General Discussion
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Its a good time to subscribe online if you can, to those few remaining newspapers that arent part of a big right wing monopoly.
Newsprint has become so expensive due to taxes imposed on imported newsprint from Canada that those such papers that still survive are really struggling now.
They need to adjust their business model even more, but for now, it would be nice not to lose any more of them.
When I was a child, my hometown of St. Pete was home to a wonderful paper connected to a nonprofit journalism institute. They arent like they used to be, but Id like to see them endure and recover.
The Washington post is my go-to paper, but losing the variety of papers across the country has been a big loss compared to the 1970s.
hlthe2b
(102,190 posts)Constitution and the evening Atlanta Journal, now the two combined as a single morning edition. The Rocky Mtn News long gone, The Denver Post is teetering due to its sale to a hedge fund.
The loss of newspapers is devastating IMO. We need local investigative reporting and to the extent local tv news are being sucked up into the Sinclair propaganda network, we may be losing that too.
I subscribe (digital only) to WaPO and Denver Post. About half the year I subscribe (digital) to another nearby local paper, but it is too costly for me to do so year round. sigh...
lostnfound
(16,169 posts)Good local government and oversight by citizens and studies to clarify reality vs myths of social ills...all need a local press.
murielm99
(30,724 posts)It is no longer independent. It is more conservative than it used to be. But we still need a source for local news.
lostnfound
(16,169 posts)Theyve been award winning and still devote talent to deep investigations but this year the newsprint tariffs in Canada have me worried. hanging on as independent paper. Still a somewhat liberal editorial board. I grew up there but not there anymore, so I just subscribed to their $50 annual digital option.
How they devoted time and energy to creating their own database of gun deaths is wonderful.
https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2018/03/20/how-one-reporter-overcame-lack-data-and-political-snares-tell-story-rising-numbers
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,839 posts)but I'm far better informed on local things, even restaurant closings, than he is.
lostnfound
(16,169 posts)The Tampa Bay Times is often in position to tell the truth about Rick Scott, which is important even at a national level. Independent local papers that arent in the pockets of republican apparatus help defend against fascism., TBT has done stories in the Everglades, environmental crises like algae blooms, plight of migrant workers.