One story that caught my eye recently is that the Christian Science Monitor, one of the nation's most respected newspapers, is going to a weekend-only print version with the weekday edition only online.
A paper more accessible by the Internet is better than no paper at all, but this development only serves to remind me how sorrowful the state of print journalism is these days. Fewer advertisers mean less profitability, and so newspapers are disappearing left and right - the Newark, N.J. Star-Ledger almost bit the dust after ninety-five years, but it's still a lesser paper due to budget cuts. Online versions of these papers are cold comfort; sure, these papers still exist in some form, and people still have to write copy for them, but they're uncomfortable to read on a screen and scrolling makes it even more so. Plus, they have to compete with "citizen journalists" - freelance news writers who put up their own sites and blogs for the love of the craft and for the lack of opportunities at newspapers.
As always, I wish to stress that I do not consider this blog to be a source of news; it's strictly commentary. If you get your news from me, that is very sad. So pick up a paper and read one, for Pete's sake.
Just remember that the Christian Science Monitor is only available on weekends now.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment