Tough times for newspapers

ST ^ | 1-17-2009 | Bhagyashree Garekar

[gakrak]

Don’t ya just love payback? This couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of left wing nuts. Amen.

[lafroste]

igure out how to condense information about government sloth and corruption into a format that can compete with mindless entertainment

I went into the local Walmart today (a rare occasion) and was strolling through the electronics department. 90% of it appeared to be games for the various games platforms. Those huge aisles were packed with shoppers. There were thousands of games. I was appalled.

[dirtboy]

There were thousands of games.

That's what we are competing against in the long run. Not the NY Times. Not the Dems. Or the RINOs.

We have to compete with all the distractions of modern society and package a conservative reform message to an attention-addled world. FR is great for the political junkies, but we have to figure out how to reach out into the world of continual visual stimulation and compete with all the entertaining diversions out in that word. In a nutshell, we have to be as entertaining while not being a diversion.

[Mark was here]

Here we have the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News. The Free Press is the liberal rag the News a tad more conservative. I like the Freep better because the OP-ED is more conservative, and the News OP-ED is more liberal. Who wants to support the likes of that lesbian Deb Pierce?

[Col Freeper]

Oh, for those of you who say a liberal bias is the problem behind declining revenue....I write for a medium-size daily paper with a conservative/libertarian bent. It is not liberal.

Just curious:

1. If I picked up a copy of your paper today, would I see the typical AP, Reuters, API articles found throughout almost every paper these days?

2. Can you describe how I would/should know that your paper has a "conservative/libertarian bent"?

Thanks

[tessalu]

The Newspapers in the USA want to spin, and they are not journalists or reporters, just spinners, so let them die!

[ggekko60506]

“Seems like it is just the liberal rags that are in trouble.....”

This is exactly correct. The “newspapers in turmoil” story line always fails to distinguish between dominantly left-slanted media outlets and those with a more balanced editorial policy.

The Wall Street Journal is gaining circulation and is profitable as are other Murdoch owned media properties. Fox News and the other Murdoch properties are bucking the trend because of a rightward editorial policy.

The headline should really read “left-leaning media outlets face a financial crisis because they have systematically alienated 35-40% of their audience”.