US newspapers continuing to die at rate of 2 each week

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a growing recognition of the problem, the United States continues to see newspapers die at the rate of two per week, according to a report issued Wednesday on the state of local news.

Areas of the country that find themselves without a reliable source of local news tend to be poorer, older and less educated than those covered well, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications said.

The country had 6,377 newspapers at the end of May, down from 8,891 in 2005, the report said. While the pandemic didn’t quite cause the reckoning that some in the industry feared, 360 newspapers have shut down since the end of 2019, all but 24 of them weeklies serving small communities.

An estimated 75,000 journalists worked in newspapers in 2006, and now that’s down to 31,000, Northwestern said. Annual newspaper revenue slipped from $50 billion to $21 billion in the same period.

https://apnews.com/article/journalism-united-states-39ef84c1131267233768bbb4dcaa181b

[Boomerproud]

1. Don't miss them.

[phylny]

2. We subscribed to our local one here in rural Virginia until

they ran a front page hit piece on Tim Kaine without interviewing him or anyone on his staff. I called them out on it and the author replied, "Oh, we are going to interview him soon." I told him it was an EDITORIAL above the fold and that I was done with their slanted "journalism." I unsubscribed immediately.

[TheRealNorth]

3. Part of the problem

Good news costs money because you have to interviews and research and stuff. We have around half the population that don't care about news that doesn't reinforce their beliefs, and they have well-funded alternatives that feed them the propaganda that they desire. Even on the left, we are not immune to those urges, although I think we are more open-minded. But it's not enough. And the truth is that a lot of newspapers have been bought up and are run by conservatives, and when their politics seep in to the news, that drives the liberal people that are interested in reading actual news away.

[misanthrope]

5. All valid points

Thanks for saying it.

[misanthrope]

4. I know a newspaper publisher who worked to undermine journalism

They started an independent bi-weekly paper and geared their marketing as the opposition to the daily paper, the paper of record that had been in town for close to 150 years. The independent publisher relentlessly took potshots at the daily paper, questioning every aspect of their business model.

"They aren't even owned by locals, but are part of an empire. They don't care about you, dear reader. They are strangers. We're not. We're one of you. Listen to me. You can trust only me." That was the pitch.

Every aspersion they cast at the local paper -- political bias, manipulation, selective coverage to influence public opinion -- were charges that could apply to their work as well. Mix it with abundant rhapsodizing about the special qualities of local mythos and slather it on the pages. To their credit, they knew many people are suckers who easily fall prey to being told exactly what they prefer to hear.

When the daily paper made severe cutbacks in 2012, it eviscerated their staffing. Sales people, graphic designers, journalists, photographers, all got tossed to the curb in a move that decimated the paper. Publication schedules were reduced to three days a week.

The people at the independent paper were beside themselves with glee. They had a huge party in a local public venue, during which they played a video made especially for the event, a short film that celebrated the layoffs that cost so many people their livelihoods and health insurance. They needled the decimation and yukked it up at the misfortune. It was repulsive.

They saw it a great thing because it enriched their pockets. The loss of jobs drove down the market price for journalism. They could pay reporters and freelancers whatever they wanted because there was less competition for the services. It drove down the standards for local journalism, too.

They claimed to be proponents of the Fourth Estate, of a healthy check on power. The reality was they just wanted power for themselves. They didn't care that someone might be pulling the puppeteer's strings on democracy. They just wanted it to be them.