Our newspaper is going out of business

[Grace]

After 174 years, the Ann Arbor News will close down the end of July. What an absolute shame.

They plan to do some sort of on-line thing but it's not the same as holding it in your hands.

[Edwina's Secretary]

It is so sad! I realize change is inevitable but this is a tough one for me. I remember my family getting two newspapers when I was a kid -- one morning and one evening.

A newspaper can go on the train with you - read in the bathtub -- shared over breakfast -- clipped and sent in a letter - used to wrap things up -- make sailor hats - make papier mache school projects - train the puppy.

It will be missed.

[moosmom]

Grace,

Newspapers from all over the country are going under. The Detroit Press is closing. Our newspaper in CT, the oldest continuously printed newspaper, the Hartford Courant, has laid off hundreds of very talented, long dedicated writers. It's a shame. I predict that within a year, the padlock will be slapped on the door. Blame the economy.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Blame the economy.

Donna - a very small part of the demise of newspapers is the economy. The way people get their news has changed. If it is free on the internet -- why pay for it? The competition from blogs and other sites is just making it impossible for print journalism.

The Seattle paper is going all on-line.

The interest in "in-depth" report is less as well.

So many factors are combining to make it tough on newspapers!

[catnapper]

A lot of them are. They just seem so ancient with today's headlines flashing online within moments of its happening. Yet, I still love to sift through the paper for comics, ads, local points of interest, etc. It won't be til they're gone that people will realize what they've taken for granted for so long.

[Marigold2]

Very sad. Nothing like reading the Sunday paper with a cup of coffee.

[Grace]

Very sad. Nothing like reading the Sunday paper with a cup of coffee.

Precisely.

I have no problem with on-line papers - I read the NY Times, Boston Globe and my home town ProJo every day. That news has been in addition to the A2 News. I know people, of all ages, who are not computer savvy. What are they to do?

Donna, I had heard about the Courant. Like ES, I'm not convinced the economy is entirely to blame - although it certainly is a big component.

Yet, I still love to sift through the paper for comics, ads, local points of interest, etc. It won't be til they're gone that people will realize what they've taken for granted for so long.

So true.

[DJFyrewolf36]

There is something about newspapers that make them better than online news...you can't save special clippings from an e-news site thats for sure lol.

Sometimes I think that the demise of newspapers is further proof that people are getting lazy.

[pomtzu]

I have to admit that I'm one of many millions who has contributed to the demise of the newspaper. Between t.v. and the internet, I almost never read an actual newspaper.
But thinking back to when I was a kid (WAY back ), I kind of miss the Sunday morning fight with my brother to see who would get the comic section first, as Dad would glare at us over the top of the news section he was reading.
How times have changed. I'll bet my 12 year old grandson would look at me like I was some sort of alien if I ever asked him about "the funnies". I'm sure he has no clue!

[moosmom]

I feel bad for all the elderly residents who don't have a computer and won't be able to get the news once the newspapers go strictly electronically.

I refuse to buy the Courant because there's not much left to read (it's thinner than I've seen it in a long time). I check the obits (to make sure I'm not in them) and the state news. That's it.

[Lillycat]

Oh, Sara, Everything you have mentioned is so true......it is sad also.....

[Catlady711]

That's sad for the people that are losing their jobs over it.

However I mostly get what little news I read from the tv or internet myself. The only thing an actual newspaper is good for is the comics and as cage liners. So I often find myself at work reading the cage liners. Only problem is if all newspapers go under what will we use for cage liners?

[Karen]

The newspapers have been in trouble for a long time. Paper costs continue to rise, as well as distribution costs - trucks need fuel, after all - and newspapers are advertiser-driven. If advertisers decide to spend their dollars elsewhere - or run out of dollars to spend, the subscriptions don't cover even half the cost of printing and distributing the newspaper, never mind paying reporters and editors and staff.

Maybe some papers will still exist in a once-a-week form - I buy the Sunday paper some weeks, but do not have - and never have had - the daily paper delivered.

There is a weekly paper that comes to my house for free, and it often goes right into the recycling - it just isn't where I get my "news" most of the time.

Caveat: I used to work for the local newspaper, in the advertising production department.