Newspapers Exiting Stage Left …

Since Hunter’s Department of Film and Media is revising its journalism curriculum – should I say struggling to revise – colleagues and students might consider the following from a blog – Outposts – by Timothy Egan of the NYT online, July 3, 2008:

“Last week, almost 1,000 jobs were eliminated in the American newspaper industry, perhaps the bloodiest week yet of a year where many papers are fighting for their lives.”

So, it should be only a matter of time before some serious F/M discussion about the influences of the Internet and burgeoning technology on journalism education.

 

[The following was added July 5: From Poynter Online (a snippet):


> E-Media Tidbits 
> 
>   Thursday, July 3, 2008  
> 
>  Posted by Alan Abbey 11:51:45 AM 

> LA Times Cutting Again, Merging Web/Print: Too Little, Too Late? 
> Yesterday the LA Times announced that it is cutting its 876-person editorial staff by about 17 percent (to about 700). This is remarkable only in that it is unremarkable.
> 
> Across the continent, yesterday the Tampa Tribune also announced major cuts: 11 newsroom employees now and 10 more by early fall, as part of a 20 percent cut in news staff to an editorial department of 200. These cuts count an additional 29 who took buyouts, according to the report. 
> 
> But wait, there’s more! A June 25 Reuters roundup catalogued another bloody week:   Tribune Co.  will cut 100 jobs at The Sun in Baltimore (60 in the newsroom) and Hartford Courant another 60. (Fellow Tidbits contributor Tish Grier  notes that the Courant says it’s adding staff to better monitor their message boards. She’s checking whether news staff are being shifted to these jobs.)   Cox Newspapers  announced 300 job cuts at the Palm Beach Post.  
> 
> The LA Times also plans to merge its Web and print departments into one operation with a single budget. 
> 
> Editor Russ Stanton  was quoted as saying: “We’re great about putting out a paper; we’re getting a lot better at putting up a Web site. We’re not very good on TV or radio, and we don’t do mobile at all. We need to do all of those things going forward.” 
> 
> And how are they going to do that with less of a staff? I’m not sure that old-line print media ever will “get it.” It is still virtually impossible, for example, to enter reader comments on news articles on major newspaper sites. People want to talk back, to have a say, to join the conversation. 
> 

> Let’s not get too apocalyptic: The U.S. economy, led by a drop in real estate, is sinking right now. This kind of economic slowdown hits newspapers first in areas such as classified advertising. Newsprint, ink, and transportation costs are skyrocketing at the same time. But these things are cyclical. I’m old enough (53), and entered the jobmarket at a bad enough time (1976-77 recession), to know there are good times and bad times.

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