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Newspaper woes
By Carl Strock
Friday, January 16, 2009

A few thoughts on the layoffs here at the Gazette, announced in today’s paper:
It is no secret, ladies and gentlemen, that the newspaper industry in general and not just this newspaper in particular is on hard times. We are trying very hard to adjust to the new Internet world, and it’s not easy. Internet means free, and free doesn’t pay the bills.
Newspaper circulation across the country has been declining at a rate of about 3 percent a year for the past few years, and advertising, traditionally our main source of revenue, has been declining faster, must faster.
So we have to make cuts, and we wind up trying to do the same job we’ve always done but with fewer people. If it occasionally shows, please bear with us.
Not so many years ago when newspapers first started creating free Web sites I wondered how it would work. How can we give away our product through one door and still expect to sell it through another door? I never got a good answer to that question, and I still haven’t gotten one.
Advertisers were supposed to gravitate to the Web sites, and they have, but not enough to offset the losses in the print editions.
So here we are, trying to find our way.
I hear people say they don’t need newspapers, because they get their news from the Internet. But Internet sites do little to no reporting. They mooch off us, is all.....................http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/strock/2009/jan/16/newspaper-woes/

Could part of the problem with the Gazette be the fact that it's so bias that by the time the news is printed the story doesn't even resemble the original story. Maybe the fact that the Gazette refuses to print stories about the problems here in Schenectady that readers are interested in because it may shed an unflattering light on the Dem controlled County/city councils. When the news papers go back to being a true home town paper and truthfully report all the happenings in the area we live in instead of reporting stories from areas far away that the local people have no interest in maybe then the paper circulation will pick up IMHO.

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"I hear people say they don’t need newspapers, because they get their news from the Internet. But Internet sites do little to no reporting. They mooch off us, is all."

To Mr. Strock, et al. :


What an arrogant, self centered opinion piece.

There have been NUMEROUS times that your employer has found conversations on local private message boards and suddenly the next day, this obscure story you've "reported" doesn't give credit to local blogs or the original source.  News, as it's happening appears on websites within minutes sometimes - it can take hours for the DG to even remotely cover the story, and then, a day or more before it hits your print edition.

Both your print edition and online editions have less than 10% "investigative" stories. I'd wager to guess 80% of your print content comes from wire feeds, scanner traffic or calls to your news room. Why isn't it considered "mooching" when you pull a story off the wire - or from the scanner?  Why isn't it considered "mooching" when you get emailed opinion pieces? or regurgitate what you're paid to print in obituaries or classifieds?

Yes, I can think of a handful of stories in the past year that your paper "covered" that were "original" and not pulled from other sources - but those are far and few between. But don't call internet sites categorically "moochers" - you sound, and make your newspaper appear to be crybabies in the sandbox that can't have their way.

When is the Gazette applying for their "bailout"? You sound a lot like the "big 3" - "the economy/schenectady/etc can't survive without us". The fact is, the gasping for air on Maxon Road is getting louder, there are no ventilators or life support systems that can keep newspapers alive when they're not willing to change, work together and adapt new technologies. Your bosses are quick to act when there's "copyright" violation issues - but the fact is, you get your "news" from the same people you claim "mooch" from you.

As usual he has it all wrong. Kinda like when he lost a debate to the Baptist minister from Cobleskill? The Gazetto instead of doing any serious investigative reporting relies on press releases and reads this site for lead generation. Perfect example in today's issue, where attendance at Art's Night, while pathetic, exceed one artist's "expectation". This was puffed up as some great success. Not a word about the Big Hose, restaurant closings nor Proctor's latest bomb. The paper even quotes bloggers without having the decency to acknowledge them.

I agree with Carl Strock that all newspapers are hurting right now. But I am in agreement with the other posters of this thread. And might I add that I don't want to see the gazette fold.
I would like to see the unbiased truth about this county printed in this paper.
I would like to read some REAL investigative reporting.
I would like to read exactly WHEN the Big House will open...if ever!
I would like to read how the county is making Mr. Morris' (ceo proctors) dreams come true. The creating of an ARTS DISTRICT in an overtaxed, no jobs, welfare city!!!!
I would have liked to read in the gazette FIRST, about Mr.Wright's issue with Kosiur's created, patronage job. Why was it in the TU first? Probably because Wright knew it would have never made it passed the editor.
I would like to read the gazette's editorials with the author's name attached to it.
I would like to read ALL of the people's opinions UNEDITED. (except for grammar)
I would like to read from a newspaper that is NOT an arm of the local government.
I would like to read an article from a reporter that doesn't belly up to the local government at every city/county meeting.
And that folks is why we have forums like this. Cause we ain't gettin the truth, the whole story or an unbiased article from the gazette. We depend on each other for information. And obviously, on occasion, so does the gazette.