That said, the weekly Chatham County News and Record, just $1 a week for a combination print and online edition, does a decent job. But it did not adequately cover the recent congressional election here. No one in the district did. Almost the only "debate" was a Substack I wrote and letter to the editor. Sad and frustrating. The truth is that half the nation could be electing George Santos-type characters and their constituents would not know.
Maura, this is a wonderful report about local journalism rising from from ashes. My own view is that hybrid -- a combination of print, digital, video and podcasts -- may be the way to go. I groused about paying $15 a month for the online-only edition of the News and Observer of Raleigh, the regional paper here. I don't feel I read $15 a month of good stuff from it. But when I go to the library and find myself spending 2 hours reading a month's print editions, I think it really is worth $15. The problem is that the print edition is $2 a day and $5 on Sunday, or about $50 a month or $600 a year, way too high a cost for all but news junkies. Plus the paper piles up at home and is messy junk. If the N&O switched to a weekly print edition for $5 and eliminated the daily print edition which is quite thin, I might subscribe.
Excellent article Maura. I just changed my local newspaper subscription (Rochester NY Democrat & Chronicle) from print to digital because Gannett is moving its local print operation to NJ and the Editor acknowledged that print coverage would no longer be as timely as it had been. So many of their reporters have been let go, it was no longer “timely” to begin with. When I moved here Rochester, like Buffalo, had two newspapers. Now we’re left with an abbreviated edition of the USA Today, with local coverage largely limited to restaurant reviews and high school sports scores. I subscribe to the NY Times and the WAPO too, but it’s frightening that so many people limit their “news” to what they see on social media.
Well put, Maura! These new business models appear to hold some promise. I regret that those of us working during the decades when newspapers were still in ascendancy weren’t more open to such alternatives for the future.
No, everything is online. I read them compulsively through the day. Gotta stop!
It’s a new world out there, Tim!
Especially George Santos, who did next to nothing about this when he was editor of The Washington Post.
That said, the weekly Chatham County News and Record, just $1 a week for a combination print and online edition, does a decent job. But it did not adequately cover the recent congressional election here. No one in the district did. Almost the only "debate" was a Substack I wrote and letter to the editor. Sad and frustrating. The truth is that half the nation could be electing George Santos-type characters and their constituents would not know.
Maura, this is a wonderful report about local journalism rising from from ashes. My own view is that hybrid -- a combination of print, digital, video and podcasts -- may be the way to go. I groused about paying $15 a month for the online-only edition of the News and Observer of Raleigh, the regional paper here. I don't feel I read $15 a month of good stuff from it. But when I go to the library and find myself spending 2 hours reading a month's print editions, I think it really is worth $15. The problem is that the print edition is $2 a day and $5 on Sunday, or about $50 a month or $600 a year, way too high a cost for all but news junkies. Plus the paper piles up at home and is messy junk. If the N&O switched to a weekly print edition for $5 and eliminated the daily print edition which is quite thin, I might subscribe.
Maura, if you haven't seen this, you should take a look. Perry Bacon of the Wapo did a column recommending investments in local news so that each congressional district should have at least a 100-staffer news organization(s). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/17/local-news-crisis-plan-fix-perry-bacon/
Excellent article Maura. I just changed my local newspaper subscription (Rochester NY Democrat & Chronicle) from print to digital because Gannett is moving its local print operation to NJ and the Editor acknowledged that print coverage would no longer be as timely as it had been. So many of their reporters have been let go, it was no longer “timely” to begin with. When I moved here Rochester, like Buffalo, had two newspapers. Now we’re left with an abbreviated edition of the USA Today, with local coverage largely limited to restaurant reviews and high school sports scores. I subscribe to the NY Times and the WAPO too, but it’s frightening that so many people limit their “news” to what they see on social media.
Well put, Maura! These new business models appear to hold some promise. I regret that those of us working during the decades when newspapers were still in ascendancy weren’t more open to such alternatives for the future.