Why are so many newspapers going under?
(PHOTO CREDIT: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES)
The newspaper industry could be at a breaking point. Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 this week and the Wall Street Journal reports that the New York Times Company, which publishes 19 newspapers, is negotiating with lenders to borrow less next year due to falling ad revenues.
Newspaper publishers say there's been a 15 percent drop in advertising sales across the industry this year and the outlook is bleak for 2009.
Papers were already struggling to compete with cable TV and the internet and now the economic downturn is spelling more trouble.
Last year Tribune, which owns television stations and newspapers, went private and was bought out for $8.2 billion but it wasn't enough to save them.
The New York Times has been cutting costs by consolidating and closing print plants.
McClatchy Company, which owns 30 newspapers, cut 2,550 jobs this year and took other steps to cut $200 million. But it still may not be enough.
Here's my question to you: What does it mean that so many newspapers are going under?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Tom from Avon, Maine writes:
It means democracy is at risk. A citizenry that forms its opinions on the basis of sensationalized misinformation from demagogues on talk radio and faux news is not serving its nation. An informed citizenry has to participate if democracy is to work. But without newspapers with traditional Fourth Estate standards, America is history.
Judy from Exeter, California writes:
Because like the car industry, the newspapers refused to keep up with the times. The internet has replaced them with information at our fingertips. What have these guys been doing all these years? Why haven't they kept up with technology? This just seems like the natural order of things, when something better comes along and you don't get your butt in gear and get competitive, then you are going down.
Willow from Iowa writes:
I can get all the information I want on the internet. I go to CNN.com, then head on over to BBC, my local newspapers are online, I have ABC, MSNBC, Countdown with Olbermann, and I can read any newspaper from any city online. I enjoy going to political blogs, and I read Huffington Post and Politico. I haven't bought a newspaper in about 10 years, sorry to say.
Bryan from Colorado Springs, Colorado writes:
Jack, Under the thinking of our current government I would say its because they haven't received a bailout package from congress and we have not yet appointed a newspaper czar.
Terry from North Carolina writes:
Jack, You and Wolf and CNN are putting them out of business, you’re a lot more interesting than the newspapers.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
Newspapers are going under because there are so many other news sources. The economic situation doesn't help either. It also means we can no longer read the paper with our morning coffee, one of retirement's great pleaslures.
The newspapers aren't accepting Blagojevich's bribes to fire editors and as a result, they're not getting financial aid which expains why they're going under.
Technology and information sharing has changed the computer has revolutionized the world, papers are becoming obsolete and with most the printed media falling on the left side of the political spectrum might as well watch MSNBC save 50 cents.
Howard
Joshua Tree, Ca
Is it NOT so far-fetched that fewer people are reading newspapers after a lying administration gave the people pablum as reading material. It is not too surprising that such newspapers are down in circulation. I haven't read a newspaper in years because I was disappointed that newspapers no longer did investigative reporting any longer. Many understand that the stuff coming out of the Bush administration is phony and unbelievable, why read about it and worse pay money to read about it. This situation was far in the making long before the auto industry realized its pain!
The Internet has faster better more selective news without all the advertising attached. Also, advertising is at a new low because there are no jobs, no money and no hope for some Americans.
Jack, really, who reads a newspaper these days? Besides the fact that newspapers kill millions of trees everyday, I can get "up-to-date" 24/7 news on my cable TV, Internet, Blackberry phone, etc. Additionally, I can use search engines and customize my news page, why would I want to search through the newspaper for "yesterday's" news?
It just means it is the 21st Century with instant coverage of all news around the world so why wait for it to come out in print unless you are travelling without access to the Internet or television.
Internet news and the cost of the paper and then the cost of recyling and people cutting every which way they can to survive.
Jack, being a former newspaper man myself, I can tell you quickly that readership for large newspapers is quickly dying out because there are so many venues like 24-hour cable news and the internet that have fossilized newspapers. Newspapers are dated as soon as they reach the news stands, but I can quickly log on and get real time news on the internet from either mainstream or alternative sources. As the Recession deepens, you’ll probably see a lot of the ad bookings dry up as well, which will probably hurt a lot of the smaller and mid-size dailies.
Today the news can be read on the internet, so why bother with newspapers? News off the net is not just one paper with it's own bias, but arcticles from several viewpoints can be read. Also, if an item perks your interest, more information can be gleaned by searches!
It means more people are looking towards the Internet and CNN to get their news. Having newspapers delivered to your house will be a thing of the past just like the milkman bringing milk to your house.
Perhaps they are not very good publications or the public has lost faith in them. It is kind of like politicians Jack. When people no longer trust you they won't support you.
At 42, I read a paper every day, but rarely see people younger than I doing the same. The fact that younger people don't read them is one of the reasons.
Another reason is that many Americans, younger and older, have attention deficit disorder and want their news in quick sound bites and pictures on TV or the internet.
Reading a newspaper takes time and for the most part makes you stop and think about the issue behind the story.
It's kind of sad, really. I like having that blank ink on my fingertips.
I have not had a subscription to a newspaper in years. I rarely purchase a newspaper. I get all my news from CNN (cable and website) as well as the site of several newspapers.
As a former publisher, I can affirm that they have had to bow out due to changing times. We now get our information instantly on the internet and by the time the paper arrives, we already know the news. Book stores still seem pretty busy though. People still love a good story or an in depth read on something of interest.
Jack,
Too many people are accessing the internet and getting news on their phones and IPODs. And as a valuable source as CNN, there's little need to get newspapers. The newspaper industry is not like it was years ago. Thanks to the internet.
Daniel Ambrose,
Atlanta, GA
Jack with the growth of the internet and cable television we as a society could be the most informed, best educated in the history of mankind. Unfortunately even with all the resources available , far too many of us are too lazy to form an informed opinion or gather the facts surrounding an issue. Too many of us prefer to have our opinions and facts force fed to us thru singular sources pushing an idiology or an agenda. The newspapers are the victims of a society that doesn't have the ambition or the time to be confused by the facts.
Hi Jack:
People have to hear bad news on the radio and watch it on TV. Why should we waste time reading about the same story's in the news paper. I only buy the newspaper on Sunday. And if it weren't for the money saving cupons. I wouldn't buy the Sunday edition. The rest of it goes into the fire place or trash can.
Ron San Diego
First, it proves our education system has failed to teach reading and made the public lazy. The lazy part is the TV media and the Internet have replaced the news paper which does not mean that we get better news or the true story.
After the NYT held back the wiretap story thereby enabling Bush to win re-election in 2004, they lost all credibility. They owed us that story – and they blew it.
I don't take a paper anymore because I never read the whole thing, I'm on a tight budget, and I get all the news and other info I want on TV and on my computer. I suspect this is the case with many people and sure isn't helping the newspapers out.
Capitalism at its' finest, Jack. People are getting their news from enough different sources that the advertisers have moved their dollars to where the market is - the web and cable news. There is almost no big banner headline in a major newpapaer that has not been on TV or on the web for a day.
Also, the need for a global reach is stretching the resources of even large newspapers. The locals will survive - but good bye to the majors.
The Internet.
Lets face it, Jack –
America rather get "Breaking News" online.
If you turn on a News channel you have to wait til they cycle back to what you are interested in.....and by the time we get most newspapers.....the news has become "old".
The Internet's convenience, availabilty and accessability has proven most effective.
Arrogance and refusal to give customers what they want. Irrelevant content and lack of In depth coverage. I think Americans are getting smarter. We want answers, not Headlines. They have forced us to go to the internet to get in depth coverage, and once we go there we are not coming back. The internet is not biased in it's coverage. The internet has answers to the tough questions the main stream media are not willing to ask. And one more thing. Why does my local paper charge me two bits for a publication that is 75% advertisements?
Well, Jack, when I can fire up my laptop and have access to virtually every news source in the world, I see little reason to actually BUY a paper.
Sunday crossword puzzles being the sole exception.
Greg
Oak Park, IL
Why buy newspaper when CNN is online for free?
Internet,TV Who needs newspapers anymore everyone looks to the web for news,Weather,Everything
The newspapers are not giving readers what they want. I buy newspapers for their sports, their entertainment information, in depth reporting that i can read at my convenience, the Sunday crossword puzzles, and their columnists. I still have to go to the internet for breaking
news. Newspapers have to do a better job in learning why people buy a newspaper.
Jack they may go the way of the telegram, unneccesary.
Jack, as a fairly young American (25) I would have to guess that newspapers are dying off because many young Americans don't like the inconvenience of them. Reading a newspaper is a process, they are big and cumbersome and it can sometimes take ten minutes just to turn the page. Now, a laptop or internet ready phone on the other hand is much easier to handle. Throw in the added benefit of being able to get the latest news by reading it on CNN.com and it was only a matter of time before people stopped buying newspapers with day old news.
Jack, newspapers can only give you a snapshot of a story at the moment the paper went into production for distribution. The Internet can give you up to the minute unfolding of that same story in real time as it grows. Newspapers served us well for many generations and they will be fondly remembered and cherished. However, they will soon be museum pieces.
Jack,
Until people start leaving laptops on buses, trains and on park benches, there will always be newspapers. We talk about how in the Bush years the gap between the haves and have nots widened. Take newspapers out of the lives of poor Americans and see how the gap widens further. Is that a progressive society? And as for the future of newspapers, if publishers and newspaper owners would have charged for their Internet editions like they charge for everything else, the papers would have a chance. Instead, profit margins are obscene and 10,000 reporters and editors are looking for a PR firm with integrity. This is an example of bad business, plain and simple.
Because nobody believes the news media any more, they are biased and inaccurate. Therefore it doesn't matter if you get your news from the mainstream media or bloggers, you need to fact check it yourself.
it means the 21st century has arrived and there's no reason to keep killing trees, to make garbage.
We have 24 hour news channels, and the internet! Why do we need to pay money for a newspaper?
Jack,
Under the thinking of our current goverment I would say its because they havn't recieved a bailout package from congress and we have not yet appointed a newspaper czar..
Not good management
I believe the newspaper industry has declined because of the internet access for news and also the newspapers are too expensive for many people. If they have the internet they can get all the news they want, so why pay for both.
Because most Americans feel that they need to know more about the rest of the world and less about thier own local neighborhood. Which would explain why so much time and money is dedicated to interests outside of the US and so many Americans go homeless, hungry, and ignored. Maybe its time for us to start bailing out ourselves.
the reason why so many newspapers going under because they are charging high fees for news papers as well not reporting news correctly..many journalists aren't reporting proper news when it comes to major issues affecting our world..some of the news giants are greedy and they careless about their readers when it comes to the news stories..i rather read the huffington report from online than buying the paper..
What does it mean that so many newspapers are going under?
Simple – It means that our economy is getting worse..
Jenna
Roseville CA
Because like the car industry, the newspapers refused to keep up with the times. The internet has replaced them with information at our fingertips. What have these guys been doing all these years? Why haven't they kept up with technology? This just seems like the natural order of things, when something better comes along, and you don't get your butt in gear and get competitive, then you are going down.
Newspapers are just another business falling victim to progress and technology. Look at the manufacturing industries with their robots replacing workers. It's the price of moving forward into the 21st century.
Our newspaper has lost its mature, local flavor in favor of sound-byte journalism. It used to have local, state and national reporters. Now most of the stories come from the same general pool used by other newspapers across the country. These changes occurred long before it went online. While I miss the feel and smell of newsprint, why should I pay $200/year for a daily newspaper when I can read most of the major newspapers online for free?
Jack, I believe it is because many people find it more convenient to watch news unfold on major tv news networks and also the internet has cut into readership because of the ease and convenience of being able to gather a wide range of info. Newspapers simply are finding it necessary to go where the demand lies in order to get read and by so doing, alleviate labor costs tied to publishing a tangible product.
More people, especially the younger generations, are getting all their news off the internet and television. Ebay, Craigslist, and numerous job posting sites are rapidly eroding newspaper want ad revenue. As an old guy, I personally still enjoy sitting down with a cup of coffee to read the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, but I don't subscribe to either, and use the internet and cable TV almost exclusively.
I can get all the information I want on the internet. I go to CNN.com, then head on over to BBC, my local newspapers are online, I have ABC, MSNBC, Countdown with Olbermann, and I can read any newspaper from any city online. I enjoy going to political blogs, and I read Huffington post and politico. I haven't bought a newspaper in about 10 years, sorry to say.
Video killed the radio, now the internet is killing the newspaper.
It means democracy is at risk. A citizenry that forms its opinions on the basis of sensationalized misinformation from demagogues on talk radio and Faux News is not serving its nation.
An informed citizenry has to participate if democracy is to work. No offense, especially to Fareed, but without newspapers with traditional Fourth Estate standards, America is history.
It means that nobody reads anymore because they are too busy with their facebook and blackberries. A society that does not read is a society doomed to failure. The United States is finished because we have become so self-centered that we do not care about our neighbors.
Easy question, simple answer: The Internet.
Just the other day I was called an old man for reading the newspaper, which I love to do everyday. If that's the stigma attached to newspapers, they're as dead. And guess what, I'm only 23.
Internet is what happened in general, along with more and more of reporting on garbage half the time with facts barely checked not to mention proofed for mistakes. Why pay $30 for three months when you can read what you need online for free or watch CNN?
All the Peanut cartoons are reruns.
Duh...the new generation of readers read from txt msgs and just can't get real words. When you are raised on c u ltr and lol, what do you expect?
A society of only plugged in and tuned in people are easily lead as they will choose audio and video to fit their beliefs. That society cannot survive as we must have varying views and information in order to grow and change as individuals. The divisiveness will become even greater in America.
Newspapers gave us that, the news, the majority of the time without bias and without opinion. To lose this paradigm would be a tragedy.
The more I think about this all the above and another reason comes to mind. Nothing I hate more is newspaper strung through the house and stacked in the Garage etc. Waitung for me to carry off.
I want my news in real-time, Jack. If I can't find it online or on cable news, it wasn't newsworthy in the first place.
Jack printing presses don't get the job done as fast as computers. Also computers don't eat like reporters working a story. Classic newspapers don't have the reporters to get the news, cable TV has them. When all you have to do Jack Cafferty is as a question on TV and the Computer and "thousands" will give you the news free. The financial collapse didn't help Newspapers any.
John
Pampa, TX
English printed newspapers is a second language because many places you can buy a newspaper printed in the language you speak, just like on the internet.
Our local paper, a major daily, brought some workers from overseas into the newsroom and tapped some of its employees to teach the newcomers the details of putting out a daily paper. When the lessons were learned, the workers returned to their home country and the employees were fired. They didn't know that they had been training their replacements.
We canceled our subscription. Dirty dealings with loyal employees doesn't breed confidence in their brand of journalism.
Local newspapers many times lost their focus on covering local issues and opinions when they were bought out by the larger groups. If the papers do not return to focusing more on local issues that aren't "Breaking News" that's covered to death by the 24 hour news channels, they will continue to go under.
With the birth of the PC and the internet, more people are reading and watching the news on the web. It's free, it's fast, and it's the latest breaking news on the planet. What's killing the newspapers is the printed news is yesterdays internet news. The internet has become a blessing for consumers and a curse for the printed newspaper. Out of habit, I still subscribe to the printed newspaper to read with my morning cup of coffee. I'm part of a dying breed. In the future everyone will sip their morning cup of joe while gazing at their laptop reading the morning news with the click of a mouse. For some the future is already here.
We don't need newspapers anymore, Jack. We can get all the news and information we want from CNN.com and other news websites for free.
It's a different time and a new age and the internet is what the world uses to get it's information.
Times haved changed. Did you know that most young people living on their own don't have home phones, they only use cellphones?
I've always said that modern technology would be our ruin and our salvation. Looks like we're living an oxymoron, eh!
Hi Jack,
It means that we are turning into a nation of people who can't or choose not to read. If it isn't a quick TV news report or a roller under the bottom of the screen of our favorite sit com, we just don't care. In depth news reporting is a thing of the past–sad, isn't it?
Jack,
easy internet.
I can get instant news flashes on my blackberry. If I want more detail I can go to a variety of online sources. Newspapers are simply obsolete sort of like the old town crier. How much would you pay for a complete set of Encyclopedias? Why would I want to pay for something that goes directly from my driveway to the recycling bin?
I would rather watch (CNN) and the local news. The paper are getting to high for all the ad's they run.By the time you get the paper. It's old news
Jack,
Newspapers are hardly useful and are a past time resource. Nowadays, it's all about the internet and television. Barack Obama has been using the internet not only for his campaign days, but addresses his plans online as president-elect! We are moving in a new direction of resources not only for younger people but for politics, sports, you name it. Besides, we don't need to waste so much paper for something we look at for 5 minutes.
Simple Jack-the internet.
It means that people want to choose the type of information they receive. Papers, like all media are very rarely unbiased. Papers tend to lean right, left, democrat or republican based on who runs them. Why would someone pay to read papers that slant again their views? I still get the paper but find it less and less informative and am thinking I will stop when my subscription expires. The information is always a day late anyway.
Sign of the times Jack. Everything is electronic now, not many people take the time to read a newspaper. It's a shame though......where am I going to get my daily crossword puzzle to do?
This is a tough situation. Some good journalists come up through the newsprint ranks (we see them on TV). Many of us get our news from TV and Internet, and we get it within seconds, or even AS the news is happening complete with moving pictures and sound. A Sunday paper in this town is two bucks and some fool throws the thing in my flowers. It's stuffed full with advertising flyers which makes me feel wasteful and un-green and I have to deal with recycling all thse inserts. A story is broken up from one page to some other hard to find place and sometimes it's tough to reconnect back to the article. And most papers have a bias depending on the editor and/or owner which makes some stories hard to handicap. Sorry...but pinting news on paper is the buggy whip of journalism. Just a matter of time.
Probably too many reason than I could name. The cost to our pockets, the environment, yesterdays news, limited articles, stories, and we get flooded with ads. Turn on the t.v., computer, cellular communicator, and get up to date and to the minute news. I probably would still read a paper if I could afford it and it was printed on hemp.
It means that people are getting their news from the Internet, television, and radio without having to wait for the newsprint to dry. I'm afraid newspapers are fast becoming a relic of the past. Also most newspapers, including our town's, are publishing their newspapers online.
Brownwood, Texas
We can all get the very same news on the internet – without having to pay a cent for 'hard copy'.
These newspapers are clueless inasmuch as websites usually prosper with their ability to sell advertising.
Have you ever seen an ad on any of the internet newspaper sites?
Bernie
Lowell, MA
Internet. It's very easy today to read what goes on around the world with just a click away. We are more interested today than ever so the Internet makes it easy to get opinions from all sides based on the writings, not just a local paper or even CNN.
Uh, the person who says no one reads...exactly WHAT does he think people are doing on the Internet...sniffing?
I, like most get news from CNN, MSNBC, local cable news a lot quicker than the next mornings paper...BUT that is thrown at us so fast it's hard to absorb or sometimes to comprehend and often isn't 'in depth'.
I do so enjoy the "News & Observer" every morning with coffee and still learn from the often better coverage and updates. Plus it gives me a chance to reflect on and analyze the facts presented in print, along with editorials, columns and letters to the editor.
It'll be a sad day if ever we can no longer do that.
my gosh this new generation cant read or write or add or subtract. its all in the computers and cell phones, its a techno world so the newspapers need to get with the program and start downloading to phones and emails just like the rest of the techno world does
Because most of us can't read.
The Internet is free and a lot less messy!
Steve,
Laguna Niguel, CA
Hi Jack,
good timing for your question. Because of…yes another snow storm I did not get my newspapers…and yet I was able to read on the net the same newspapers…will be cancelling soon…why pay when the net offers it for free!
Unfortunately, it is because people cannot read anything that is not bullet-pointed, and rely on others to analyze things for them. How else do you think Bush got elected twice? Lack of critical thinking.
Jack,
Do not forget the Tennessee Waltz. This was political corruption on the state level in Tennessee. Illinoisians are not alone!
Jack
I like reading newspapers for the local interest items. It will be a shame to see them go away.