Boston Globe on brink of closure

Someday very soon we laugh and say "Did you know that in 2009 there were 189 daily newspapers in the United States and when some major story broke, that meant 189 reporters from Ann Arbor Michigan to Tulsa Oklahoma would sit at a computer and type up the same story??"

In the future, 5-6 major outlets will write these articles and 189 outposts will distribute them.

There's no need for the folks over on Morrissey Boulevard to have spent the time and money to write this:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/04/29/senator_specter_bolts_gop/

When it was readily available here in full left-slant:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30456741/

And here in full right-slant:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/28/source-specter-intends-switch-political-parties/

And then available in all other daily newspapers. Why devote the time and money to it?

Hubris. The dying old man still has his pride, Goddamnit.
 
Imagine a Boston where the only paper media is the Phoenix and the Metro.
 
The Phoenix and Metro are basically printed blogs and "happenings" websites. They'll be the first ones to go all-digital, for sure.
 
Wow, after we talked about this today, look at what Sumner Redstone (Chariman of CBS/Viacom) just now had to say:

"I'm not sure there will be newspapers in ten years"

His thoughts on Murdoch's purchase of the Wall Street Journal differ from mine, because the Journal isn't just a 'newspaper' it's much more than that, it's an important business brand that he'll migrate to the web and TV, but it's still an interesting read:

http://www.reuters.com/article/busi...Type=RSS&feedName=businessNews&rpc=23&sp=true
 
Oh, I wonder why the chairman of CBS and Viacom is pumping the death of newspapers...

The Phoenix and Metro are basically printed blogs and "happenings" websites. They'll be the first ones to go all-digital, for sure.
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The Metro basically owes its existence to the few minutes of the day when people don't have access to the internet, so I doubt it will falter so.

And the Phoenix is always useful to grab when out to see what is going on.

Both these papers know this about how they're used, and consequently can continue selling ads for the most part as they have before.
 
Even if the Globe withstands this most current scolding from its owner, i'd be willing to bet the tangible print Herald outlasts the globe by 5-10 years.
 
The Herald's weekday circulation dive over the past year is even worse than the Globe's -- a 17% drop. That's going to either push advertisers away or force ad rates down.
 
Yeah seriously, the "Herald prints more local news and will therefore survive" idea fails to account for a number of variables. For one, the Globe dominates the market among people who are actually willing to read newspapers, and the respectability factor plays in that segment. The Herald also faces a lot more competition from local TV news in its more natural demographic. I'm sure that creating boston.com, a glib, provincial version of the Globe, hasn't helped boost the Herald brand, either.
 
^^ They have all the blogs, 'things to do', editorial cartoon roundups, a 'Moms' page (which they thankfully renamed from BoMoms, ugh), 'Odd & Ends (funny stories! ha!), the 1998 era boston.com 'wave' logo, etc. Not to mention the god-awful blue color scheme.

czcz is right, Boston.com doesn't really carry the same weight as the Globe.
Personally it doesn't bother me too much as long as the real news is still there front & center. The frilly stuff surrounding it is disappointing, but not a deal breaker.
 
After advertising with the Globe for over 25 years, my company has since stopped. We do however, continue to run ads in the Herald daily. We get literally twice as many phone calls for condos for sale or rent in the Herald.
 
boston.com, a glib, provincial version of the Globe


Well put, considering the story "10 things to miss about Boston" with a picture slide show and "WTKK's Severin Suspended" is above the headline "Obama gets high Court Pick."

Which is the more important story? Boston.com is for female administrative assistants that don't do SHIT at work.
 
Under the federal plant closing law, the Times Co. would have to provide 60 days' notice of a shutdown to the state and to employees, according to Ken Messina, manager of Rapid Response, the state program that provides services to employees affected by plant closings and mass layoffs.
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If this is a national law why was the Rocky Mountain News allowed to close down so quickly?
 
The federal law is called the 'WARN Act'. Are you sure that the Rocky didn't in fact give the required 60 days' notice? The Rocky shutdown (and that of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) was expected for months.
 
Was it? For some reason I thought it was done suddenly. I knew they were in trouble (like all papers) but I don't remember hearing any shut-down talk before it happened. I thought it took everyone by surprise. I could be wrong
 
Maybe I'm just addicted to web sites that discuss this kind of thing (Poynter's Romenesko column, Dan Kennedy's Media Nation), but I recall hearing about these two newspapers' problems long before they died.

The Tucson Citizen is next on the endangered list; it was supposed to close last month but has been put on week-to-week life support while the owner evaluates offers from two potential buyers.
 
Boston.com is primarily for people who want to learn about LOCAL news. The top story, Harvard Dental School shut down by flu, seems appropriately placed to me.
 
That's fine, but does it have to be cluttered with all kinds of cheesy lifestyle fluff? It's embarrassing for Boston that this website serves as a sort of media front door to the city.

And why not an alternative portal for Bostonians who want local news, but also a dignified website that makes national and international stories prominent as well? Something for people who don't want to cycle between local news websites and nytimes.com or news.bbc.co.uk? Boston.com/globe doesn't cut it for a newspaper's homepage. It should be more independent, more prominent, and more dynamic if the Globe survives.

If this is a national law why was the Rocky Mountain News allowed to close down so quickly?
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The Rocky Mountain News had a joint printing agreement with the Denver Post by the time it shut down, meaning that the printing plant they used didn't close.
 
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