This is a don’t miss resource. Arts & Letters Daily is a compilation of news, reviews, articles, essays and new book announcements that makes for a great read. There are some great links here as well, such as a “breaking news” section, a “newspapers” section and a very large “book reviews” section. Careful though–you could get lost sifting through all that this site has to offer…
The Rocky Mountain News, just before celebrating its 150th birthday, is closing shop. Most freelancers will snicker at the notion that this is a harbinger of doom for print pubs in general, but for some reason this has the distinct feel of the first of many.
Some newspapers are getting federal grant money to train their workers to be more net and computer savvy. But I don’t think it’s going to help clueless publications like the Chicago Tribune–the papers who don’t get web savvy in a hurry are just marking time on the calendar til everybody’s fired.
For the Trib, it might be too late. But regardless, it’s best to view the closing to the Rocky Mountain News as a warning. I’ve said it here before but it bears repeating–the web is where it’s at, folks. Newsstand publications are an awful lot like those old west cowboys facing the end with the advent of large-scale organized farming and cattle operations. The old timers will stick around til the end, but for those new to the game, it’s best to get off to the right start using today’s tech.
If you are still depending on newsstang gigs for a large portion of your income, more power to you–but your days are numbered. Enjoy them while you can.
The Rocky Mountain News announced its final edition for Friday, February 27.
If you would like a link to a list of major metropolitan newspapers for reference, you are in luck! This is it….use it wisely.
Advertising Age ran a piece this week called Newspaper Death Watch. I find it quite ironic that it appeared in the print version, but the content of this article amuses me even more. It’s true that the industry is getting its collective ass kicked by internet news, RSS, mobile phone content and other factors–ad revenues are down across the board and the revenues companies find online aren’t as satisfying as the rates for a print ad in WSJ at its peak.
A look beyond the headline of this Ad Age piece reveals a practice I have loathed from the beginning of my days as a writer–the desperately sensational headline which is directly contradicted by the content of the article. For starters, the Ad Age piece quotes Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California at Annenberg, who predicts the industry has twenty years left in it. Hardly a rallying call to throw in the towel. While there’s a major market correction going on in the print world, it is by no means time to call in the newsprint version of Doctor Kervorkian just yet. Continue reading Advertising Age on the Death of Newspapers