Thursday, February 26, 2009

In Your Face, News Radio! Newspapers Rule!

THE IMAGE ABOVE IS FROM an ad that ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday.

The ad boasted that the newsgathering staff at the Inquirer was WAY larger than the that of the local news radio station. It accuses the radio anchors of reading the Inquirer on air as a way of doing their reporting.

The ad, of course, comes a few days after the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer filed for bankruptcy.

I just wanted you to see how desperate the mainstream print media is getting.

You guys are the future of journalism. You have the ability to shape how news is delivered in the years ahead.

Do we even need printed newspapers anymore if most people get their information online?

(BTW - Fox29 did a reaction story and basically found that most people don't read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Lovely.)

6 comments:

ricky said...

Every local radio news broadcast I have ever listened to is exactly this, rip & read. i think the ad raises a legitimate question of, what will they be reading when newspapers go out of business... the philly bankruptcy heightens the importance of that question, i'd say.

when you say "most people get their information online," much of that was gathered by a newspaper staff, with print paying the bills for the online report... when print stops paying the bills, then what...

look at where local news on the "web" is coming from where i live, san diego... it's overwhelmingly from the local newspaper. http://tinyurl.com/d37nxe

Anonymous said...

right now there still is a place for newspapers because people are still alive who grew up with the newspaper. however now most people are growing up getting their news online so i dont think newspapers will be as relevant 25-30 years from now.
aside from that, with the economy the way it is, can people still justify paying for a newspaper when they can get the same news online for free?
ofcourse some newspapers will survive, but i think with these factors and more... the newspaper industry will not last much longer.

Joe said...

"Younger folks... are all about the internet and blogs!" That part made me LOL.
Ok so I'll read the Inquirer way before I'll listen to KYW. That AM radio static is a freaking nightmare in my ears. Plus, print reporting just has so much more feeling. But I'll listen to KYW way before I watch Fox 29 news. What an awful station.

Anonymous said...

Yes we need newspapers! I know personally I read the newspaper in my leisure time, while exercising on a cardio machine or laying in bed. From being on the computer allll day, doesn't make me more prone to go online and find out my news. I like to have varieties and I think that is what the US thrive off of. Also, if the newspaper completely diminishes, than tons of jobs will be nonexistent. We need to fight for that reason, especially in this economy. I mean even the radio gets its news from them! Hey, where would we be without it?

Anonymous said...

I feel bad for the paper after this attack. I don't think its pathetic. I think they are trying to get a point across. Newspapers are vital, they need to be rejuvenated somehow. :( Do I think this ad will do it? No not all, but I think it shows the desperation newspapers are facing.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Rick on this one, but like to mention that print newspapers for prior generations are essential. But for for many of us it isn't practical, when you can read the news on your phone or laptop while traveling. The newspaper is essential for any society, just in a different form.


Sherae Moore