Future Gazette: Home delivery on the way out?

Why Future Gazette?

For 35 years I have worked in the newspaper business. I have been a general assignment reporter, managed an outlying bureau, been a political reporter, city editor, business editor and, most recently, editorial page editor for the mid-sized daily where I've been employed for most of my career.

During my years in the business, the industry has obviously changed tremendously. Now, as I near the end of that career, and as I have begun to teach college classes on journalism, I wonder more and more about the future of the industry.

I've also delved into newspapers of the 19th century as part of some research not directly related to journalism. In the process, I've been interested about some of the changes in the past century and more, but I've been far more amazed at how little basic news coverage has changed.

Young Benjamin Franklin's newspaper was the Pennsylvania Gazette. There is little question that it helped establish the template for what newspapers would look like on this continent -- something different from those of Europe. The Gazette was more cheeky toward authority, more populist and offered more homespun advice than most of what was published across the pond at the time.

So, what is the future of the Gazette in the 21st century? It looks bleak, at least for the ink-on-paper format we've known for the past few centuries. The corporate boards and academics are working hard to figure out what comes next, but I'm not sure the answer will come from them. Perhaps there is a 21st century Ben Franklin -- or thousands of Bens and Bernadettes -- who are already in the process of creating a new journalism form on their own.

That's more exciting than ideas generated at a facilitated meeting with flip charts and consensus ideas.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Home delivery on the way out?

From the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 13:

"Detroit Media Partnership L.P., which operates the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News, is expected to announce next week that it will cease home delivery of the papers' print editions on most days of the week, according to people familiar with the company's thinking.

Detroit Media has not made a final decision, these people said. But the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday calls for the Free Press, the 20th largest U.S. newspaper by weekday circulation, and the News to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days -- Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the company would sell single copies of abbreviated print editions at newsstands and direct readers to the papers' expanded digital editions.

The Free Press, owned by Gannett Co., and the News, owned by MediaNews Group, are operated by Detroit Media under a so-called joint operating agreement."

There's no better way to save newsprint costs than to stop printing altogether.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Home delivery on the way out?

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