UPI is reporting that the Rocky Mountain News will close it's doors on Friday. This comes on the heels of bankruptcy filings for dailys in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Chicago, as well as threatened closures of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the much publicized financial woes at the New York Times. We may be witnessing the death of the daily newspaper.
I love newspapers, but understand how that business model is outdated. Most news is now available online, which allows readers to get immediate updates rather than wait for tomorrow's newspaper. The internet also killed classified ad sales. Why look in the paper for a car when you can go onto Craigslist or eBay and search for the model you want, get more information about it, and view multiple color photographs of the vehicle? So readership and revenues have been declining for years.
World, National and (to a lesser extent) State news will survive the changeover to online outlets. Indeed, CNN, MSNBC, FOX and other online sources have been doing just that. I fear, however, that it is local news that will suffer. And without the exposure that local coverage offers, I worry about corrupt local politicians operating with impunity as they no longer worry about the journalistic scrutiny that once kept them in check.
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