US Senate panel to look at future of newspapers

[karynnj]

Source: Boston Globe

Senator John F. Kerry will hold hearings in Washington next week on the financial problems facing the newspaper industry, as dwindling advertising dollars push many US papers to the brink of closure.

The hearings by the Senate Commerce Committee, beginning April 30, are the latest effort in the nation's capital to help out newspapers. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, introduced a bill last month that would enable newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits.

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"America's newspapers are struggling to survive and while there will be serious consequences in terms of the lives and financial security of the employees involved, including hundreds at the Globe, there will also be serious consequences for our democracy where diversity of opinion and strong debate are paramount," Kerry wrote in a letter sent to union leaders Friday. The union released the letter yesterday.

The increase in media conglomerates has resulted in an increase in agenda-driven reporting and over time, if those of us who value a diversity of opinion and ideas, and are unafraid to be confronted with pointed commentary and analysis, do not act, it is a situation which will only get worse," Kerry wrote. The senator has received political endorsements over the years from the Globe's editorial page, which is operated separately from its news-gathering operation.


Read more: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/04/20/us_senate_panel_to_look_at_future_of_newspapers/?comments=all&plckCurrentPage=2

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To have a democracy, you need an informed populace, which means you need a free and diverse media. All of us here watched what happened when our media, for various reasons, backed George Bush's rush to war. But, in 2004, the print media was far less biased in Bush's favor than the broadcast media - which, talk radio to the contrary, it did not have a liberal bias. (All you need to ask yourself is whether the media of the past would have treated the disrespect shown to Kerry's Navy given purple hearts in the neutral way they did - as if they were 2004's novelty hats at the Republican convention.)

This shoud be a fascinating hearing.

[Jim Sagle]

1. The Chicago Tribune just moved its weekly TV listings from Sunday to Saturday.

They issued some BS about how this would improve the timeliness of the listings. In reality they withheld product in order to compel purchase of their otherwise worthless Saturday edition.

Fuck 'em. Instead of buying said worthless Saturday edition of the Chicago Tribune I went to http://titantv.com and got my own custom TV listing.

Hey Trib, how's that new "give 'em the business" model workin' out for you? ;)

[karynnj]

2. The Chicago Tribune is having the same financial problems all the papers have

As a former Chicago area resident and a current NYC area resident, it is stunning that the Chicago Tribune and the NYT could be endangered. The movement of the TV listings is an interesting strategy, but I wonder how many people rely on print TV schedules. I know I use the listing on a cable station itself.

[Jim Sagle]

3. They must've thought enough still used print TV schedules to make it worthwhile to pull a fast one

on their readers.

Older readers (like me) are more likely to use them, I think. Strangely enough, that's the same demographic that still reads newspapers. Mad plops to those Trib marketing genii. :rofl:

As to the Trib's overall health, they recently did a physical makeover. Now they look just like the Sun-Times. Except maybe for the higher-quality ink which takes a bit longer to rub off on your hands. ;)

[karynnj]

4. I think it was a very clever Tribune idea - especially if far fewer people

ordinarily buy the Saturday vs the Sunday paper.

Interesting that they switched their format so radically.

[Jim Sagle]

6. Clever in a "let's fuck the customer" way, yeah. But only if the customers are sheep.

[karynnj]

5. Here's a link that explains more about the mentioned Cardin amendment to let them become non-profits

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/04/20/a_hybrid_path_for_saving_newspapers

[Kolesar]

7. If newspapers became non-profit, then they could make telemarketing calls to increase subscribership

Telemarketing was an effective way for newspapers to find readers who had moved but were happy to resubscribe. The "do not call" list has hurt newspapers a lot.

[karynnj]

8. Interesting

[Iowa]

9. The Des Moines Register excluded Dennis Kucinich...

from their debate in December 2007. That was it for me; I canceled my subscription and never looked back. Screw them. I refuse to support any organization that works against my interests. And then there's the wasted paper/energy/climate-change issue... I've canceled all magazines, catalogs, and any other type of print that crosses my threshold.

But the main thing that fries my ass is that the mainstream media has sold us out when it matters most. I don't trust a word they say unless I can back it up with other sources. In the '70s there was a frenzy over Nixon's crimes. There was a sense that the media had our backs to some extent. No more. We have heard hardly a peep during the Bush years despite crimes that make Nixon look like a boy scout.

So screw 'em. I hope they fold. The sooner, the better. Chances are they'll be replaced by smaller, more tenacious operators who aren't so f*cking lazy and complicit. Most of these newspapers aren't a real press - they're propagandists. The last thing we need is more of Congress propping up crappy, failed businesses with money borrowed in our name - especially propaganda peddling stenographers masquerading as a press. Kerry is just trying to prop up a cadaver that we'd be better off burying. There are real needs to address without wasting time on this claptrap.