\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 In case you missed it, the Detroit newspapers are now going to have only 3-day-per-week home delivery: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/16/detroit.newspapers/ They will still publish 7 days, but the M-T-W-Sa papers will not be home delivered, but available only on newstands. Wonder how soon other newspapers will follow suit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Off your topic, but related...are you aware that USA Today is now $1.00? Enough to get me to stop buying several per week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Wouldn't be surprised to see w/in a few years for many major papers to go all-digital, or reduce printing to Sunday when people actually buy/have time to read. Did you know that just the paper bulk for an issue of the Sunday NYT costs ~$9? Then add ink, then add the operation of the presses, warehousing of materials, paying dock workers, drivers, reporter/staff salaries, etc. etc. and you wonder how they ever turn a profit. Better for the environment and probably the bottom line to stop printing and just post to the web and charge a nominal subscription fee (or highlighted ad content) or readers such as the Kindle, SmartPhone subscriptions, etc. Many shops are simply afraid to quit cold turkey tho. But I think it'll start happening more and more. Small papers will likely trudge on, as ever, and try to survive. The Hartford Courant (the nation's oldest continuously published newspaper) has reduced the size of their paper dramatically. A typical weekday paper is now about 3/8" - 1/2" thick where it used to be ~1" - 1 1/4". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I for one, prefer the hard copy rather than digital version. Kinda hard to prop a laptop on my knees while on the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 There's been a *LOT* of discussion on this move inside the industry since we first started hearing the rumors at the end of November. My take: are the savings from cutting delivery back by 60% really worth the cost of pissing off the few loyal print subscribers they have left? If the OTH ever tries this, I'm canceling the same day the announcement comes out. James brings up a good point about the ever-shrinking newspaper, which also sneakily continues to get narrower, hoping the readers won't notice and trying to claim it's "easier to hold" when they do. Oh yeah, one more thing: Who owns 95 percent of the Detroit Media Partnership? If you guessed the company pictured in my avatar, you win a prize -- one share of Gannett stock, assuming it hasn't been delisted yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 There's been a *LOT* of discussion on this move inside the industry since we first started hearing the rumors at the end of November. My take: are the savings from cutting delivery back by 60% really worth the cost of pissing off the few loyal print subscribers they have left? And how do you think the seven-day advertisers like it? If the OTH ever tries this, I'm canceling the same day the announcement comes out. James brings up a good point about the ever-shrinking newspaper, which also sneakily continues to get narrower, hoping the readers won't notice and trying to claim it's "easier to hold" when they do. Oh yeah, one more thing: Who owns 95 percent of the Detroit Media Partnership? If you guessed the company pictured in my avatar, you win a prize -- one share of Gannett stock, assuming it hasn't been delisted yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 You know I read the Buffalo News, and any other paper I feel like online on my Ipod each morning. I'm already a digital user. What newspapers need to do is have their own digital drop-dead date like TV is having so people will join the 21st century. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 You know I read the Buffalo News, and any other paper I feel like online on my Ipod each morning. I'm already a digital user. What newspapers need to do is have their own digital drop-dead date like TV is having so people will join the 21st century. PTR For me, on-line editions leave a lot to be desired. One - I find the ads, the dancing bits of "bling" to be a distraction. Two - often, I refer to different parts of an article. I find this easier with print media. Three - the on-line editions do not carry all the articles - be it National, State, or local, that the print edition does. Four - and most importantly to me, the on-line editions often presents a truncated, condensed version when compared to print. I also find printed material much more amenable to contemplating and digesting what I've read. With reductions in print media staff, there has been a reduction in local coverage of things that matter - government hanky-panky gets less ink, school boards and zoning boards meet with little or no exposure of their dealings to the general public and so forth. The elimination of the written word, replacing it with audio/visual has long been a favorite theme of authors who write about future societies - Fahrenheit 451 is one example. You might not like that 21st century. Even today, one could make a strong case how the internet, how audio/visual packaging of information has turned Presidential elections into something in the neighborhood of "American Idol". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster4324 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Stuckincincy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 There's been a *LOT* of discussion on this move inside the industry since we first started hearing the rumors at the end of November. My take: are the savings from cutting delivery back by 60% really worth the cost of pissing off the few loyal print subscribers they have left? If the OTH ever tries this, I'm canceling the same day the announcement comes out. James brings up a good point about the ever-shrinking newspaper, which also sneakily continues to get narrower, hoping the readers won't notice and trying to claim it's "easier to hold" when they do. Oh yeah, one more thing: Who owns 95 percent of the Detroit Media Partnership? If you guessed the company pictured in my avatar, you win a prize -- one share of Gannett stock, assuming it hasn't been delisted yet. Most newspapers across the country have moved to a 6-column format. What you read isn't always on a 6 column grid on a page, but it used to be 7 columns...however the change in size isn't real dramatic. It's now a cleaner, easier read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 You know I read the Buffalo News, and any other paper I feel like online on my Ipod each morning. I'm already a digital user. What newspapers need to do is have their own digital drop-dead date like TV is having so people will join the 21st century. PTR Yes, that might work by 2020 or 2025. Don't discount the 60+ brigade, a very large portion of the subscribers, they like the paper copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Stuckincincy :worthy: Best post of the day! Take tomorrow off from work - you deserve it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Most newspapers across the country have moved to a 6-column format. What you read isn't always on a 6 column grid on a page, but it used to be 7 columns...however the change in size isn't real dramatic. It's now a cleaner, easier read. The TH used to be the same width as our paper. They're at least an inch and a half narrower now, maybe two, and I think the BuffNews might be narrower yet. And when I picked up a copy of the AZ Republic after the Cards game, I thought I was holding an elongated magazine ... Agreed about the improved readability, though. Thank goodness for computerized pagination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 The TH used to be the same width as our paper. They're at least an inch and a half narrower now, maybe two, and I think the BuffNews might be narrower yet. And when I picked up a copy of the AZ Republic after the Cards game, I thought I was holding an elongated magazine ... Agreed about the improved readability, though. Thank goodness for computerized pagination. I like the narrower paper. Just speaking of the local one...it wasn't shrunk that much. Also, depends on the pagination software...some are better than others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicholasCal1 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 For me, on-line editions leave a lot to be desired. One - I find the ads, the dancing bits of "bling" to be a distraction. Two - often, I refer to different parts of an article. I find this easier with print media. Three - the on-line editions do not carry all the articles - be it National, State, or local, that the print edition does. Four - and most importantly to me, the on-line editions often presents a truncated, condensed version when compared to print. I also find printed material much more amenable to contemplating and digesting what I've read. With reductions in print media staff, there has been a reduction in local coverage of things that matter - government hanky-panky gets less ink, school boards and zoning boards meet with little or no exposure of their dealings to the general public and so forth. The elimination of the written word, replacing it with audio/visual has long been a favorite of theme of authors who write about future societies - Fahrenheit 451 is one example. You might not like that 21st century. Even today, one could make a strong case how the internet, how audio/visual packaging of information has turned Presidential elections into something in the neighborhood of "American Idol". great post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I like the narrower paper. Just speaking of the local one...it wasn't shrunk that much. Also, depends on the pagination software...some are better than others. Yeah, but they're ALL better than linotypes. (Edit: Cincy would probably disagree with that, too. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Yeah, but they're ALL better than linotypes. (Edit: Cincy would probably disagree with that, too. ) Does he like his daily newspaper carved from wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanInTexas Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Did you know that just the paper bulk for an issue of the Sunday NYT costs ~$9? Then add ink, then add the operation of the presses, warehousing of materials, paying dock workers, drivers, reporter/staff salaries, etc. etc. and you wonder how they ever turn a profit. NYT is borrowing 225M against their building to keep running. They're not profitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 In case you missed it, the Detroit newspapers are now going to have only 3-day-per-week home delivery: Sort of unrelated, but the USPS should do the same to rein in their costs. Do you really need the BS mail you get every day, every day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Yeah, but they're ALL better than linotypes. (Edit: Cincy would probably disagree with that, too. ) Long lost, I had a souvenir from a grade school tour of the BEN's press works and lino shop...they cast our names in lead moveable type, all letters cast in one piece so we could use it to stamp our names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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