Right on, Mr. Cowgill! The decline of local newspapers is indeed a threat to democracy. Although I can see where you are coming from, I cannot bring myself to support the WSJ, for the simple reason that I would be supporting the Murdoch family enterprise.
When I was a lad we recieved the Hartford Courant and the Waterbury Republican every morning and the Winsted Evening Citizen every afternoon. The secret to the then success of the Evening Citizen (under the editorship of Ted Vail, who most people in town referred to as T. V.) seemed to be the section called “City News Notes “ which were brief snippets of local gossip about boy/girl scout events, anniversaries, college acceptances, notes that sons and daughters were returning home from another successful year at school, or a list of all the guests at someone’s Fourth Grade birthday party.
There were many people in town (including some of the Evening Citizen’s corporators) who, when the Winsted paper merged with the Torrington Register, predicted the eventual demise of the merged newspaper. History would seem to bear that out.
In its new weekly format, the Register Citizen has become a ghost newspaper, seeming to print stories from almost anywhere except Winsted or Torrington. Ralph Nader’s recent effort to revive the “Citizen “ brand may have been a valiant gesture, but…
The Hartford Courant has become a mere shadow of its former self. And the Waterbury Republican-American, well, I thought it was right-wing when I was in high school, oh, how little I knew.
Yah, the Reg-Cit is is a perfect example of a ghost newspaper. No office in Torrington or Winsted anymore. One part-time correspondent who works from home. Lots of wire copy and stories from other Hearst papers in places like Bridgeport and Middletown. And yes, it would be nice if Rep-Am would give equal time and occasionally publish op-eds that lean left, but I suppose the Pape family feels the same way Rush Limbaugh did. He famously said, "I AM equal time!"
I must say that I am impresseed, daring to paraphrase Winston Churchill. I hope this will not cause you you run afoul of the Internationl Churchill Society, or the Churchill Project, ala Ron Disantis:)
We are fortunate in our town, we have the Patch, a town specific newspapper, a weekly lifestyle newspaper, and a (I think moonthly) magazine. The problem that I see is that local news outlets are part of much biggger organizations (as you mention in your artcle). Getting in old man mode, when I was growing up, we use to know the journalist writing the articles in the local news. Pretty soon, the articles written in local news papers will be generated by AI.
Yay! Now make sure to subscribe to your local or regional media outlet. We've reached crisis stage in many markets, though I do not know what your options are in Boca. Looks like the Boca Raton News closed in 2009.
You are 100% correct to call the dire state of this country's newspapers a threat to democracy. Even when a rich owner purchases a newspaper today, it's not necessarily good news. The very recent sale of The Baltimore Sun to David D. Smith, executive chairman of the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group, comes to mind:
"Mr. Smith’s purchase has already raised alarm among many inside and outside the newsroom, who fear he will impose his political interests on the organization as a final coda to a once proud newspaper that has been facing a long decline."
Thanks Barth. I was initially castigated on X by David Simon and his friends for insisting I would keep an "open mind" about what Smith would do with the Sun after the acquisition. But Smith's statements to Sun staff since then have confirmed their worst fears. Mea culpa!
Your open-mind is to be commended. For the record, Sinclair’s interest in Hartford’s Fox 61 a few years back made me a bit skeptical of the communications mega-corporation, which resulted in this op-ed:
Fortunately, there are no Sinclair stations in CT. But when we vacation in upstate NY, we see channel 6 (WRGB) in Albany, which is Sinclair-owned. Local anchors are forced to read political statements on national issues. It's a shitshow.
Exactly. And the fact that Sinclair is headquartered in suburban Baltimore and owns one station each in DC and Baltimore likely raised a bunch of red flags for Sun staffers.
Right on, Mr. Cowgill! The decline of local newspapers is indeed a threat to democracy. Although I can see where you are coming from, I cannot bring myself to support the WSJ, for the simple reason that I would be supporting the Murdoch family enterprise.
When I was a lad we recieved the Hartford Courant and the Waterbury Republican every morning and the Winsted Evening Citizen every afternoon. The secret to the then success of the Evening Citizen (under the editorship of Ted Vail, who most people in town referred to as T. V.) seemed to be the section called “City News Notes “ which were brief snippets of local gossip about boy/girl scout events, anniversaries, college acceptances, notes that sons and daughters were returning home from another successful year at school, or a list of all the guests at someone’s Fourth Grade birthday party.
There were many people in town (including some of the Evening Citizen’s corporators) who, when the Winsted paper merged with the Torrington Register, predicted the eventual demise of the merged newspaper. History would seem to bear that out.
In its new weekly format, the Register Citizen has become a ghost newspaper, seeming to print stories from almost anywhere except Winsted or Torrington. Ralph Nader’s recent effort to revive the “Citizen “ brand may have been a valiant gesture, but…
The Hartford Courant has become a mere shadow of its former self. And the Waterbury Republican-American, well, I thought it was right-wing when I was in high school, oh, how little I knew.
Yah, the Reg-Cit is is a perfect example of a ghost newspaper. No office in Torrington or Winsted anymore. One part-time correspondent who works from home. Lots of wire copy and stories from other Hearst papers in places like Bridgeport and Middletown. And yes, it would be nice if Rep-Am would give equal time and occasionally publish op-eds that lean left, but I suppose the Pape family feels the same way Rush Limbaugh did. He famously said, "I AM equal time!"
I must say that I am impresseed, daring to paraphrase Winston Churchill. I hope this will not cause you you run afoul of the Internationl Churchill Society, or the Churchill Project, ala Ron Disantis:)
We are fortunate in our town, we have the Patch, a town specific newspapper, a weekly lifestyle newspaper, and a (I think moonthly) magazine. The problem that I see is that local news outlets are part of much biggger organizations (as you mention in your artcle). Getting in old man mode, when I was growing up, we use to know the journalist writing the articles in the local news. Pretty soon, the articles written in local news papers will be generated by AI.
Thanks George. Yes, the link I provided was to the International Churchill Society's page on that particular quote. And thanks for pointing out the threat posed by AI. I plan to write about that soon as well. https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotes/the-worst-form-of-government/
Agreed, and dismayed.
Yay! Now make sure to subscribe to your local or regional media outlet. We've reached crisis stage in many markets, though I do not know what your options are in Boca. Looks like the Boca Raton News closed in 2009.
There is the Boca Post but it appears to be mostly crime and fire-related. https://bocapost.com/
You are 100% correct to call the dire state of this country's newspapers a threat to democracy. Even when a rich owner purchases a newspaper today, it's not necessarily good news. The very recent sale of The Baltimore Sun to David D. Smith, executive chairman of the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group, comes to mind:
"Mr. Smith’s purchase has already raised alarm among many inside and outside the newsroom, who fear he will impose his political interests on the organization as a final coda to a once proud newspaper that has been facing a long decline."
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/business/media/baltimore-sun-owner-david-smith.html
Thanks Barth. I was initially castigated on X by David Simon and his friends for insisting I would keep an "open mind" about what Smith would do with the Sun after the acquisition. But Smith's statements to Sun staff since then have confirmed their worst fears. Mea culpa!
Your open-mind is to be commended. For the record, Sinclair’s interest in Hartford’s Fox 61 a few years back made me a bit skeptical of the communications mega-corporation, which resulted in this op-ed:
https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2018/04/12/20180412_op-ed_if_sinclair_comes_to_ct_could_bias_in_tv_newscasts_follow/
Fortunately, there are no Sinclair stations in CT. But when we vacation in upstate NY, we see channel 6 (WRGB) in Albany, which is Sinclair-owned. Local anchors are forced to read political statements on national issues. It's a shitshow.
Exactly. And the fact that Sinclair is headquartered in suburban Baltimore and owns one station each in DC and Baltimore likely raised a bunch of red flags for Sun staffers.