Bye, Bye, News Plan

Do you like reading your Sunday paper while relaxing, still in your robe, drinking a cup of coffee, and slowly eating your, at one time, hot breakfast? Well, enjoy it while you can because some cities no longer produce a major paper and yours might be next. Living in Philadelphia, the fourth (in some studies fifth behind San Francisco) largest media market, one tends to get a first hand glimpse into media trends, though not as great as Chicago, L.A., or N.Y.C. When the minor market newspapers were starting to be forced to close their doors it was merely a sign that it was time to consolidate. However, now the trend has hit the major markets and is trying to tell us, "The newspaper is a dieing breed." For further analysis, let’s explore the five major markets (to avoid argument over who is higher, Philly or San Fran).

San Francisco: Has no major newspaper currently in print.
NYC: The most popular of the city’s papers, The New York Times is on the verge of bankruptcy.
L.A.: The company that owns the Los Angeles Times is bankrupt.
Chicago: The Chicago Sun Times is currently selling stocks at $0.03 a share and has fired its CEO without an announcement of a replacement. Generally a company brings in a new guy fairly quickly if they plan to rebound. The Chicago tribune is owned by the same company that owns the Los Angeles Times.
Philadelphia: see below

There is a thing about Philadelphia that makes it different in comparison to all of the other markets, an attribute that none of the other top 50 markets have. When it comes to its news, Philadelphia is full of some of the most traditional people. For example, since 1977 WPVI (known as 6ABC to many of those in the market) has held the number 1 spot when it comes to their news ratings. No TV station in the major markets can claim the same thing. Why has channel 6 maintained such a streak? The news format many stations have adopted was created there, the quick news stories that are no more than 90 seconds, if that. This is what first caught the public’s eye. As parents watched channel 6, their children grew up watching channel 6, so it became their place for news as well. When they became parents, their children adopted channel 6 as their news station too.

This cycle has perpetuated. Of all of the stations in the market, channel 6 has the lowest anchor turnover rate; Jim Gardner has been there since the 70s. Also, when they tried changing the theme in 1996, the same theme they’ve had since 1972, their audience was so vocal about the change, WPVI changed it back. Philadelphians are dedicated to their news sources. I am not to say this is a good thing because channel 6 is the least innovative and is one of the worst of the Philly stations in terms of news coverage, their reign at the top has made them lazy. I am merely setting up a point.

The dedication to media forms that Philadelphians feel is not enough to save the company that owns both of the city’s major newspapers. Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C. filed for bankruptcy this past February. Not only is it sad that is it both of Philly's papers being hit at once, but my grandfather worked many years as an editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Part of my connection to Journalism is rooted there. Maybe it is a good thing they are both owned by the same company, though not a good thing for proper democratic discussion. At least this way the company could close the doors of one paper to save the other. Regardless, it represents a growing trend. As I said last post, ink and paper are becoming more expensive and classifieds are finding their way online. Even the most traditional of news followers can't save the the papers.

Now, I am a firm believer in the fourth branch of our government and am confident that Washington will remain to be watched over and, maybe I am optimistic, watched even more closely as more and more Internet news sites sprout up. With newspapers dieing so rapidly, what scares me the most is who is going to look after the small towns? As it stands, TV and Radio stations are mostly hosted within cities and their local coverage does very little when it comes to surrounding towns. Small community newspapers have felt much harsher effects of the newspaper crisis than the big city papers. With less and less small town coverage, who is going to keep an eye on the small town politics? Who is going to hold the local mayors accountable? Who is going to be the residents’ watchdog?

If you are waiting to hear that Underdog has come to save the day, keep waiting. The Internet is so global, do we expect it to adapt to the lifestyle of smallville? Maybe I am looking too far into this.