Fifty years ago, the local daily newspaper had around 250,000 readers and was among the largest in the state.
Today, it has a circulation of about 15,000 and isn’t even in the top 10 – even though almost all newspapers are losing readers.
The precipitous drop is even more dramatic when you consider the population growth.
Then, nearly 50 percent the people in the city subscribed to the paper. Today, with more than a million residents, fewer than 1.5 percent buy what’s left of the newspaper.
The reasons for the decline in the newspaper industry are not difficult to grasp. It is enormously costly to print with huge rolls of paper on expensive presses and deliver thousands of copies throughout large metropolitan areas.
This is especially true when competition on the internet can do the same for almost nothing, and instantly. Advertisers deserted the old media quickly and readers followed.
Another factor was the trend in the newspaper industry to embrace the Far Left – not only in the opinion pages but also in the news sections, which often became indistinguishable from the opinion pages.
Why would the conservative majority in America pay to read what they considered tripe?
Millions of words have been written about the decline of the industry, but some of the most hilarious appeared in the Far Left magazine Atlantic.
Atlantic’s explanation for newspaper decline is that the owners tried to make a profit!
Yes sir. In thousands of words the lib writer explained that newspaper owners committed such atrocities as cutting staff that were not needed, raising subscription prices when ad revenue declined and trying to “wring out as much cash as possible.”
Atlantic courageously exposed the fiendish tactics used by the owners, which included closing newspapers that no one wanted to read.
The writer’s disgust with companies that try to earn profits is palpable.
In the communist world Atlantic writers hope to bring about, everyone would do his job for the benefit of humanity, juicy steaks would be free in the supermarkets and you could get a new (battery operated) car just for the asking.
Oddly enough, The Atlantic still charges readers for its product.
Putting a spin on a story is expected these days, but this kind of spin would make any sentient person dizzy.
