What will we lose if we lose the T&G? (update)
by Mike - March 26, 2009 11:55am
With this post, journalism prof Jay Rosen rounds up some of the best of the past month’s nationwide debate on the future of newspapers and news in America.
In light of these new facts and opinions, what’s the future of newspapers in Worcester?
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette is owned by the troubled New York Times, is a sister paper to the troubled Boston Globe, and has lost more circulation than average these past few years. I have no idea if they’re doing well or poorly at the moment; last fall, Scott Zoback made the case they were in trouble.
If the T&G closes or (more likely) continues to shrink, we stand to lose two things:
1. The threat of investigative reporting.
See the Byrnes teacher fiasco for this week’s example.
The T&G has the money to pay people to do this, and to fight the long legal battles that may result. No internet equivalent in Worcester. They hardly ever expose serious corruption, but I have to think they deter a lot of politicians and others from going too far. For more on this point, see the Rosen-linked Paul Starr and a response from Yochai Benkler. (Note that I admire Benkler to the point that I podcasted his magnum opus.)
2. Local news.
Last year it seemed that some days informal news sources came close to providing as much local news as the T&G, while other days it wasn’t even close. As part of the nationwide debate on papers, we’ve seen people claim the Chicago Tribune publishes a scant 8 local stories some days (this is contested), with similar numbers for the Sunday Seattle Times.
At least with #2, there’s hope of filling in some of the gaps the T&G increasingly leaves. Jesse Walker has “an early and incomplete catalog of places to look for local data as once-mighty papers fade away.”
And so…
I know I’m looking at a worst-case scenario here, but it no longer looks like a crazy scenario. The T&G’s smartest public voices still aren’t acknowledging this, so I think that as random citizens we should continue the conversation amongst ourselves: What will we lose if we lose the T&G?
Fox Business: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/media/new-york-times-cuts-salaries/
“At the same time, the New York Times Co. said it plans to cut the salaries of workers at its About Group, Worcester Telegram & Gazette and other units by 2.5%, in exchange for an additional five days of vacation.”