While I'm sure that's nice and eco-friendly, it also means they're losing a ton of ad revenue. Most publications get most of their ad monies from their print editions, not the online editions.
I admit to having a nostalgia for the print paper, though I haven't read a print paper on a regular basis in years, but I do worry about the sustainability of the American media. We need them. A functioning democracy needs them. A lot of the activism we do is based on stories in the traditional media. When they function well, they serve an important purpose as a counter-balance to politicians, and to other corrupting forces in our system of governance (lobbyists, Fox News, etc).
We're all facing this challenge now, traditional media and blogs alike. Revenues are down. Audiences are moving to new media such as Twitter and Facebook (and how do you make money when your audience moves to those other media?) They're questions bedeviling us all.
From the Washington Post:
Many daily newspapers have been moving away from paper for years, emphasizing digital news. Lately, some print dailies have been moving away from publishing daily, too.
To try to combat the industry’s decline — in readership, advertising and profits — a handful of newspapers are now cutting back their publishing schedules from seven days a week in print to just three.
The latest to go to three days a week: The storied New Orleans Times-Picayune, one of America’s oldest papers, which announced Thursday that it plans to limit its print schedule — beginning this fall — to Wednesday, Friday and Sunday editions. It will maintain 24/7 online reporting via its site, Nola.com.
