So first post for me and I have a site to share. I'm not sure if either of you have heard of it before, but I just found it and it looks pretty interesting. They're also hiring freelance writers!!! Cha-ching!?
http://www.suite101.com/
Anyways I have more thoughts. Today I was thinking about how hard it would be own and run a newspaper. I guess we'll find out next year what it's like to write for one, but how many different types of employees with different types of skills does it take?
I'm wondering this because today my dad mentioned on the drive home that Edson's newspaper is having money troubles and is going under. Apparently there's rumors that Sun Media, the owner of the Leader (which is Edson's newspaper), is planning on selling it. I'm not sure if my dad was serious or not when he said he might buy it if Sun does decide to sell, but if he does buy it he said I'd be in charge.. I'm pretty sure it's part of my dad's conniving plan to keep me in Edson for the rest of my life, but I don't even think that would be necessary...
Consider this ladies. We've all heard it before, but lemme say it again, print is dead and will soon be non-existant except for the big time papers like The New York Times, the Globe and Mail, etc, etc. Every other newspaper will be online, it's the only way they'll stay afloat. So hypothetically lets say the Leader goes online; printing costs are cut, office space renting is cut, the amount of employees are cut. That's a hell of a lot no?
The way I see it, every small town needs their news, no matter if it's pointless news like a high school getting a difibulator (lol this week's headline!), the question is, do you think towns folk and advertisers consider this as a good alternative to print? Would people pay to subscribe?
These are my thoughts for tonight. Time for bed!
Marina G
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The site looks pretty sweet! But I'd be kinda intimidated if I was to write for them, coz these are professionals working for the e-mag, not just journalism students... I think I may apply after the first internship, if I apply at all =]
ReplyDeleteWah! It'd be so cool if you could run your town's newspaper, but there would be such an intense restructuring of the office. I bet you would have to spend tons of money to run the website, to modernize everything, and it still doesn't guarantee that you'll have enough readers to keep it from going under.
On the other hand, you have to consider your audience if you were going online. Do must readers own a computer? Are there a lot of old folks in your town who are not technologically savvy (like your parents LOL)?
I think that print is not dead, and won't die for a long time to come. There's still people around who like reading their paper with a nice cup of coffee in the morning (like me! XD). But I think that, with time, papers are going to print less stories, and make thinner copies because a lot of their readers go online instead. I'd love to see a small paper with a concise view of the news (Metro, for example) and then, they can direct you to the online version to read more about a certain story if they were interested.
Anyways, this has turn into a really long rant.
Peace out!