Tuesday, January 27, 2009

No news is bad news

My last (and I don't mean most recent) copy of the Conshohocken Recorder came this weekend, carrying this note from the publisher on the front page:

The Recorder (1869-2009) was the first paper to run my column, starting in February 2005. The Inter-County Newsgroup, of which it was a member, closed seven papers and laid off thirty employees last week, including my editor, for whom I wish only the best. I hope that sometime down the road I'll get more chances to miss his deadlines every week.

Four papers that carried my column are no longer in existence as of this week: The Recorder, The Haddon Herald, The Lafayette Hill Journal and The Plymouth Meeting Journal. If I didn't think that my column had been an asset to these papers at a time when small papers are struggling to remain relevant, I might start to worry that I am the Ted McGinley of print media. But it's just tough everywhere right now.

Man, dang, this isn't funny at all. Here, let's post a picture of my dog with the Abominable Snowman:

There, that's better. Kind of.

In any event, The Roxborough Review and The Chestnut Hill Local are still kicking, so the column goes on, for now. Its days as an extra-value-meal-paying-for enterprise might be numbered, but I'll keep cranking it out as long as there are papers to run it.

5 comments:

  1. Things really are getting bad all over. Zoltrog, however, appreciates your continued comedic musings as well as your accurate Webster references.

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  2. Zoltrog -- Thanks for taking a break from world domination to leave that comment. I hope our mutual appreciation for Webster will earn me some leniency when the Kroglovians take over.

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  3. Those newspapers probably would have survived if they had someone design some new mastheads for them.

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  4. I have a buddy who has been in the journalism business for years. His feeling is that newspapers are dead... I must admit, I've stopped carrying my local paper, but mostly because it sucks. However, when a really big event happens, I always try and find a newspaper.

    You're no Ted McGinley.

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  5. Anonymous -- Thanks for the advice. You sound like you might have lupus.

    Chris -- Yeah, that's sad, but seems to be what's happening. Thanks for the vote of confidence, man - I'll try my best to keep the shark unjumped for a little while yet.

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