Dave Barry Says Newspapers Are Dead

[Strunk]

Profit margins are still very good believe it or not,in many major papers. The problem is they aren't increasing revenue,they are dumping personnel, to make their 15%. The immediate future looks like a nation of tabloids(rather than broadsheets) run by skeleton crews.
I'd say the biz as we know it will be gone in 40 years(or less).

Although you'll never read about it in a newspaper, most dailys have been involved in circulation fraud schemes to one degree or another. By reporting bogus circulation numbers they are able to overcharge their advertisers, which of course, pass onto you at the checkout line. Besides the obvious waste of resources and the creation of toxic chemicals to to publish printed media, in most states, they are exempt from sales taxes, further depriving the states of needed revenue.

"God is dead" - Friedrich Nietzsche 1882
"Nietzsche is dead" - God 1900
"God is dead" - New York Times 1966
"Newspapers are dead" - Dave Barry 2006

[lonewolf]

Has anyone else wondered how much paper the "Paperwork Reduction" notices consume?

[AKMarmoset]

"newspapers are dead" is the easy answer.

There will always be a market for a newspaper. I've never heard anyone say, nor can I imagine, "I love to get up in the morning and read my ipod over a cup of coffee."

Secondly, not to sound too apocalyptic, technology is not necessarily always going to continue both in sophistication and prevalence. While it is reasonably certain that technology will continue to advance on some front throughout human history, there are many other factors influencing the prevalence of facets of communication technology like ipods and internet access in any society.

Having said all that, the newspaper may be dead in my life, since the Anchorage Daily News wants to charge me $33/month for a subscription in Fairbanks, and even for that they won't deliver to my cabin.

[bad hammy]

Having said all that, the newspaper may be dead in my life, since the Anchorage Daily News wants to charge me $33/month for a subscription in Fairbanks, and even for that they won't deliver to my cabin.

You definitely sound like a candidate for online news. How much does online access set you back??

[AKMarmoset]

Okay, okay, you have a point. Maybe I could just do the weekend thing, I don't always have time on weekdays to go through the paper anyway.

Another point I thought of is that errors can be so quickly fixed online, and that's no fun. I'm guessing that I just didn't know Asafa Powell's real name, which is used on the cover of this month's issue, so I won't be able to make fun of the editor(s) about it. Because seriously, how could that slip by on the cover?

[tandfman]

Front page story in today's Wall Street Journal. Headline: Unlike Big Dailies, A Paper Prospers In Bismark, N.D. Sub-head: For Now, Limited Competition In Rural Areas Helps Print.

(Unfortunately, the WSJ doesn't allow access to its content on the web unless you not only register, but also subscribe, which costs money, which I suppose is not surprising considering the publication we're talking about.)

[tandfman]

http://www.comics.com/editoons/cagle/

If you're accessing this in the future, the date of the cartoon is 1/5/07.

[Cooter Brown]

Is he crazy? I absolutely love reading various newspapers on the Internet.

[tafnut]

I teach 80 bright young minds. I did a survey at the beginning of the year, and FOUR (4!) regularly read the paper. I have been reading at least two papers a day (weekdays) since I was 11.

[tandfman]

I teach 80 bright young minds. I did a survey at the beginning of the year, and FOUR (4!) regularly read the paper.

That's very depressing. I didn't think it was quite that bad. Just curious--do they think they're getting from other sources what they would get from reading the newspaper every day, or is it rather that they place little or no value on getting those things at all.

I have been reading at least two papers a day (weekdays) since I was 11.

But when you were 11, there weren't a helluva lot of alternative information sources, and there certainly wasn't the Internet.