Reader comments
Lee Benson: Newspapers' cash cow being slaughtered

Anaconda 12 | 12:14 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

The decline of newspapers is a good thing for America. For too long these unelected opinion makers have distorted the truth. The King is Dead. Long live the alternatives!

The D-News is one of the better newspapers as is the Wall Street Journal. Utah has one of the nation's worst newspapers, The Salt Lake Tribune. The LDS Church won't let the D-News die, but the same can't be said for the owners of the Salt Lake Tribune. It's days are numbered. Good riddance.

TommyP | 3:29 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

I hate to see the news having hard times. I realize there are alternatives and haven't subscribed to the news myself for several years. This is mostly due to me working nights so by the time I get the news, I've already read it (online) and many times it didn't get delivered until I had already gone to bed. What's the point of reading the mornings news in the afternoon? If the Des News was still in the evening, it would work ok but now it's not.

The Utah "rags" are great now because of the fabulous color print and the fact that it's printed about 1 mile from my house, but it looks like too little, too late.

Bob G | 5:45 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

I don't agree with the comment about death to the newspapers is good, in fact it is detrimental to america that they stay in business. What is criminal about the newspapers is the censorship by corporate and political america has put on news media. The news media is corporate owned and controlled with scripted news casting on televised news. This is what is killing the news media and the trust of the american people in its government. The truth can't be reported, even on the internet, except by non news related disclosures. Now the 'cash cow' of want ads is dieing because it has outpriced itself in affordability for what it is intended. Unless you plan on selling something that exceed several hunderd dollars it is not cost effective to advertise in the newspapers. The news media, written and broadcast, needs to recover its ability to print any and all information without interference of government and corporate america. Scripted news and freedom of the press is very limited. PBS was the last holdout until they fired and replaced the real news reporters with corporate puppets. The press in Utah is used to sway public opinion and avoid the truth.

Comments continue below

To Lee | 7:09 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

Lee, Its hard to worry about the newspaper and its possible financial troubles, when they pay you a living good enough to be able to afford to live in Park City. Combined with the fact that you are more often "on vacation", or riding your bike, than you are at your desk, earning that excessive salary.

Penny Nichols | 8:12 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

Maybe the paper wouldn't be dying if you didn't put every story on line the day before it's printed. Why would I pay for a newpaper when I can get all the information I want the DAY BEFORE! You got rid of the people who actually write the stories but kept the same lousy management, people I have no doubt are very expensive to maintain, kept the columnists who don't come cheap (and way too many of them, if you ask me) and then you whine because the paper is in dire distress. How long do you think the mismanagement will go on before your owners, "The Church" will say enough is enough. Tradition is one thing, staying in the black is another and the Deseret News is obvious going to be operating in the red until management pulls their collective heads out of the sand. But, what should they care? They get their big fat salaries and percs. I'm all for letting the Deseret News AND the Tribune fade away and then we can read City Weekly.

KSL | 8:23 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

I know cragslist, myspace and other sites may be popular for selling stuff, but I would say KSL.com hurts the paper the most. The only kicker is that the church owns both.

Don't forget | 8:27 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

that the paper's charge for classified ads is ridiculously high.

Thomas | 8:35 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

With the internet and computers, the printed paper is basically obsolete. I am able to read any news source throughout the world on my computer, and don't have a mess to clean up, nor a pile of something to throw away. I have the ability to print out any online article, if necessary. Sorry for the loss of jobs, but newspapers are going the way of the Western Union telegram. Times have changed.

Wes | 9:13 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

My prediction is that newspapers' futures are tied directly to the boom generation. As they fade so will newspapers. An optimist though, newspapers will survive on the web if only because that's the last bastion of local news coverage; events that shape our cities and neighborhoods. Where else can you get news about city council or school boards or local, local gatherings? When the cost of newsprint and transportation goes away, newspapers become extremely profitable. Out with the baby will be the high-priced columnists though. Opinions are cheap and what Americans and Utahns need is news, unadulturated, non-opinionated simple facts. That's what will survive of newspapers, online, if management can simply get back to the reverted pyramid of reporting. It's really very simple.

Craig | 9:32 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

Their time has come. Pack up and move on. Everyone has to adjust, the newspaper should be no different.

A few things that have passed away:

Paper grocery sacks, gone. Record stores, gone. 8-track tapes, gone. Corner pay phones, gone. Telemarketing, gone. 5-1/4" floppy drive, gone. Pagers, gone. Stock yards in Chicago, gone. Making of steel in US, gone. The dominance of the auto industry, gone. House calls by doctors, gone. Yellow pages, gone.

Find a niche and move on. Don't wait for the pink slip. Do like many others have had to do - suck it up / cowboy up and get on with life.

Concerned | 10:31 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

I believe that Wes is correct in his assessment of what it will take for newspapers to remain viable. The reporting of local news with facts on both sides of the issue will bring higher value to the newspaper. We, as the public, need to know who the candidates are for school board and what they stand for. We need fewer articles that are really an affirmation of the views of the editorial board. Look at the coverage of the soccer stadium these past few years while there was little if any coverage of the revolving door at the Salt Lake County jail putting criminals back on the street. Look at the coverage of a Broadway style theater being represented as a "contest" between two cities. One proposal is a city proposal while the other is a proposal from a private developer. Get on with announced plan to cover local news and just give us the facts not the "adjective" journalism of the Salt Lake Tribune.

GWC | 10:36 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

The gist of the article is that nothing new has come out of newspapers since 1900. Lack of foresight and initiative has killed newspapers, or should I say oldspapers.

T-Rex | 11:48 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

What a lame column. It didn't go anywhere. IMHO, the real problem was the newspapers continuing to milk the paid classifieds while rivals like craigslist emerged with free online classifieds. Had the newspapers been the ones to invent free online classifieds, this would be a different column and the newspapers would be in better shape.

John | 11:48 a.m. Aug. 6, 2008

You nailed the cause for the drop in advertising revenue.

Now, face the reality that the number of subscribers is dropping too. Why should I pay money to subsidize agenda driven, biased reporting when I have hundreds of less biased (or at least admittedly biased one way or the other) sources on line.

Fire the editorial page folks, and stick to straight reporting and your circulation may stop dropping.

The editors are welcome to compete in the blog marketplace of ideas. However, the leftist positions espoused by the Deseret News editorial page (and their far worse cousins scribbling for the Tribune) are already filling sites like DailyKos, Move-on or the Huffington Post.

Just keep Lee Benson with the News and Robert Kirby with the Tribune. They at least add unique perspectives and humor.

solution | 12:07 p.m. Aug. 6, 2008

I have the solution : "page 5 girl" new scantily clad hot girl pic every day only in the print edition

seriously - it's sad to see the papers floundering and I don't blame "left wing bias"- that's there of course but where is the accountability for elected officials and local government going to come from?bloggers? I doubt it.I think if they want to survive they'll have to make the hard copies free and survive on advertising revenue (of course their revenues will still go down drastically). I enjoy a hard copy more than an online edition and I have a paid subscription to the DN but I don't know why because 90% of the time I don't have a chance to read it

Anonymous | 12:32 p.m. Aug. 6, 2008

Papers shouls charge a monthly fee for the oneline edition and charge a word fee for blogs.

Joe | 1:58 p.m. Aug. 6, 2008

Just think, the people sought alternatives to the "Want Ads" because the paper charged a rediculously high price for so many years! if their prices would have been somewhat reasonable maybee there would have been some loyalty from people. But when you gouge us all you can for so long, you bet the people will find alternatives the first chance they get and they won't even think twice about it.

I think this is what they call pooping in your on nest.

Confused | 8:42 p.m. Aug. 6, 2008

T-Rex showes it best when it comes to the loss of Newspaper. I fear the day I have to read only online articles full of IMHO or LoL because of lazyness in writing and a lack of vocabulary. Thank U T-Rex

Leetoo | 10:15 p.m. Aug. 6, 2008

Someone needs to talk to the paper's marketing department. We paid only for the weekend paper. However, we kept getting a paper everyday that had to be picked up and disposed. I called the Deseret News, asking to NOT receive a daily paper, but was told that the advertisers required a paper delivered everyday, despite our weekend subscription. After numerous times trying to get this situation resolved, we canceled our subscription. What a way to run a business!

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