There is still this body of thought out there that if a newspaper becomes “local” only, they can actually turn a profit.
After watching the “local” papers up close for over three years and sitting next to their “reporters” in town meetings, I can tell you they are not faring much better than the big metro papers.
The ONLY thing that’s keeping the local weeklies and small town dailies from folding is the money they get from government in the form of legal ads. Which is a direct subsidy, in this day and time of the internet and government websites.
Take that away from them, and they dry up and blow away.
Sounds like the papers of the 1850’s
“The ONLY thing that’s keeping the local weeklies and small town dailies from folding is the money they get from government in the form of legal ads. Which is a direct subsidy, in this day and time of the internet and government websites.”
Don’t forget obits. The locals STILL have a monopoly on obits, and boy did they jack the rates through the roof for those! I’d love to see a national legals and obituary website arise akin to craigslist, but charging a small fee to ensure the information remains published as a matter of record “forever”. If such a site could gain a gain critical mass like craigslist or ebay has, then it would finish off the dailies. And provide cheaper and MUCH better obits!