The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News announced this week that they will limit newspaper home delivery to Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays while focusing on their online presence. I’ve been an avid newspaper reader since childhood, so I wonder about the fate of other major metropolitan newspapers.
Here in Chicago, the staff of the Chicago Sun-Times has dwindled in the face of readership declines and executive scandal. The Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy and implemented a dramatic facelift aimed at growing its readership base.
The question no longer is “Could it happen?” but “When will it happen?”
If major papers rely more heavily on the Internet to drive revenues, I fear it will be just a matter of time before their online products becomes less accessible as free content. Does that also mean that the demise of newspapers will lead to a less-informed public, or whether more creative and enterprising online news entrepreneurs will fill the void?
–Michelle Damico