Newspapers are Going Rogue
There has been a lot of talk lately about the decline of mainstream media. Newspapers are receiving the brunt of the criticism and, in my opinion, for good reason. There are two simple reasons why I read my local paper, ads/coupons and local news. Yet, my local newspaper seems hell bent on delivering me a paper full of world and national news that in all likelihood I have already read on the Internet or seen on TV. Newspapers, especially local ones, fill the only niche that new-media have been unable to tackle, yet. My local newspaper provides me with a local perspective. The writers and editors are supposed to dive deep into the issues that affect my local government, schools, and businesses. Instead, the majority of the paper is filled with AP reports that are at least a day old.
The lack of local reporting in my newspaper coupled with the ever increase subscription fee has caused me to cancel my subscription. I wonder if the newspaper companies will ever realize that their only means to stay in business will be to cut costs by not paying the AP to run day old stories. They need to provide more investigative reporting on local issues and lower subscription fees. I fear, however, that they will never figure this out and in the near future the new-media system will figure out a way to provide the local news and finally end the torturous death of the Newspaper industry.
