The Smell of Newsprint is Fading
Newspapers and magazines are in my blood. As some of you know, I grew up with a dad who owned a news market (newspapers, magazines, comic books, candy, lottery tickets, etc.), so I have always had a special relationship to print publications. Today the New York Times broke a long-standing tradition by running an advertisement on PAGE ONE! Yesterday, my hometown paper, the Boston Globe, announced it would not be printing its classified advertising section except for a few days a week. Last year the Globe announced a total redesign, which resulted in a streamlined (some might say ‘emaciated’) publication. The paper also ended its Thursday supplement Calendar, which each week extensively listed everything you’d ever want to do in the Boston region. I’m at a loss without it. The online version just doesn’t cut it.
And do any of you in New England know the Want Advertiser? It’s that thick publication containing classified ads that’s run on the honor system. It comes out every Tuesday. Well, I just found out it’s gone, too — after 50 years in print!
The world is changing so fast, all of a sudden. I don’t like it.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I don’t see the traditional newspaper existing very far in the future. Not only do we lose the tangible, but I also think the whole idea of ‘news’ is changing to ‘my opinion’. We need to redefine information, what it is, where it came from and it’s value.
January 6th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Well maybe Chrysler can save the day. They spent more than $250 thousand dollars in advertising to thank us for bailing them out and there’s got to be more where that came from since they got BILLIONS!
On a more serious note, I think the disappearance of newspapers sets a dangerous trend for what news will (and in some cases HAS) become. I’ve seen way too many so called “citizen journalists” reporting on stories without any research or real knowledge.
It will be up to people like you and me to keep the public informed.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
By the time I get the newspaper, I have read 90% of the stories on-line through numerous news sources (AP, Reuters, etc). I then supplement that with in-depth coverage by going to local sites to getter better details on specific events. Then add to that TV breaking news, opinion pieces from multiple sources, and one gets an excellent, well-rounded version of the real facts.
Information is now flowing so fast that print sources are out-of-date within minutes. It is unfortunate for print media, but I think multiple news sources help make the truth come forward in the news, and the truth comes out much faster with current technology.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Oh, gosh, Beverly. I hope they don’t rely on us!!!!
January 9th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Very good friend of mine just lost his editorial position at Better Homes & Gardens. Major cutbacks all down the line. He had been on the masthead for over 6 years.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
That’s a shame, Sul. A major magazine like that.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:40 am
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