By Celine Thomasson
Either my husband orI go out to fetch the newspaper in the morning. We spill the contents on the breakfast table and grab forour section. Sports to my husband and Metro or Business to me. Onlynow we toss out the contents of the plastic sack and both look in astonishment at our incredible shrinking newspaper.
How do you split up a paper that has only two or three sections? I get the front page section and my husband says, “Read fast.”
“No problem” I say.
The state of our local newspaper is depressing. It’s like watching a living creature waste away right before your eyes. Numerous ideas have been floated about how newspapers can survive a bad economy, devastating loss of advertising dollars and shrinking market for the printed page. Our local editor floated the idea of newspapers operating as nonprofits. I can’t imagine a worse time to launch a nonprofit than now. A couple of years ago PRSA hosted a speaker who said, “New media doesn’t replace old media.”
I’d like to believe that. I’m not so sure. Our local chapter has extended a hand to unemployed reporters helping them to join the ranks of the flacks. Our recent luncheon speaker, former newspaper columnist, Ken Rodriguez could have used the song, “Always look on the bright side of life” as background music for his presentation on surviving his layoff. I’m certain jobless newspaper staff will land on their feet.
I’m not so certain the same can be said for the actual printed newspaper. There is a mind boggling array of choices for news and information. However, I don’t know of any source as good as the local newspaper forgetting information about our community. Which is why I’m disturbed about our dwindling newspaper. The local newspaper doesn’t have enough reporters (or enough reporters with tenure) to cover local stories well or extensively. Therefore it takes 30 minutes or less to read anything of local interest. I’ve considered letting my subscription lapse.
In the end, I’m forced to acknowledge that out of habit and a desire to support the local newspaper I don’t drop my service. Which, I suppose, is a kind of charity.