Another sign of the difficult times for American newspapers:
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on Friday reported that Detroit Media Partnership L.P., which operates the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News, is expected to announce this week that it will cease home delivery of the papers print editions on most days of the week. The leading scenario, set to be unveiled Tuesday, according to the reports, would be for a print edition to be delivered only on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the company still would sell single copies of abbreviated print editions at newsstands and direct readers to the papers expanded digital editions.
The Detroit papers wouldnt be the first metropolitan dailies to reduce or eliminate their print editions, but they would be the largest. The Free Press is the 20th largest U.S. newspaper by weekday circulation.
Decreasing ad revenue and rising costs of printing and delivery are forcing many newspapers to cut expenses, or take more drastic measures. For better or worse, I think more and more newspapers will be shifting their focus to online publishing rather printed products. I also think that more and more news products will be forced to be made available for free.
Whether this decision is being made because of Detroits economy, or because of the national economy and the state of newspapers in general, is a key question in my mind. Detroit has its own specific, and obvious, struggles.
Whether newspapers can survive online only and still devote the resources to quality and in-depth reporting is a question that hasnt yet begun to be answered. One of the first answers will come just a few miles to the north, where the Capital Times shifted earlier this year to a Web-only daily product.
A Web site devoted to Gannett Co. (which owns the Free Press) news and bashing contains a fair amount of chatter about the potential change in Detroit. One journalist talks of the excitement of being a part of a radical change in the industry from paper to digital. The journalist admits to being skeptical about whether the shift will work, but is glad the attempt is being made to save newspapers.
I share the skepticism, and the sentiment that radical changes will have to continue if newspapers large and small are to survive.
Of course, we always could ask for a government bailout.
Im kidding, of course.
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times on Friday reported that Detroit Media Partnership L.P., which operates the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News, is expected to announce this week that it will cease home delivery of the papers print editions on most days of the week. The leading scenario, set to be unveiled Tuesday, according to the reports, would be for a print edition to be delivered only on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the company still would sell single copies of abbreviated print editions at newsstands and direct readers to the papers expanded digital editions.
The Detroit papers wouldnt be the first metropolitan dailies to reduce or eliminate their print editions, but they would be the largest. The Free Press is the 20th largest U.S. newspaper by weekday circulation.
Decreasing ad revenue and rising costs of printing and delivery are forcing many newspapers to cut expenses, or take more drastic measures. For better or worse, I think more and more newspapers will be shifting their focus to online publishing rather printed products. I also think that more and more news products will be forced to be made available for free.
Whether this decision is being made because of Detroits economy, or because of the national economy and the state of newspapers in general, is a key question in my mind. Detroit has its own specific, and obvious, struggles.
Whether newspapers can survive online only and still devote the resources to quality and in-depth reporting is a question that hasnt yet begun to be answered. One of the first answers will come just a few miles to the north, where the Capital Times shifted earlier this year to a Web-only daily product.
A Web site devoted to Gannett Co. (which owns the Free Press) news and bashing contains a fair amount of chatter about the potential change in Detroit. One journalist talks of the excitement of being a part of a radical change in the industry from paper to digital. The journalist admits to being skeptical about whether the shift will work, but is glad the attempt is being made to save newspapers.
I share the skepticism, and the sentiment that radical changes will have to continue if newspapers large and small are to survive.
Of course, we always could ask for a government bailout.
Im kidding, of course.
