Mainstream newspaper publications, even some of them who have been around for over a century, are losing reader after reader. For example, just take a look at the top 25 newspapers in the US. Notice a trend?
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL -- 2,024,269 -- 0.61%
USA TODAY -- 1,900,116 -- (-17.15%)
THE NEW YORK TIMES -- 927,851 -- (-7.28%)
LOS ANGELES TIMES -- 657,467 -- (-11.05%)
THE WASHINGTON POST -- 582,844 -- (-6.40%)
DAILY NEWS (NEW YORK) -- 544,167 -- (-13.98%)
NEW YORK POST -- 508,042 -- (-18.77%)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- 465,892 -- (-9.72%)
HOUSTON CHRONICLE -- 384,419 -- (-14.24%)
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER -- 361,480 -- N/A
NEWSDAY -- 357,124 -- (-5.40%)
THE DENVER POST -- 340,949 -- N/A
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC -- 316,874 -- (-12.30%)
STAR TRIBUNE, MINNEAPOLIS -- 304,543 -- (-5.53%)
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES -- 275,641 -- (-11.98%)
The PLAIN DEALER, CLEVELAND -- 271,180 -- (-11.24%)
DETROIT FREE PRESS (e) -- 269,729 -- (-9.56%)
THE BOSTON GLOBE -- 264,105 -- (-18.48%)
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS -- 263,810 -- (-22.16%)
THE SEATTLE TIMES -- 263,588 -- N/A
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- 251,782 -- (-25.82%)
THE OREGONIAN -- 249,163 -- (-12.06%)
THE STAR-LEDGER, NEWARK -- 246,006 -- (-22.22%)
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE -- 242,705 -- (-10.05%)
ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) TIMES -- 240,147 -- (-10.70%)
Except for the three whose information wasn't available, every single one of them is losing readers; lots of them too.
This has caused a lot of panic in the establishment media. While more and more people are flocking away from newspapers (they smear all over your fingers, waste tons of trees) in favor of the more diverse and informative internet news sites, mainstream journalists are proving their irrelevancy by, what else, asking for a bailout.
If print newspapers begin to disappear due to vanishing subscribers, it's hard to find a reason to complain. Who needs the neocon hawks at the Wall Street Journal? Or the predictably dull socialism of the New York Times?
As their gravestones are slowly being written, the nearly free and unregulated power of the internet has been there to fill its void and the needs of a frustrated and skeptical American public. On the web and the blogosphere, you tend to find liberals and conservatives who's knees don't jerk at the sight of each other, even engaging in the occasional civilized debate. For excellent liberal commentary, there's CounterPunch, Democracy Now!, and Michigan professor Juan Cole's indispensable blog, Informed Comment. On the Right, you'll find small-government peaceniks at The American Conservative, Taki's Mag, and Front Porch Republic.*
Mainstream newspapers have been mouthpieces for warfare, welfare, and inflation for too long, and if they wither away into obscurity, I say good riddance.
*Or if you're sympathetic to libertarian anarchism like myself (hatred of wars and taxes, love of individual liberty and truly free markets), then I highly recommend going to LewRockwell.com, Antiwar.com, Mises.org, Al Jazeera, and, of course, RonPaul.com.
Comments
I do think it is sad that the Freedom Communications papers are in trouble, too. Their editorial pages are great, but I do wish they would present the *news* from a "libertarian perpsective" as well, instead of printing the pro-military drivel that keeps the local air base (and its worshipers) happy. They should be harder on the local LEOs, too. After all, who is the biggest threat to freedom?
for all those who aren't really awake to real life, this is already the fast pace Internet Age. if you can't get a baby boomer to learn a computer by now (they're afraid), then read the headlines the old fashion way. john mccain has to ask his staff when he could just log-on and find out for himself. we all should be logging-on by now.
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