There is no getting around the fact that these are tough times for newspapers. The Tribune Company recently filed for bankruptcy and a number of other papers are rumored to be on the selling block. Others have announced cuts in staff and distribution. The Detroit Free Press recently made the decision to limit home delivery to Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, the heaviest advertising days and the most popular papers for readers. But it’s not only print that is suffering. For the first time in 25 years National Public Radio is laying off staff to repair a $23 million deficit. The company will eliminate 7% of its workforce and drop two of its programs, “Day to Day” and “News & Notes.” At the same time, web based media and independent media are taking up the slack.
But why are the big media failing?
Today on GRITtv we speak with Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now!, John Macarthur, the Publisher of Harper’s Magazine, and Brian Unger an original contributor to the Daily Show who provides regular commentary for NPR.
It's not just the end of an era: The rise of the web and the death of print. It is in a sense the end of truth. In the run up to the Iraq war the media served as a mouthpiece for the administration's lies. Now the public are looking elsewhere.
What we need now is a bailout for newspapers. Let’s do it just like we’re doing it for the auto industry, and for the same reason. Just like the auto industry is vital to the economy, newspaper journalism is vital to the Republic. But, only those newspaper companies that can develop a workable plan to quickly transport themselves into the digital age should be eligible for this bailout. And, the money should strictly go toward helping newspapers to stop killing trees and start becoming Internet-centric.
Only through newspaper journalism can the public get enough information to decide the truth for themselves. TV, radio and blogs still get most of their information from newspaper reporters.
Unfortunately, people who work at newspapers have been deluding themselves over the past ten years that they could somehow survive in the dead tree business. But the avalanche of bad news, culminating in the hideous bankruptcy of the Tribune Co., cannot be denied. Many newspapers may have only a few years to live. Some will not survive the recession. We will soon see major cities with no newspaper.
A bailout of newspapers won’t cost anywhere near what it costs to bail out Detroit or Citibank. And if the government wants some equity stake as collateral, I’m fine with that. It works with NPR and BBC. So let’s get on with it. If newspapers can come up with a plan to go wholly digital, taxpayers who love democracy should help them out. Newspapers have certainly bailed out taxpayers often enough.
By jgogek on December 20th, 2008 at 4:12 pm