Well nothing really new here about the decline of newspapers. It seems to avoid the underlying causes of this decline, which to most businessmen would be obvious, but because newspapers are run by journalists it is not. I mean by God they are journalists. The product newspapers are selling is flawed and has no value.
The root problem is newspapers have stopped providing value to most Americans. People spend money on things which they need, provide them entertain or feel will help them obtain their goals.
Once people realized there were other sources to obtain the information they felt they needed newspapers started a steady decline. For example, I do not need a newspaper to determine what might be on television tonight. My cable or satellite provider does a much better job of providing that information. If I want a sports story or game scores then there are multiple sources on line, which can provide me with that information in greater detail than my newspaper. The same holds true for stock market analysis or stock prices. If I want to make a major purchase, I do not need the print ads to tell me where to find the best price. I can do this much more effectively using the internet.
Now we get to the latest canard as to why journalists believe newspapers are important. This canard is to they are essential to preserving our democracy. This might be true, yet it would appear most Americans do not accept this premise.
The bond of trust that once existed between newspapers and their readers has been shattered. It was shattered when newspapers became nothing more than propaganda organs for the left in America. Readers discovered what their local newspapers were printing and selling really was as much their point of view as it was facts. They decided what news was, how that news was to be packaged, and then what we their customers should conclude. In a sense, journalist believed themselves to be superior to their customers. Compounding this was the positions of their opinion pages began to shape the news that was reported in other parts of their product.
It will take a very long time for this trust to be reestablished if ever. Just ask Detroit about the car buyer perceptions of quality. They have been fighting that for 20 years and have made little headway. Until such time there is a culture shift by journalists and this is reflected in the product they sell, newspapers will continue this decline.
