Would you miss newspapers if they stopped publishing?
I might be sorry for starting this topic in the Talk of the Day. But we’ll see. I predict I will get a lot of people ranting about the “liberal bias” in the media. I’m hopeful that regardless of how you feel about the Post-Dispatch, you might appreciate the role newspapers try to play in our democracy and respond from that point of view.
But, as you have heard, the news out of the newspaper industry hasn’t been great lately.
- The Chicago Tribune’s parent Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection.
- The New York Times Company is borrowing about a quarter billion bucks against its new Manhattan building.
- The Detroit newspapers — The Free-Press and the News — might cut home delivery most days.
- The Christian Science Monitor has announced it will stop printing a print newspaper, just as the Capital Times in Madison, Wisc., has.
And those are just some of the relatively recent developments. My colleague, Erica Smith, has documented the loss of jobs at news organizations on her blog, Paper Cuts.
Now, if you’re here, reading this blog, it tells me that you care about news. Otherwise, you’d be wasting your time doing something else from your office computer right now. So is news important to you? Would you miss the newspaper if it stopped publishing?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
Yes, I would miss the newspaper. I prefer the real thing over staring at a screen.
As for all the liberal-bias crybabies: stop your constant complaining and go start your own newspapers.
Asolutely — I would definitely miss the newspaper. I love being able to scan a few favorite features on stltoday.com, like this blog, while eating luch at my desk, then going home to read in newsprint the editorials or other articles that deserve more in-depth examination. The paper is cheap, and I consider myself lucky to have daily access to it quickly and easily.
If I may add my own editorial comment, I think it is a sad day and an even sadder commentary on our shallow society when so many papers are going out of business. And contrary to the too-popular belief of those determined to look for one a them dadburn ole’ Lib’rals ehind every door, I don’t believe the decline of the printed media has anything to do with the mythical “Liberal Press.” Rather, it has everything to do with the dumbing-down of a society in which reading is devalued daily and pop/TV culture is all the rage. Next time you consider why Johnny can’t read or write properly, you might want to go to his house and see how many books you can find in it — or maybe ask Daddy how recently he put down the TV remote and picked up something written.
About two years ago, I cancelled my daily suscriptions as I can view news online during my lunch hour during the week.
However, I would definitely miss the paper on the weekend. Like someone mentioned in another e-mail, I like being able to sit back in my recliner and leisurely read through the paper. I work on a computer all week, and do not want to have the read on the computer when I am away from work.
My greatest memory is of Sunday mornings after breakfast. Mom and Dad have their sections of the newspaper, we have the comics and the older siblings are reading to the younger ones. Or Mom and Dad might read an article that they think would be interesting to us.
I continued that tradition when my nieces and nephews started spending weekends with me. Now that they have children of their own, they often stop by on Sunday morning, and we spend time together reading the newspaper and visiting.
Not at all. Once and awhile, I get a Sunday paper for coupons or the ad’s. But when the paper comes, the news itself is already old to me. My home page is yahoo, so every half hour or so, I look at the local and national news to see if there is anything new that catches my eye. The whole process takes maybe 30 seconds tops, since news doesn’t happen that fast around here and there usually isn’t anything new. It’s just so much quicker to scan the headlines online, plus I’m saving a tree.
Yes,I miss newspapers. I miss having two newspapers that would compete. I miss a paper that weighed more than the plastic it’s wrapped in. I miss how the vast majority of the articles were written by locals. I wish a publisher was a newspaper man, not an advertising executive. I hate that the PD is being phased out in favor of the Journals. Which, by the way, still litters my lawn, eventhough they say we have to subscribe (why would I subscribe to an advertising rag like that?).
Here’s what I’d like. StlToday by subscription only. A newspaper on my doorstep everyday with important local and national stories, written by locals who understand what those stories mean to St. Louisans. A publisher with guts and vision. An owner concerned with making an impact on the community.
Newspapers can become important again if people in the newspaper business quite giving all their power to the internet.
Yes, Kurt, news is important to me, but why would I buy the cow when the milk is free?
Rupert Murdoch nailed it when he said the media’s arrogance is the cause of their problems. If my customer base told me, by cancelling subscriptions, thousands of times a month, that I have a problem, I would fix it. Has your paper - or any of the other esteemed publications that are on the brink of collapse? Heck no, the Obama-fest amped-up big time. Fine - goodbye.
Another example. I’ve written columninsts from your paper to please quit using the term “The Lou” to refer to our city. I contend it reminds most people around the world of the loo - the toilet. (Do a search on the Internet for the term loo - newspapers around the world use the term.) Why not use St. Lou, which uses the same character count, is endorsed by our chamber of commerce, and is not a homophone for the toilet? Know what I was told by your esteemed Sherpa? Kiss off. Know what I was told by your entertainment writer (boy will I miss her when the cuts come (NOT))? Kiss off. Fine - goodbye.
I honestly don’t know if the decline of newspapers is due to the perceived bias of the press.
There are a myriad of other outlets for people to get their news and information.
Ad revenue is down across the board.
Individual subscriptions are down.
All I know is that I have many friends who have cancelled their subscriptions to the Post-Dispatch because of the bias who, otherwise, enjoy reading a local newspaper….and if I choose to do the same, it will be because of that reason - and that reason alone.
The Post is still publishing and people don’t miss it. The ever-dwindling circulation numbers tell you that.
Kurt, with reference to your original question - would you miss the newspaper if it stopped publishing, and then your comment to Clipper below. Most of the major daily newspapers don’t really report news, they are advocates for the Democrat party and the liberal left. Would I miss it? No. I also think that was Clipper’s point which you misunderstood. If print newspapers reported the news without an agenda they would have some value. Print media is like snail mail, late but worth something if you get something out of it. As it is however, what is the point if the value is only propaganda?
I get all my news online for the most part. I can’t tell you the last time I bought a paper. I am also huge on recycling. The fact that I have been unable to stop my Journal delivery so I have to throw it in my recycle trash irks me to no end….but I know I’m in the minority as I’m sure most people just toss them in the trash.