Web Letters: Lose the 'Business'; Save the News?

The Liberal Media

By Eric Alterman

This article appeared in the April 27, 2009 edition of The Nation.

April 8, 2009

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  • Mr. Alterman's lament on the decline of newspapers is, of course, a lament on the decline of the business model they have been based upon. News is doing quite well on the Internet, as we all know. In our small county of fewer than 13,000 souls, we have two printed weeklies and at least one web newspaper that I help edit and write for. At present, PamlicoInk.Com earns less than $1,000 monthly--but I believe that is a rather astonishing sum in such a small county with two print weeklies, one of them a thirty-year institution in the area. In short, journalists who have a passion for news will continue doing what they've always done, and the strong and determined will find a way to survive. Print probably won't--at least in any form we now recognize as a newspaper. Sadly, in many, many cases, that'll be no big loss... including in our own small county. After all, if print here was as appealing as many of you seem to believe (and whether that includes Mr. Alterman or not, I don't know), we certainly wouldn't be enjoying the success we have found.

    Tony Tharp
    Pamlico Ink

    Oriental, NC

    04/12/2009 @ 06:30am


  • Maybe we should allow tax-exempt or non-profit companies and foundations to make political endorsements. I see nothing wrong with that, as there would be a huge spectrum of ideas competing.

    John D. Froelich

    Upper Darby, PA

    04/11/2009 @ 2:44pm


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