goodbye newspapers?

original draft posted on: 2/25/09 @ 1:37am

this evening KTVU's top story on the 10 o'clock news was about the possible shutdown of the San Francisco Chronicle. sadly enough, like other newspapers in the country, the Chronicle is "on brink of sale or closure" due to the recession and specifically the $50 million they lost last year.

it's unfortunate to hear that because at one point in my college life, i've wanted to work at a newspaper and specifically at The Chronicle. and because of my journalism program, i've visited the office many times and have even met several writers from there. it's crazy to hear that this Bay Area daily may close down.

but honestly in my opinion... newspapers are NOT going to die. i've attended journalism conferences and i've been studying this in my honors Re-Making the News class and i truly do believe newspapers are just going to have to try to find a new model to live by in order to survive.

what's that new model though you ask? that's something they still have to try to find out. there's several different ways newspapers can respond and adjust, they're just going to have to figure specifically how they choose to adjust to new market models, UGC, and the utilization of the internet. alongside incorporating teh old paradigm of "old journalism" in with the new journalism values. if they find a combo that works, newspapers will get through this slump.

cause all bias aside, i am definitely a firm believer that newspapers will still be around... it isn't their time to die yet. not in my lifetime at least.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/18787164/detail.html

SFist.com writes a great article about the downfall of the Chronicle. read on.