Comments on: Ailing Print Media Department: Time Inc. Cuts More Jobs

By: Martin Luther King, Jr. | Why We Worry

Martin Luther King, Jr. | Why We Worry — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 01:57:18 +0000

[...] The Moderate Voiceâ€™s Shaun Mullen wrote a great piece about Dr. King and the â€œnever-ending struggle for civil rights.â€? [Dr. King] would bow his head in shame over a presidency that can barely disguise its hostility to minorities (except at election time, when it rolls out the biennial edition of the Compassionate Conservative Minstrel Show), and has sought to undercut the most basic rights through an Orwellian attack on civil liberties. Tags: MLK, Martin Luther King [...]

By: SFB

SFB — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:09:16 +0000

Lamidata says, “The main concern for me is that cuts in staff could afftect the investigative reporting sector of a publication. Bloggers just comment or do a brief, flashy expose of a brief, flashy happening; they donâ€™t devote months and years to dig into a subject.”

The problem is, the MSM print media haven’t been doing investigative reporting for years. They have become the comfortable shills for left of center opinion, and they ignore anything that doesn’t fit the political agenda. So who did the investigative reporting that shot down Dan Rather, or has been forcing the system to stop railroading the Duke lacross players? Not the MSM, but the blogosphere. The MSM print folks have all been absent, unless they have been cheering for the railroad job.

Especially the Good Gray Times. Paper of Record? Scarcely. They’re still weeping for poor old Alger Hiss (guilty as charged), and polishing the Pulizer that Duranty received for his nice propagandizing about Stalin in the 1930′s. I quit buying the Times fifteen years ago, and I have not missed it. I find I get much more accurate information, and timely corrections when they have been wrong from the electronic media. On one hand, I will miss newspapers as a tactile thing – it’s nice to curl up in an easy chair with coffee and the paper. But my coffee is here at hand as I read the news on line. I’ve adapted.

By: Laimdota

Laimdota — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:00:00 +0000

The main concern for me is that cuts in staff could afftect the investigative reporting sector of a publication. Bloggers just comment or do a brief, flashy expose of a brief, flashy happening; they don’t devote months and years to dig into a subject.

I care less about the forum in which I get the news and much more that investigative reporting should be well financed and supported.

By: Paul Silver

Paul Silver — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:27:52 +0000

I rarely read hardcopies of newspapers and magazines anymore. It is a more efficient use of my time and money to go online and just read stuff I am interested in. Often written articles are out of date by the time I read them.
I appreciate that I don’t have to wade through sensational articles and pictures about tragedies, and advertisements for things I will never buy.
I use google news search to send me alerts on issues I am tracking.
I don’t know how the print media can compete with this trend.

By: Jim B

Jim B — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:20:30 +0000

One thing Joe didn’t mention is the ability to get/give feedback on blogs. We can immediately agree/disagree and discuss an article on a blog (assuming comments are active). You simply can’t do that with traditional print. How many times have you read an article in a magazine or newspaper and been fired up enough to write back to the journalist? I for one know I’ve wanted to, but never have. Here a discussion can be had immediately. I read TMV and other blogs partly for the articles, but many times for the comments. I learn more by reading what informed commenters have to say about a topic.

By: Chuck Prez

Chuck Prez — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:38:04 +0000

Also the fact that the youth don’t get their news from print sources much anymore when they have the Internet at their fingertips. Trust me, I personally get 90% of my news online and the other 10% from other sources (print/broadcast/etc).

By: superdestroyer

superdestroyer — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:50:08 +0000

As the country becomes more diverse and less European/white culturally oriented, has there ever been any doubt that the main stream newpapers would lose readers.

Why would the black community, the Hispanic community, or the Asian community be interested in reading news articles, columns, or “style” pieces written from the POV of white, Ivy educated elitist?

How can a newspaper be expected to maintain itself as a “superb newspaper” while trying to increase its readership in the minority commuity?