Leadpile’s Blog

It is with sadness that I write about another major newspaper ceasing publication.  Tuesday, March 17th will be the final printed edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  Just like the Rocky Mountain News, this comes as no surprise as the Hearst Corporation was attempting to sell the newspaper with no success.  The company will retain a small staff to continue with an online-only news venture.

Seattle becomes another major city with just one daily printed major newspaper.  The Seattle Times for the moment remains in operation, but is bleeding debt.  The Times is a family-owned newspaper, and will benefit some by the closing of the competition.  There is an outside chance that Seattle could become the first major city with NO printed major newspapers if the family cannot, or chooses not to, withstand the challenging time ahead.

Sadly, there will be more newspapers closing in the near future, and the San Francisco Chronicle is likely to be next.

Is it possible that an age old tradition is going to go extinct? Looks like there might be some truth to this.
According to NBC Nightly News and MSNBC.com, the internet age is/has been taking over the print media world. Is that why there was a large reduction in staff at The Boston Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, and some other major newspaper recently? Yes, it is true, that our nation’s major newspapers are having to make some changes. These changes involve laying off staff, but also reorganizing the employees that still work there. For instance, reporters are now becoming online reporters and having to adjust how they report their stories, and how this story is presented online VS seeing it in print.
Believe it or not, this media change is also affecting the sports world and the real estate world for places like Chicago, IL. The Chicago Tribune has already put The Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field up for sale! Yep, America’s favorite pastime is also being affected by this internet craze. Maybe that means the next stadium is going to be called “Google Field”? So what really happened in newspaper world?
Some feel that when they will read something in a newspaper it is not “real-time”. Most Americans have a laptop or personal computer at their fingertips all day long. This makes it easy for someone to just do a search online to find out the latest news. Whereas the newspaper from this morning might have contained some HOT news, but it was HOT 8 hours ago.
Is that how everyone feels? Is everyone addicted to “googling” everything, and putting aside those daily newspapers that Fido chases from the newspaper boy? It appears there really is not much choice. News is keeping with the times, and getting more accessible to consumers is where it HAS to be.
Online media- what has it become? We all eat, drink and sleep the internet. Everything from our banking, purchasing products, searching directions, applying for loans, corresponding with peers at work, to rolling out of bed and opening up the laptop to see what the latest news is. Unfortunately, this brilliant world of the internet has caused some hardships in the newspaper world, however places like Ebay, Leadpile Lead Exchange, auto dealers, advertisers, Craigslist, and news websites have become a major part of the world’s new national pastime (and maybe Fido the dog can enjoy it with us too)!