evolution of newspapers

***Alex Linder*** · February 19th, 2006

All the news stuff that's fit to print

Facing a slow death, newspapers are desperately trying to reach young readers with dumbed-down tabloids full of stories about Kobe, Britney and dental bling.

By Farhad Manjoo

Feb. 17, 2006 | Hilary Brown is a genial 20-year-old junior at Northwestern University. She's currently an intern at San Francisco magazine and her goal, she says, is to work as a magazine writer. But for all her interest in journalism, Brown has never warmed to reading a daily newspaper. And when she does read a paper, she's not reaching for the New York Times or for her big local daily, the Chicago Tribune, whose coverage she calls "repetitive." There's too much else to follow -- too much to do, she says -- for her to read the news in the detail in which the Tribune provides it. For instance, Brown points out, every day the Tribune features news on Iraq, but little of the news is compelling or new; it's all follow-ups, side details to one big-picture story, which is that things in Iraq aren't going well.

Brown gets her news from three main sources, and each gives her a general impression of what's happening in the world. She watches "The Daily Show," which she says provides "a good grasp of what's going on." She occasionally reads the Sun-Times, Chicago's smaller competitor to the Tribune, which she likes for its size. And she frequently picks up RedEye, the free, daily commuter paper published by the Tribune and aimed at young people in Chicago.

Distributed for free around train stops in the city, RedEye is meant to be a condensed, more fun version of a traditional daily newspaper. It features copy from the Tribune as well as original reporting, and though it does briefly cover major national and international news stories, it is heavy on local news, entertainment, fashion and sports. Brown calls it "super-convenient" and praises it for providing a nice balance of news she needs and wants.

RedEye represents the newspaper industry's latest attempt to hook young readers. Newspaper executives have decided that if America's youth, with their short attention spans, flagging interest in the news, and obsession with celebrity and sports, won't come to newspapers, the papers will come to them.

"Every newspaper is seeing a need to do this, and advertisers are focused on young people pretty heavily," says Diane Hockenberry, the director of audience development at the Newspaper Association of America. Today, youth-oriented "niche" publications like RedEye, most printed in tabloid format and offered for free, are stacked up in train stations, bus stops, bars, bookstores and other hipster joints across the nation, whether in big cities (Boston, Dallas, Washington) or small (Boise, Idaho; Des Moines, Iowa; or Lansing, Mich.).

For the newspaper business, these spinoffs represent something of a Hail Mary pass. Newspaper circulation has been falling steadily for years; last year the graph began to look like the NASDAQ circa 2001. In the six-month period ending in September 2005, national newspaper circulation fell 3 percent, with many large papers faring worse. Layoffs, too, abound; seemingly every other day, editors' sad-sack pink-slip memos surface on the Web: 85 newsroom staffers let go at the Los Angeles Times; 45 at the New York Times; 35 at the Boston Globe; and more at the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, and on and on.

To try to save the newspaper industry, publishers are staking their businesses on what would seem to be an unlikely prospect -- the idea that young people, who for years have been ditching newsprint, will come back to the paper if they're given something that can compete with today's flashy media. That's the thinking behind these youth papers, which eschew news -- relegating all serious national and international coverage to a handful of small wire reports -- and instead focus on sensational local stories, pop culture, sports, and lifestyle features. Brevity is the soul of niche; these papers speed along with rat-a-tat prose and magazine-style photo spreads that would make a travel brochure for Guam look long-winded in comparison.

For all their apparent flaws, many publishers report that these niche publications have succeeded in attracting young readers and new advertisers.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...17/newspapers/

Samuel Toothgold · June 25th, 2014

Page 5, here: http://www.stadtkurier.de/pdf/ausgabe.pdf

This once serious weekly has also been in a habit of portraying ethnic crimes from a "P.C."™ standpoint abusing White stand-ins for Gypsies:

February 19th, 2006	#1
*Alex Linder* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 45,756 Blog Entries: 34	evolution of newspapers All the news stuff that's fit to print Facing a slow death, newspapers are desperately trying to reach young readers with dumbed-down tabloids full of stories about Kobe, Britney and dental bling. By Farhad Manjoo Feb. 17, 2006 \| Hilary Brown is a genial 20-year-old junior at Northwestern University. She's currently an intern at San Francisco magazine and her goal, she says, is to work as a magazine writer. But for all her interest in journalism, Brown has never warmed to reading a daily newspaper. And when she does read a paper, she's not reaching for the New York Times or for her big local daily, the Chicago Tribune, whose coverage she calls "repetitive." There's too much else to follow -- too much to do, she says -- for her to read the news in the detail in which the Tribune provides it. For instance, Brown points out, every day the Tribune features news on Iraq, but little of the news is compelling or new; it's all follow-ups, side details to one big-picture story, which is that things in Iraq aren't going well. Brown gets her news from three main sources, and each gives her a general impression of what's happening in the world. She watches "The Daily Show," which she says provides "a good grasp of what's going on." She occasionally reads the Sun-Times, Chicago's smaller competitor to the Tribune, which she likes for its size. And she frequently picks up RedEye, the free, daily commuter paper published by the Tribune and aimed at young people in Chicago. Distributed for free around train stops in the city, RedEye is meant to be a condensed, more fun version of a traditional daily newspaper. It features copy from the Tribune as well as original reporting, and though it does briefly cover major national and international news stories, it is heavy on local news, entertainment, fashion and sports. Brown calls it "super-convenient" and praises it for providing a nice balance of news she needs and wants. RedEye represents the newspaper industry's latest attempt to hook young readers. Newspaper executives have decided that if America's youth, with their short attention spans, flagging interest in the news, and obsession with celebrity and sports, won't come to newspapers, the papers will come to them. "Every newspaper is seeing a need to do this, and advertisers are focused on young people pretty heavily," says Diane Hockenberry, the director of audience development at the Newspaper Association of America. Today, youth-oriented "niche" publications like RedEye, most printed in tabloid format and offered for free, are stacked up in train stations, bus stops, bars, bookstores and other hipster joints across the nation, whether in big cities (Boston, Dallas, Washington) or small (Boise, Idaho; Des Moines, Iowa; or Lansing, Mich.). For the newspaper business, these spinoffs represent something of a Hail Mary pass. Newspaper circulation has been falling steadily for years; last year the graph began to look like the NASDAQ circa 2001. In the six-month period ending in September 2005, national newspaper circulation fell 3 percent, with many large papers faring worse. Layoffs, too, abound; seemingly every other day, editors' sad-sack pink-slip memos surface on the Web: 85 newsroom staffers let go at the Los Angeles Times; 45 at the New York Times; 35 at the Boston Globe; and more at the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, and on and on. To try to save the newspaper industry, publishers are staking their businesses on what would seem to be an unlikely prospect -- the idea that young people, who for years have been ditching newsprint, will come back to the paper if they're given something that can compete with today's flashy media. That's the thinking behind these youth papers, which eschew news -- relegating all serious national and international coverage to a handful of small wire reports -- and instead focus on sensational local stories, pop culture, sports, and lifestyle features. Brevity is the soul of niche; these papers speed along with rat-a-tat prose and magazine-style photo spreads that would make a travel brochure for Guam look long-winded in comparison. For all their apparent flaws, many publishers report that these niche publications have succeeded in attracting young readers and new advertisers. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/20...17/newspapers/

June 25th, 2014	#2
Samuel Toothgold Charachature incarnate Join Date: May 2014 Location: Already in accordance with the future Repulsive Tapir Avatar Mandate Posts: 4,068	The following weekly has gone the same direction, acquiring bubble-headed Sandra Tieso from an even stupider rag: Page 5, here: http://www.stadtkurier.de/pdf/ausgabe.pdf This once serious weekly has also been in a habit of portraying ethnic crimes from a "P.C."™ standpoint abusing White stand-ins for Gypsies:

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