That Sucking Sound: The Disappearing Newspaper

A few decades ago, most major cities had at least two major newspapers and many of them had morning and evening delivery. Today, newspapers are undergoing rapid decline and, for most of them, their futures are either digital or they will have no future at all. Those newspapers that will survive, will be free. Newspapers with a community focus that discusses the local boy or girl who has graduated from school or served the country with honor in the military and ones with a lifestyle or classified focus (jobs, homes, etc.) that are free will continue to continue to survive and maybe even thrive. The paid ones will quickly become history.

In the last few months we have seen the Rocky Mountain News fold in Denver, Colorado, the curtailing of days of delivery for the Detroit Free Press, and the move from a daily Christian Science Monitor to a weekly edition. This decline of newspapers is attributed to several factors:

The Internet has made the majority of content free. One of the strange answers by the industry, to the newspaper crises, is to raise the price on newspapers. This has only chased customers away to the vast array of sources available at not cost to the reader. The only newspapers that charge and may survive will have to fulfill a very specific function. The jury is out on that.

Information spreads best in a viral way, which lends very well to the Internet, but not newspapers. For years I use to clip articles, some times make copies to send to others, but usually lost them and tried to remember what the article I loved so much actually said. With the Internet, people can easily spread the word about the great article they have seen, pass it via email, and make the source a household name. With the Internet, organizing information is a breeze and it stands as far superior to the old methodology.

Archiving for future reference is very easy. I wanted to find out if the Internet is better than newspapers, so I did a Google search and I received millions of links. Remember going to the library, looking through periodical indices, and thumbing through countless newspapers or magazines to find an article? The Internet has changed all of that.

Many want to attribute the decline to the ideology that is pervasive among newspapers today. The liberal bias in newspapers is obvious and I think it is clear that this has hurt the credibility of the media in general. On TV, Fox News (which is described by the left as conservative, but in my opinion, strives for some level of objectivity) has more viewers than MSNBC and CNN combined. I believe this is attributable to the liberal bent among Fox News competitors.

In spite of these realities, if paid newspapers had Glenn Beck types as their publishers, they would still be in decline because that form of print news would still be in decline. The Internet (and the rise of smart phones that brings Web information everywhere) is just a far superior technology. Conservatives need to stop merely complaining about the newspapers and their liberal bias and take advantage of the new battlefield which is online. Currently, the left is dominating the blogosphere. It is still relatively early in the game, but conservatives need to shelve their pass loses and focus on the future that is the Internet.

This article originally appeared at CNN650.com, part of the CBS Radio Network.

Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business, the longest running show on CNN 650 (M-F at 11 am). Eric Bolling of Fox News and Fox Business and says that Price’s Blog “is very influential and moves the blogosphere.” Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal calls Price the “best business talk show host in the country.” Find out why and visit his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com and his show site at www.PriceofBusiness.com.

The Decline of Newspapers... A Personal Story

We have all seen the stories about the massive decline of newspapers in recent years and it is reflected in newspapers being offered for around half price (not at the news stand, but in M & A deals) and practically having to have to give ads away in order to stay afloat. I recently have had a personal incident happen that brings this reality very close to home.

I stopped subscribing to dailies years ago, but I do have a ritual of getting the Sunday newspaper. Sometimes it is the Houston Chronicle, other instances it is the New York Times, and still, other times, I get both. My wife and I might grab coffee or go grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday and just pick one up along the way. We did just that on Saturday. I grabbed a newspaper and put it with the milk, fudge bars, and other necessities. When we got home we put all our bags on the dining room table and went to work putting things up. Well, here it is on Sunday evening and I just walked pass the table, and guess what I found there? A Sunday paper still in the grocery bag. If my wife sees this, it will likely be my last newspaper.

So did I deprive myself of news today? Not hardly, instead I get the exact news I want, when I wnt it, online. No longer do I fumble through pages trying to find articles worth reading. No longer do I find milk from my cereal on the corners of the paper. No longer do I wonder where that great article was that I read, instead I simply put the keywords in and the name of the publication, and eureka, the article appears.

Still, traditions die hard, so I probably will keep on getting a newspaper out of habit. In fact, as soon as I'm done writing this, I'll run to the dining room and get reading. But you and I will know my secret, I get my serious reading online.

Donald Trump Finds Himself in the News for a Good Cause

Lately, almost all the news on Donald Trump as of late has been bad, so it was refreshing to see him in line giving praise and even money to Wesley Autry, the 50 year old man who jumped on a New York subway rail in order to rescue a young man who was suffering from a seizure. With only seconds to spare he saved the day and provided an example that is inspirational to all of us.

Donald Trump gave the 50 year old construction worker $10,000.00 as a reward for his heroics. In return, Trump received, what I'm sure, is a warm and fuzzy feeling for his act of kindness and newspapers all over the world reporting on his goodwill gesture. Countries included New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, and many more wrote articles about his action. I believe that people are fairly cynical, and the media more so than most, but I saw virtually no questioning of Trump's motives. We should all want to praise Autry for such a selfless, heroic, and inspirational act and am glad to see such behavior rewarded in light of the trash we see that appears to be profitable.

I went ahead and did a little research to see how many references I could find on Donald's generosity in Google's news section and using very specific search criteria, I found over 680 references and as I mentioned earlier, they were all over the world. You can't buy publicity like that! Unless you are Donald Trump, than you can do it for a mere $10,000.00.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't entirely critical. He made a nice gesture. I'm just amazed how he always seems to turn a profit, no matter what his actions.