Monday, August 25, 2014

Collapse of print news … by gimleteye

The website Medium publishes: "Last Call: The End of the Printed Newspaper".

Back in 2007, when Eye On Miami began its daily blogging quest, we had in mind to challenge the Miami Herald's tepid coverage of local and state news. The city's only daily newspaper made us angry: there was so much to report that never saw the light of day.

Who can argue, though, that a newspaper is a business and a business has to turn a profit to succeed? On the other hand, the idea of newspaper publishers making tidy fortunes while reporters and other staff struggled to make ends meet … what values are upheld by that equation?

"It’s tempting to try to find a moral dimension to newspapers’ collapse, but there isn’t one. All that’s happened is advertisers are leaving, classifieds first, inserts last. Business is business; the advertisers never had a stake in keeping the newsroom open in the first place. This disconnection between the business side and the news side was celebrated as a benefit, right up to the moment it became an industry-wide point of failure."

Yes it is tempting to find a moral dimension in the collapse of newspapers. Civil society and, arguably, democracy depends on an educated electorate. The demise of print journalism and the difficulty of maintaining web based sources of news speaks to the state of the union.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Without fanfare or notice, the Miami Herald has closed down to online viewers. That's news. There are fortunately other sources of news available freely on the web, so who is going to buy the online Herald?

Anonymous said...

It is a sad state of affairs when the free market leads to the dumbing down of democracy to a shadow, allowing print and other news to fade away.

Anonymous said...

I've never witnessed an industry that decreases its quality while raising its prices. If that isn't a recipe for failure ...

Anonymous said...

If one regards the present state of news papers non emotionally, it's really a great success for the puppeteers pulling the political and business strings.
Proof, look at the Neanderthal comments on face book about relevant events. Or the "News headlines and content" of all internet providers in they're start page.
The antidote: teach your kids to think for themselves.

Anonymous said...

The Miami Herald Editorial Board is useless, unless you are a potential advertiser and then you get whatever endorsement you want. The Herald recommended Bayside getting a lease extension in the same Voter Referendum Question with SkyRise getting a sub-lease? Please... The Herald Ed Board never speaks against injustice and stupidity.

Anonymous said...

Yep. That sounds bout right.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

If something is free, don't expect to get anything of value. An e-subscription to the Herald costs only $1.99 a month. Sure, its not the NYTimes but that costs $2.50 a week. Stop whining.

Anonymous said...

I stopped buying the Herald because I didn't like their priorities. They skimped on news staff but they had money to fund Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida blog. No money for investigations but plenty of money for Leonard Pitts, a columnist who lives in Maryland and doesn't write about South Florida.

Anonymous said...

You are way off the mark. Steve Rothaus is married to Ric Katz a PR guy and lobbyist. Steve does the job for free because it gives Ric access. Steve doesn't need that little money but they need access. Besides in major cities older LGBT readers are a core constituency of papers and have been for 30 years. Pitts is syndicated and way cheaper than even one local low wage reporter. Lets be honest you hate the Herald because you are a homophobic right winger not because you are criticizing the insider game at the Herald. I am not homophobic but I am against the inside game at the Herald ever since the Non=Group and later when they fired Defede.

Anonymous said...

The Miami Herald was a major cheerleader for the Marlins Scam. Also the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce endorsed the Scam. The Black Chamber of Commerce endorsed the Scam. Barrerio was a few votes shy of getting recalled for his endorsement.