75 and 100 years ago, every major and minor city in America had two, three, even a dozen daily newspapers duking it out for the hearts and minds of their town’s population. Now we’re down to less than 10 cities.
~ from Mustardayonnaise ~
Yes, America has a long history with multiple print media in towns, cities and metro areas. In February, Cincinnati lost the Enquirer and, a short while later, Seattle saw the Post-Intelligencer shut its doors. The prior year it was The Rocky Mountain News. On Friday, another newspaper bit the dust, the Tuscon Citizen.
In this day of instant news via the internet, many might ask: What's the big deal? Why are folks in these cities upset when they still have one major newspaper?
Every time a voice is silenced, the definition of what constitutes news gets narrowed. Wherever a monopoly exists, choices become limited and controlled. If you live in an area with only one gas station, the owners can charge whatever the like. There is no other option to compel them to behave otherwise.
It's the very same thing for news! When only one major newspaper exists in a large metro area, its publisher and editors get to decide what is and isn't news. Since all publications have a necessary bias, the news get filtered through this one lens.
(Try getting a letter to the editor published in the one newspaper if your bias doesn't match up well with the newspaper's bias!)
Friday was a sad day, not only for the people of Tuscon, but for lovers of divergent voices everywhere.
~ from Mustardayonnaise ~
Yes, America has a long history with multiple print media in towns, cities and metro areas. In February, Cincinnati lost the Enquirer and, a short while later, Seattle saw the Post-Intelligencer shut its doors. The prior year it was The Rocky Mountain News. On Friday, another newspaper bit the dust, the Tuscon Citizen.
In this day of instant news via the internet, many might ask: What's the big deal? Why are folks in these cities upset when they still have one major newspaper?
Every time a voice is silenced, the definition of what constitutes news gets narrowed. Wherever a monopoly exists, choices become limited and controlled. If you live in an area with only one gas station, the owners can charge whatever the like. There is no other option to compel them to behave otherwise.
It's the very same thing for news! When only one major newspaper exists in a large metro area, its publisher and editors get to decide what is and isn't news. Since all publications have a necessary bias, the news get filtered through this one lens.
(Try getting a letter to the editor published in the one newspaper if your bias doesn't match up well with the newspaper's bias!)
Friday was a sad day, not only for the people of Tuscon, but for lovers of divergent voices everywhere.
The only reason I don't read newspapers is their size...and maybe the lack of staples. I find them very clumsy and messy and I don't like how they feel. The feeling of newspaper makes my skin crawl. I developed this phobia of dusty feelings later in life, I never used to use hand cream, now I can’t live without it. The feeling of chalk, actually just the thought of chalk, is very disturbing to me. I get the same feeling from newspaper :P
ReplyDeleteI think if our local paper offered online subscriptions I'd probably buy one. I'll tell you though, when I watch CNN or the like, I yell at the TV "I'd like some actual news with my news please!"
Watch it for about half an hour, and they start it all over again... nothing but politics and the economy, and I know that's not the only news happening so where is the rest of it?!?
So I find the "actual news" online if I can.