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Blog Entry 7 of 14 Old Fort Carson

A running history of Fort Carson, from its beginnings in World War II. I know some of it. You fill in the rest.

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The Death of Big Newspapers - including the GT

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Contributed by: Dave Hughes on 5/29/2007

The roaring success - 110,000 people enjoying themselves over three full Territory Days for the 32nd year in Old Colorado City - unreported by the largest newspaper in this city and metro area of half a million -got me ruminating on the invevitable death of traditional large newspapers. Including the Gazette.

While scores of smaller, almost neighborhood, newspapers, like the very successful Westside Pioneer - and the others like it scattered around the city and up the pass, are bound to survive. Why?

The issue is underscored by the GT's strenuous effort to recruit ordinary folk who can type with two fingers on a computer to build up this thing called 'The Hub' - 'citizen journalism they call it.

So here I am writing the Gazette's obituary right in its own online pages (they wouldn't dare to reprint this in their flagship paper). I will ruminate more later on this topic - for I saw this coming over 30 years ago, after I first started pecking out words on my first personally owned primitive Radio Shack microcomputer and sent them on their way over an even more primitive 'acoustic' modem (where you put the telephone ear piece and microphone onto the two rabbit ears on the 300 baud modem). Long before I was using this hot shot Windows full color laptop, which is sending even my voice, photos, or videos, as well as my deathless prose, at 6 million bits per second, over a free wireless link as well as over wires around the world.

Now this'Hub' experiment is interesting. But I'm not sure the GT mavens really yet understand the future of journalism, or of 'publishing.' Nor what they will have to do before they 'get it right' before they go broke. I will freely give them advice here - right on the pages they are paying for (not my labor or talent, just for distributing my words) but I don't expect they will pay attention. For 'Who is this guy Dave Hughes, who never published a real newspaper, telling us what to do?" No, instead I have only 'published' over 20 million words ONLINE over the last 30 years - postingroughly 1 out of every 4 hours I am at my computer 365 days a year, at the rate of 30 words per minute. And only and also concurrently 'read' 500 million words ONLINE, at 300 words a minute, 3 of the 4 hours a day) - so what do I know??

So I chuckle and peck these words out secure in the knowledge the GT will not heed my advice, but will just, like old soldiers who never die, just fade away.

More later.

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Showing 1-10 of 14 comments

Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 10/4/2007 @ 7:42:29 AM

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The woes of the Gazette continue. And the subscribers pay. So after several weeks of flakey, missing papers a month ago, things improved - until this week again. NOW the Gazette can't even get the Print Hub right. Last week the Westside Hub was NOT inside the paper as it is supposed to be. Since my wife wants to read it, she sent me across town to the GT offices to get it. I did. THEN this morning, just a week later, the Hub came, but it was NOT the Westside one, but from another part of town! So AGAIN I will have to drive across town to get the right one. Wonder what the screw up will be next week.

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Submitted By: Chris Fuhrman

posted on 7/12/2007 @ 7:40:53 PM

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I do not know the dynamics of Gazette distribution, and any day that a delivery is missed is not a good one. That said, even in my hipster neighborhood, 20- and 30-somethings put down their laptops to read the paper at Coffee Bean. And when they want a professionally written and edited story, they go to (with few exceptions, such as Salon or Slate) newspaper-based Web sites. Blogs can be interesting and engaging, but they are not and will not be replacing no-agenda journalism.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 7/6/2007 @ 3:17:53 PM

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Haven't got a clue what this weeks 'Old Colorado City' printed Hub looks like. The GT managed to fail to deliver the Thursday GT, which would have had it inside.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 7/5/2007 @ 7:55:58 PM

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We are batting 1,000. Another day in which, in spite of the detailed telephone steps to complain (push a telephone button 6 times and enter a 10 digit number) none was ever delivered today. My wife had to drive to a 7-11 and buy it. THAT will not last long.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 7/5/2007 @ 9:32:15 AM

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Chris below also argues that people will always have a 'tangible need' for a printed paper. I think that 'need' will decline as the younger generations grow up. They seem to 'need' - to the point of 'addiction' for some, their online fix. So I don't think you can mix the issues of 'a sharply written professional story' with the medium - print or screens. There are now many 'professionally written' online stories. They are called 'Blogs.'

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 7/5/2007 @ 9:27:02 AM

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As if to underscore my contention that big city newspapers are and will die, here I am AGAIN, without a morning paper on the 5th of July. And we not only did not get one on the 2d, but after THREE calls AND with live Gazette employees at the other end - 'promising' they would deliver one - they failed. Chris Furman below admits the delivery method is 'not efficient'. Not the point. It is NO LONGER ECONOMICALLY SENSIBLE (profit or loss - remember?)

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Submitted By: Chris Fuhrman

posted on 6/14/2007 @ 7:02:54 PM

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Typing word after word, whether online or in a trusted journal, isn't the same thing as being able to fashion a balanced and sharply written professional story. Yes, the delivery method of the printed product is not efficient, but to dismiss the tangible need some people have to read a printed paper as opposed to cranking up the laptop at 6 a.m. is pretty naive. The Gazette will continue to attract readers and advertisers, in whatever form of distribution, if it remains a trusted and thorough part of the community.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 5/30/2007 @ 8:03:54 AM

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P.S. I already read the 'paper' online this morning. But my wife still awaits the hard copy, which will be late, she may not find the time to read it during the day, and yet she has to take out her checkbook to write a check bigger than she should have to, just to get it. I rest my case

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 5/30/2007 @ 8:03:34 AM

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And the GT is so aware of the issue, they leave a box to be checked for 'tips'. Why? Because today's workers, even adult car driving paper carriers will only do the minimum - like toss the paper anywhere close to the right address - UNLESS they are paid more. For that is the state of the 'service' economy today. No fault of the GT, but the economic reality, never the less. So for $42, we did NOT get our paper this morning, or 3 more times over the last 10 days! Yep, big city newspapers are going the way of the Dodo birds.

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Submitted By: Dave Hughes

posted on 5/30/2007 @ 8:02:35 AM

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That happened THIS morning. The paper is NOT here, anywhere. But I peered up the street and spotted the blue plastic cover (which they have to use and costs $$$) on papers tossed over the fences of the neighboring homes. We do NOT have a fence. So I am half sure my paper was stolen this morning. So I called and punched up 8 buttons to report I did not get one. So the Gazette at $$$$ cost will deliver another one! Cost, cost, cost. And my wife, trying to 'train' and give our LAST carrier (whose face I never saw) to toss the paper at least on the porch where she doesn't have to walk all the way out to the street in her nightclothers - she TIPS the carrier. $15 over 3 months on TOP of the $27 for the price of the paper. That's $42 total.

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Showing 1-10 of 14 comments

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