When a delegate at the recent "War on Christians and Values Voters in 2006" conference raised the question of whether Christians should buy newspapers to further their agenda, conservative activist Paul Weyrich suggested it would be a waste of money, according to The Dallas Morning News: "Newspapers are a dying industry. There won’t be any newspapers 20 years from now. Buy television."
Such doom-and-gloom predictions should be taken with a large grain of salt. (Remember that Newt Gingrich said eight years ago that "I would hope within five years they would have no more textbooks.") Weyrich’s wishful thinking also ignores the fact that newspapers remain very profitable.
My question is this: If newspapers are no more, where will talking heads get the reporting they twist into their talking points?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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11 Comments
People been talking about going paperless for a long time. I doubt that the paper periodicals and newsprint will ever go away.
Actually there is a lot more now than there was in the past. The industry might be less profitable, but that’s because there is increase competition, which is a really good thing.
I think 20%+ profits are profitable. Newspapers aren’t dying. The real question is, when there are conflicts between advertisers’ demands and informing the public of important local issues, who will prevail?
It’s tough. Advertisers as a group pay more money to support publication than the readership does as a group. Would you be willing to pay $1 per daily Eagle copy to trump the advertisers?
If McClatchy decides, “Keep the price at 50 cents,” then advertisers are going to rule. He who pays the piper calls the tune.
Oh so true heartlander. The demise of newspapers has been greatly exaggerated. The death of newspapers is wishful thinking by government employees and elected officials desperate to do their dirty work in the dark.
The first amendment guards all others. If we let it slip away, not only will they continue “doing to us” but no one will ever hear us scream while it is happening. Or hear about it after the fact.
But that’s why blogs, blogging, the intgernet are so important. They serve as an alternate means to disseminate information, and they serve the purpose of the “town meeting” of 150/200 years ago. Granted, the “news” or information on many blogs is pure crappola, but so is the content of many newspapers and “news” shows on TV.
It takes a lot of effort to stay informed on the issues, and it takes a great deal of insight and education to recognize bullshit from gems…a strange situation but very often true.
Right. We don’t know how many people are reading these blogs. Hopefully, people who are afraid to speak are reading alternative views here, and hopefully the thoughtful ideas will overcome the ad hominems.
I had a thought. Online publishing is a lot cheaper than paper publishing. What if McClatchy had the courage to publish two separate “newspapers” here. One would be the print version and a free online companion, vetted by advertisers.
The other would be a $20/mo online publication that omitted advertising and got seriously into fully-honest journalism, with what Jimmy Breslin called “fifth floor” journalism? This means going beyond soliciting official spokespersons’ press statements, and talking to workers who know what’s REALLY going on, and then publishing their revelations?
Maybe south central Kansas isn’t ready for this. But the strange thing is, cities that have truth-telling journalism are a lot more prosperous than those that hide the unpleasant facts. I guess it boils down to, people who are well informed make better decisions than those who are not.
Senator Joe Biden (D-Del) recently said, “The people are smarter than the politicians.” That’s, true IF THEY ARE FULLY APPRISED OF THE FACTS.
Tommy Franks was forced to resign after protesting, behind closed doors, the Cheney-Rumsfeld decision to invade Iraq. The warrior was overruled by chicken hawks who had declined to ever put themselves in harm’s way. Then Sergeant Major Eric Haney took retirement and also blasted the administration’s course as foil du royale. Top soldier, executive level, and top soldier, blue-collar level, both came to the same conclusion.
Dismissing the opinions of both levels’ leaders is great policy right? Especially when the dismissals were made by people who’d never been on a battlefield themselves? Battle-hardened warriors don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to winning wars?
This incongruity appears to be fine with most Kansans, who still support the war, when most Americans do not. What’s The Matter With Kansas?
Heartlander,I don’t know if you were referring to Rumsfeld as a chickenhawk. He actually served in the service as a fighter pilot. He did not see combat duty.
I am somewhat loath to defend him, but he had more of a sense of duty than Dick “I had other priorities” Cheney when it came to military service.
I understand that Rumsfeld was a pretty tough wrestler at Princeton also. To this day he is pretty competitive and can whip much younger men in a variety of sports.
The decline in the quality of newspaper journalism is well documented. The Eagle’s former editor Davis Merritt told the story well in his recent book.
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years.”David Rockefeller, At the Bilderbergers meeting 1991
viva la raza blanco!!
HL, You’re acting like Israel was not even a player. No Zionists, no Ariel Sharon, then would be no war { if you can call it that }.
This “war thing” is a “crusade conquest thing,” it’s all laid-out in PNAC, and it has not deviated.
Rumsfeld is building bases just north of Iran in preparation for the attack.
Bush has allowed America to be sold down the drain.
Bush is a “born again traitor.” And he’s too stupid to know what he’s done.