The Physical Newspaper

**Leo C** · #1 02-27-2009, 08:37 PM

Wow. I was surprised today. I heard on ABC News that the Rocky Mountain News printed its last edition today in Denver. Recently the name San Francisco Chronicle came up and I thought it was them. I already knew about the struggles of other regional names like the Chicago Tribune which is selling the Cubs, the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Philadelphia Inquirer was sold by Knight Ridder a few years ago to a nearly created Philly Media Papers. They declared bankruptcy recently.

My local county paper is smaller than these larger papers but I appreciate very much still having a physical copy. It's an appropriate serving of news everyday. It's a diet of information I want to read. There are times when I have plenty and others I feel I have too little. With the internet I feel I'm lost with boundaries. Reading a physical paper I feel I conquer the limits for the day. I like the order. Otherwise I like the little tidbits, sports updates that come up when I sign into my Yahoo mail. I like the archives the internet has and how it connects me with out of market regions. I still don't get as much satisfaction in the day I get first with print. I wish the ad money was there in papers today but it's not. I appreciate the local physical paper for the connections to local stories. I've helped candidates and organizations in town before so I feel I need this crucial link to information. I could read it on the internet but the lack of boundaries concern me with my grasp. All I could do is hang on and watch, read.

Komatz70 · #2 02-28-2009, 08:16 AM

One of the big problems the big papers have is you can read the paper online for free, which is one reason people do not go out and buy copies anymore.
Hate to say it, but they kinda should charge a subscription for online use, albeit smaller because the is no paper being used....(my local paper is $7.25 a week, make it like $5.00 a month for online< would still us it)..But there is just so much media now, its rediculous.

coasterlove · #3 02-28-2009, 08:44 AM

I grew up reading the paper that my stepdad subscribed to. Today, now that I'm on my own, I haven't subscribed to a newspaper although I don't know if it would've benefitted me since I leave for work before we would get the paper. If I get the new shift I want, I might consider subscribing to a paper myself.

I always prefer sitting reading a paper over viewing stories online. I get distracted on the net by other stuff although it does have the advantage of finding out more info via other links and websites. With the newspaper though, it just feels classic and more relaxing to read. It's sad to think that more and more, people consider print media dead. I'd hate to see my local papers no long printing one day and just doing online news media.

Kyle L · #4 02-28-2009, 05:09 PM

Like a lot of Media mediums, Newspaper needs to learn how to adapt better. I think they should offer a PDF copy of their EXACT print for the day as a e-mail delivery or RSS feed for a small fee.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coasterlove

I always prefer sitting reading a paper over viewing stories online. I get distracted on the net by other stuff although it does have the advantage of finding out more info via other links and websites.

Exactly. A love/hate feature would be the "comment" box after news article. It's nice to voice your opinion, but some voices are just better not heard at all.

**Leo C** · #5 02-28-2009, 05:31 PM

The branch of links off a story to related topics that coasterlove mentions is the nice part I agree with.

***Steven*** · #6 03-02-2009, 09:07 AM

Newspapers = Media Discussion.

**Andrew P** · #7 03-02-2009, 08:15 PM

Around here, the Akron Beacon Journal and Cleveland Plain Dealer have reduced pages, laid off workers and raised their prices, namely at the newsstand. What was once a 50 cent paper is now a 75 cent paper. Even my hometown Toledo Blade has gone narrower. It went from 6 columns wide to 5, and the comics page looks like hell.

It's only a matter of time until papers all go away.

**Leo C** · #8 03-02-2009, 08:39 PM

No more news on the can then unless you want to bring a laptop - not! or an Amazon Kindle there.

**Brian F** · #9 03-03-2009, 03:27 AM

I really enjoy newspapers, even delivered them for five years as a kid. I had to cancel my subscription to the local paper after they printed a rather mean-spirited character assault on Tony Dungy by an idiot columnist a year ago. They call every so often with some special, trying to get me to resubscribe. I ask if idiot still writes for them, and when they say yes, I tell them I can't spend a dime on any Gannett paper until he is no longer employed by them.

I love DW · #10 03-05-2009, 12:33 AM

I personally don't read the actual newspaper much mostly because I don't have time. I mostly just read the news on my BlackBerry from various sources (FOX, CNBC, etc.) However my family still has a subscription to two different papers and plan on keeping them as long as the paper is around. The local paper we have a subscription to does not even have a website so the chance of them going digital anytime soon is very slim.

**Wes** · #11 03-05-2009, 08:58 AM

It makes me sad to see old papers go under, but my local paper seems to be OK since they have such a strong online prescence... Charlotte Observer | Charlotte, NC - North Carolina's Local News Leader.

I read them online and rarely buy an actual paper anymore.

Most of the info I used to look in the paper for, is online in some form or fashion.

It's like at work they keep bringing in Yellow Pages and White Pages book, but I never take one because I can find it a whole lot faster on the net!

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