitor added that "last summer, The Christian Science Monitor cut newsroom jobs, too." Those cities do not begin to exhaust the list of places where reporters and editors are being let go.

While reporters are not yet as scarce as hen's teeth, there are far fewer of them than there used to be. Here is an instance brought to us by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, one of those high-toned outfits that studies the state of things and issues reports: "There are roughly half as many reporters covering metropolitan Philadelphia, for instance, as in 1980. The number of newspaper reporters there has fallen from 500 to 220. The pattern at the suburban papers around the city has been similar, though not as extreme. The local TV stations, with the exception of Fox, have cut back on traditional news coverage. The five AM radio stations that used to cover news have been reduced to two. As recently as 1990, the Philadelphia Inquirer had 46 reporters covering the city. Today it has 24."

The cause of mass reporter firings are varied, but the biggest is long-term loss of circulation, sometimes slowly and sometimes shockingly quick. "Average daily circulation dropped by 2.8 percent during the six-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with the period last year, according to an industry analysis of data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation for Sunday papers fell by 3.4 percent," wrote the New York Times. If the readers continue to disappear at this rate into the Internet or die off or opt out of word communication for pictures and music, the advertisers are going to do the same.

As readers evaporate, so do advertisers and, although American newspapers continue to be more profitable than most businesses, there is panic over what the future holds in store. Investors, fixated on what they think is going to happen, have pushed down the price of newspaper stocks. The fall in the price is driving the remaining newspaper stockholders nuts.

American corporate managers are schooled to do one thing and one thing only under stress--lay people off. Here and there around the country editors have been resisting. They have been tussling with their own managements, insisting that there comes a point when laying off staff hurts the quality of the product.

One such drama has been playing out at the Los Angeles Times, where over the past couple of years two top editors have been shown the door for refusal to lop heads. The Times is owned by the Tribune, a Chicago-based corporation that owns dozens of newspapers, TV stations, Internet sites and even a Major League Baseball team. It makes money, pots of it, but not enough to keep the price of its stock where its owners would like it to be.

Since the major shareholders are interested in money, not product quality, they are willing to sell the company or, if they can make more money another way, to split it up and sell it off piece by piece. That is what was done earlier this year with the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain. K-R, a quality outfit with a special ethos, is now in pieces under various owners with various ideas of what a good newspaper is supposed to be.

If the Tribune corporation is broken up, God knows who will end up owning its papers. Rumor has it that billionaire entertainment wheeler-dealer David Geffen and real estate developer Eli Broad may team up to buy the LA Times.

So who needs newspapers anyhow? We have the Internet. Other than the websites supported by newspapers, the Internet is devoid of reporters. The Internet operations do not pay people to go out and gather accurate information. Thus we are bumping up against a contradictory situation. Thanks to the Internet, the iPod and so forth, we have more media outlets than ever before--but fewer reporters.

When the last reporter is laid off, we can subsist on rumor, speculation and gossip. These three are usually more interesting than the facts, but do you want to bet your life and livelihood on them?

Well, there is always what they call citizen journalism. That means, if you see something, take a picture of it with your cellphone and call in. It's not exactly New York Times reliability, but it's open-source, and they tell us that is terrific stuff. You know about Wikipedia. So why not wiki-wacky news?


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dbm; happyhappyjoyjoy; newspapers
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

1 posted on 11/15/2006 12:33:39 PM PST by abb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: abb
GONE WITH THE WIND - 2006

"There was a land of Publishers and Editors called the Newspaper Business... Here in this pretty world Journalism took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Reporters and their Enablers, of Anonymous Sources and of Stringers... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization Gone With the Wind..."

With apologies to Margaret Mitchell...

2 posted on 11/15/2006 12:34:12 PM PST by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb
Raoul's First Law of Journalism
BIAS = LAYOFFS

3 posted on 11/15/2006 12:34:40 PM PST by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 04-Bravo; aimhigh; andyandval; Arizona Carolyn; backhoe; Bahbah; bert; bilhosty; bwteim; ...

Ping


4 posted on 11/15/2006 12:35:06 PM PST by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: abb

"The Internet operations do not pay people to go out and gather accurate information."

From what I read in newspapers, they don't either.


5 posted on 11/15/2006 12:38:53 PM PST by linear (Hawking radiation notwithstanding, its usually best to keep your elephant away from black holes.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb
The Internet operations do not pay people to go out and gather accurate information.

And the media does?

ROTFLMAO


6 posted on 11/15/2006 12:40:33 PM PST by youngjim (Anger a liberal. Work Hard. Succeed. Be Happy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: abb

[When the last reporter is laid off, we can subsist on rumor, speculation and gossip.]

That is what they have been serving up to us for years anyway.


7 posted on 11/15/2006 12:41:32 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee (Anything a politician gives you he has first stolen from you)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: abb
When the last reporter is laid off, we can subsist on rumor, speculation and gossip.

In other words, pretty much what we get now from the NYT, WP and the broadcast and cable news networks.

8 posted on 11/15/2006 12:44:16 PM PST by Maceman (This is America. Why must we press "1" for English?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb

My area newspaper, the St Petersberg Times, is an absolute left wing shill. If they don't have anything negative to report about Conservatives, they make up an editorial headline and paste it up as news. Their latest jihad is we need to pay more property taxes.

I haven't bought one in years.


9 posted on 11/15/2006 12:56:49 PM PST by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb
The local TV stations, with the exception of Fox, have cut back on traditional news coverage.

Now stop for a moment and think, why is that?

Could it be that in fact, the MSM isn't dying, but rather (pardon the pun), the BIASED media that is shrinking.

I realize that self reflection isn't their strong suit but how long will it be before someone in the MSM figures out that if they present an impartial view of the knews, they succeed, if they continue their biased coverage, they die.

Screw 'em I say.

Cheers,

knewshound

http://www.knewshound.blogspot.com/
10 posted on 11/15/2006 12:58:34 PM PST by knews_hound (Sarcastically blogging since 2004.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb
One reason morale is down is reportorial work is getting exceedingly amateurish, biased, and unprofessional...
11 posted on 11/15/2006 1:04:15 PM PST by pabianice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb

The latest offer from the Oregon Fishwrap, AKA the Oregonian, is a 4 week free trial.

Not on your life - don't have a bird and my dog is already housetrained.


12 posted on 11/15/2006 1:05:47 PM PST by Wicket (God bless and protect our troops and God bless America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Wicket
Take the trial and cancel when over. Then repeat til out of business. Could you imagine a conservative newspaper? The circulation would be astronomical!
13 posted on 11/15/2006 1:13:23 PM PST by US_MilitaryRules (Time to eradicated islambs and mooselimbs! GO PTSC)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: abb
Other than the websites supported by newspapers, the Internet is devoid of reporters.

I doubt Free Republic is "supported" by newspapers. Free Republic does, though, have thousands of reporters.

14 posted on 11/15/2006 1:14:13 PM PST by stevem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb
and just the other day, according to the Associated Press, "Misael Tamayo Hernandez, editor of El Despertar de la Costa, was found nearly naked, with his hands tied behind his back, in a room of the Venus Motel on a highway

Only the purest kind of Marxist, writing for "The Nation," would imagine that this explains the Death of the MSM.

Economics was never a strong point for Marxists.

15 posted on 11/15/2006 1:16:43 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

HA...HA HE.. HE ... HE :)


16 posted on 11/15/2006 1:18:29 PM PST by ElPatriota (Let's not forget, we are all still friends despite our differences)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: All
I guess the MSM will have to come up with a Martyr award for journalist killed in the line of duty while changing the world.
17 posted on 11/15/2006 1:23:11 PM PST by fatez
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: abb

"Average daily circulation dropped by 2.8 percent during the six-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with the period last year, according to an industry analysis of data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation for Sunday papers fell by 3.4 percent," wrote the New York Times.”

Gee, maybe the (former) customers of these "news" papers feel that they weren't getting what they were paying for. I suggest that they start checking their "facts". Then maybe I'll feel bad enough to send Nicholas Von Hoffman a handkerchief.


18 posted on 11/15/2006 2:18:02 PM PST by haroldeveryman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: abb
I slowly savored every . . . single . . . word . . . of this great article and then reread it twice. I tried to recall the spin, lies and distortions they told about Reagan, Bork, and hundreds of other good men these past 30 years. The old liberal media is dying an agonizing death and I have as much compassion for them as I do for a dead cockroach.
19 posted on 11/15/2006 2:31:43 PM PST by Jacquerie (All Muslims are suspect.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fatez
so far this year in Iraq twenty-six journalists have been killed;

It's too soon to pull out, the iraqi's have more work to do.

20 posted on 11/15/2006 2:36:02 PM PST by USS Alaska (Nuke the terrorist savages - In Honor of Standing Wolf)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson