Print Journalism in Peril

How Long Will Newspapers Survive?

Papers Need to Explain Why They're Necessary

Newspapers - Why Newspapers Are Still Important

Some think it's only a matter of time before newspapers go the way of the dinosaurs and disappear, to be replaced by online news. Others say not so fast - people have been predicting the demise of newspapers for decades, but they're still here. What do you think?

It's no secret that newspapers are in trouble. Circulation is dropping, ad revenue is shrinking, and as a result the industry has experienced an unprecedented wave of layoffs, cutbacks, bankruptcies and even the complete shutdown of some papers. The big question now is, what does the future hold?

If we keep valuing companies that create little or no content over the content creators, what will happen when the content creators are undervalued into extinction? Let me be clear: What we're really talking about here by and large are newspapers, ones substantial enough to generate original content.

Two Years After Switching to the Web, Madison's Capital Times Newspaper is Still Changing

Some Say the Internet Will Kill Off Papers, Others Say Not So Fast.

Here, in reverse chronological order, is a timeline of stories about newspapers closings, bankruptcies & downsizings.

For anyone interested in the news business, it’s hard to avoid the sense that newspapers are at death’s door. Every day brings more news of layoffs, bankruptcies, and closings in the print journalism industry. But why are things so dire for newspapers at the moment?

There's more bad news for newspapers: Ad revenue was down for the first quarter of 2009. Overall ad sales for print fell 30 percent in this first quarter compared to the same quarter last year, according to Business Insider. Classified ad revenue, siphoned away by Craigslist, plunged 42 percent in that period.

So are newspapers still profitable or not? That’s the question lingering in the air after the Inland Press Association this week released a report that seemed to suggest the newspaper business was doing better than expected.

Layoffs have gutted many Washington news bureaus. But a survey finds that while there are fewer mainstream journalists covering Capitol Hill, their numbers have been replaced by reporters from specialized, niche publications. It's a disturbing trend that may concentrate information in the hands of the wealthy and well-connected.

No surprise here: Young journalists have been hit hardest by the layoffs sweeping the newspaper industry, according to a survey by the Associated Press Managing Editors.

Not so long ago, the Los Angeles Times aspired to compete head-to-head with The New York Times in the depth and breadth of its coverage. But with its parent company drowning in red ink and its newsroom reeling from wave after wave of cutbacks, those days are gone.

So the U.S. Senate held a hearing recently on the future of newspapers, which these days is about as oxymoronic a subject heading as you’re likely to find. The most alarming and yet ultimately inspiring testimony came from David Simon, an ex-Baltimore newspaperman who drew upon his experiences as an ink-stained city reporter to produce the acclaimed series “The Wire.”

So is Amazon's new super-sized Kindle a possible savior for newspapers in dire financial straits? Dallas Morning News CEO James Moroney said Amazon demands 70 percent of subscription revenue from newspapers, and requires content owners to grant Amazon the right to republish content to other devices.

The federal government may be willing to bail out car companies and banks, but the newspaper industry shouldn't hold its breath waiting to be rescued by the White House.

More bad news for print journalism: The country's biggest papers are losing circulation at an accelerating rate.

Under the Newspaper Revitalization Act introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), newspapers could choose to operate as non-profits under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code for educational purposes, similar to public TV and radio.

Print journalism as an industry is floundering, and there’s been a lot of talk lately about what will be lost if newspapers go the way of eight-track tapes. Muckraking journalism will almost certainly be a casualty. But there’s something else that will be lost if newspapers die: Reporters who have a certain solidarity with the common man or woman because they are the common man or woman.

There are many things newspapers do that simply can't be replaced. Papers are a unique medium in the news business and can't be easily replicated by TV, radio or online news operations.

The news in the news business can’t get any worse. Some days it seems as if those who write the first draft of history have little in the way of a future. So what are journalism professors, those charged with grooming the next generation of reporters, editors and producers, telling their students these days about the news business in general, and print journalism in particular?

The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper, has published its final edition. The News, which was founded in 1859, had been put up for sale after losing $16 million last year. No buyers stepped forward.

Much has been written about why newspapers are in such dire straits. But several writers, including Gary Kamiya in Salon and Eric Alterman in The Nation, have recently sounded the alarm about a much larger problem - the death not just of newspapers, but of news itself.

More bad news on the newspaper front: The company that owns The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News is filing for bankruptcy.

As expected, newspapers nationwide sold hundreds of thousands of extra copies to readers who snapped them up as keepsakes of Barack Obama's inauguration. Some papers increased their normal press runs by up to 800 percent.

None other than Aussie media mogul Rupert Murdoch says the obituaries for newspapers are premature. Papers aren't dead, Murdoch says, but they must change to meet the needs of 21st century news consumers.

A bank is robbed. A person is gunned down on a city street. A warehouse erupts in flames. Newsworthy stuff, certainly, but it's about all you'll find on many local TV broadcasts. Left out of the local TV news mix is in-depth reporting on issues like underperforming public schools, inner-city poverty and the human impact of plant closings and layoffs.

Amid the gloom and doom about newspaper layoffs, blogger Threatened Journalist writes about a few journalists who have found there is life after the newsroom. He reports that of the many reporters and editors who have left the beleaguered San Diego Union-Tribune, one is now an FBI agent and another is an editor at a nonprofit investigative news site.

It’s not yet clear whether newspapers will survive the current bloodletting. What's clear is that reporters and editors, like their manufacturing brethren, must learn the new skills required for this uncertain new age.

Conventional wisdom says newspapers - at least in print form - are dying. But in the latest Seattle Weekly, columnist Don Ward has an intriguing profile of Canadian publisher David Black, whose chain of small community newspapers is thriving in Washington state.