Newspapers are facing challenging times
In an opinion piece in today’s Express-News public editor Bob Richter talks about changes that are coming to the newspaper that will have effect on the amount of content to be delivered. Just as other businesses are facing challenging times due to the financial crisis so is the Express-News. Richter mentioned that buyouts have been offered to employees and a hiring and wage freeze is no in effect. But the most troubling of the changes is the reduction in 32 pages from the paper weekly.
Hopefully this will help stem the tide of financial issues for the paper and avoid closing the doors. With the E-N being the only daily paper in San Antonio that move would leave the city with no good source and coverage for news. Having a daily paper is so critical to keep citizens informed and entertained. While television could fill the gap the limit space in the 30 minute news program could never adequately cover all the news items that happen in a city the size of San Antonio.
Today’s media is changing drastically as new sources continue to crop up such as blogs and alternative websites. The problem is that these sources are not managed with the same rigor and integrity as a daily newspaper. Blogs are primarily opinion sources and alternative websites usually are tailored to a particular idealogy or cause. While some may claim newspapers to have some bias it is nothing of the level you will find with blogs and websites.
I personally have stopped taking the daily in print form but continue to subscribe to the paper through their electronic edition. This brings the daily to me through a website in the same look and feel of the current print edition. It helps the environment by avoiding printing on paper and it helps reduce the production costs of the Express-News through the electronic distribution channel. By subscribing I continue to provide a revenue stream to the paper.
It is possible that soon all papers will move to an electronic edition as the need to cut costs rises. In October the Christian Science Monitor took this step and shifted to a web only strategy. In the article Judy Wolff, chairman of the board of trustees of the Christian Science Publishing Society, pointed out three goals that led to the change.
- Producing a website that can be updated 24/7 and delivered instantaneously “better fulfills Mrs. Eddy’s original vision” for the Monitor to be daily than does a five-day-a-week paper delivered by mail with frequent delays.
- Focusing resources on the fast-growing Web audience for news rather than on the economically troubled daily newspaper industry “increases the Monitor’s reach and impact.” The Monitor’s website currently attracts about 1.5 million visitors a month.
- Eliminating the major production and distribution costs of a daily newspaper will allow the Monitor to “make progress toward achieving financial sustainability” while supporting its global news resources.
Looking at the goals this could signal a successful change for the publication and provide a benchmark for others to follow who are faced with financial challenges. Only time will tell if this is the future of news. I seem to believe it is.
