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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Why newspapers are dying, Reason #246 |
| 2008-01-30 |
| Kevin D. Williamson, National Review It's a common observation that Associated Press coverage basically stinks—my father quit reading his local paper due in no small part to the prominence of junky AP reports—but when the news service actually tries to do something smart by expanding its foreign coverage, American newspaper editors howl in outage. Why? Because some of them will see a rate increase. . . . Nobody is quicker to lecture the public about "diversity" than an American newspaper bureaucrat, but when it comes to actually covering the news among all those strange-looking funny-language-speaking people overseas—you know, the rest of the world—it's "Forget the news, we want a rate cut." Editor & Publisher has the full story. This is a familiar theme in newspapers. I once had a publisher who didn't want to pay for content for special sections. "Here," she told me, pushing a pile of papers across the desk, "use this stuff." The stories—every one of them—were from (and I am not making this up) the "Fleischmann's Yeast Newsroom," and each story extolled the virtues of preparing baked goods with the aforementioned fungi. It might shock you (then again, it might not) just how much "news" consists of lightly-reformatted press releases. So if you're wondering why your local paper is full of recipes for Fleischmann's "One-Dish Taco Bake" instead of the news of the world, now you know. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #2 "It might shock you (then again, it might not) just how much "news" consists of lightly-reformatted press releases." Fenton Communications relies on that fact. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-01-30 22:17 |
| #1 The Associated Press was started in the 19th century essentially as a cartel for the New York newspapers. It evolved to where it is today, but the damage is done; traditional media is hooked on the news service. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-01-30 18:18 |