Friday, December 12, 2008

Newspaper Slow Death

The Wall Street Journal just reported that the Detroit News and the Free Press will only offer home delivery three days a week.

“The publisher hasn't made a final decision … but the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday would call for the Free Press and its partner paper, the Detroit News, to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days—Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the publisher would sell single copies of an abbreviated print edition at newsstands and direct readers to the papers' expanded digital editions.”

Does that make them a “treakly?”

Print is dead, but it is a slow, tortured demise.

4 comments:

Jeni said...

The demise of the newspaper industry is just sad, really sad! Our local newspaper -a Monday thru Saturday publication -is frequently what Mandy and I refer to as a very quick read. Often it only consists of 12-16 pages and not much of interest there save for "Dear Abby" and the obituaries. (First thing I generally read to make sure my name isn't there.) I read the daily paper from the adjacent county online every day too though. Just can't afford to subscribe to both papers but I would hate to not have that service -a newspaper -to hold in my hands and scan through every day.

fermicat said...

I still can't decide whether to renew my AJC subscription or not. They continue to lay off people, and the paper is not what it used to be. I could read everything in it online.

The Curmudgeon said...

The papers in Chicago are shriveling and shrinking. Although the Tribune has filed for bankruptcy, it is expected to survive. For now.

But there were four vigorous Chicago papers when I was but a lad. You might argue that there's still three if you count the Daily Herald but that doesn't even circulate in the City.

But let me ask: I subscribe to the Trib and I read the Sun-Times every day on the train. Some days, though, I don't even open the Trib -- I've gotten what I would have gotten from the print edition off line in the course of the day. Do you find yourself doing this in Atlanta?

Dave said...

I am a changed traditionalist when it comes to "paper" newspapers. All my life I read one everyday. Then I started spending more time online and as Curmudgeon says, I got all the news I needed over the course of the day, from a variety of sources.

I still got the Sunday paper as reading it and drinking coffee seemed necessary parts of a civilized life.

Then there were the staff and budget cuts made the Sunday read a half hour affair.

I'm now an online kind of guy.