Way back when we were in college, one of the professors said that the newspaper would go out of business shortly because people would start reading text on their TV. (And he meant actual, big living room TV's -- something of the sort was going on in France). We didn't think so, because our favorite venue for reading the morning news was over breakfast at a diner counter, and still is.
Of course, that was before the TV shrank to the size of a book, added a keyboard, and ran on batteries, --- like the one we're working on now. We can read this at a diner. That's one of the reasons we canceled our LA Times subscription awhile ago (well that, and the lack of local news, and raging bias). If they did publish something of interest, we could read it online.
These are tough times for print media. The LA Times has just laid off yet another batch of editorial staff, as well as raising its per copy rate from 50 cents to 75 cents (less paper for more money during a recession! That's the kind of change we can believe in!) Also comes news that MediaNews Group, which among many other papers owns the Pasadena Star News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune, will furlough some employees over the next month (this is on the heels of layoffs last year).
We DO think that there'll always be journalism -- it's just that the delivery model will change. It will be on the computer you're reading right now, or on one of the new netbooks, a barebones laptop that retails for as low as $200, or something like a Kindle. Your front door step will become paper-free in a few months or years.
We've spent a lot of online time talking to some longtime friends, who run what we think is the nation's best local newsblog. They're now in the position where they get to sit on panels and offer advice, which they've done a few times this week already. And they''ve been getting overtures from the local big papers to form partnerships of various kinds.
We suppose this ramble is: people still need news, especially local news. But local news is of little interest to the big papers, who are trying to boost circulation and therefore ad revenues. Altadena news won't increase circulation like another Calendar feature on the anorexic starlet of the moment. But we -- the citizens, the residents -- still need to know what's going on in town. Fortunately, now a journalist can do it without also investing in a printing plant and fleet of trucks. Fortunately, here in the time of the internet, the buy-in is very small. One could conceivably do this blog for free -- just use a public library computer and get a free blog from Blogger or Google or WordPress. (We're old and spoiled, tho', so we've invested in a little more equipment!)
Anyway, this is a roundabout way of saying that we will pass 75,000 page views today. We think that says something about the people of this town, and what they need and what they support. We're pleased and humbled that we can provide it to you. Thank you for supporting Altadena's community newsblog.
(BTW, tonight we re-upped with the LA Times. They offered us a year Th-Sun for $26. That's right -- $26 FOR A YEAR! They're obviously desperate to build up circulation. It will cost more than that for Allied to haul it away!)
