Since I’m home with a head ache and uber-sore throat after coughing (and not sleeping) all night you get the obligatory comment on the news that the Cap Times is going paperless. People, its the way of the future. Sure, its probably risky, but when you’re on the cutting edge and progressive, you have to take risks. I wish them the best of luck in this new endeavor and I hope they can prove that this can work in one of the most wired cities in America and that they become a model for other local papers throughout the country.
Many of the people I talked to or heard from yesterday, are assuming the worst. I kinda agree with Paul Soglin. I see this as an opportunity. When I think of my own behavior, I used to get both papers at work, and the Saturday Cap Times and Sunday State Journal at home. At some point, when info was more available on the internet, we dropped the subscriptions at work. We only needed them to copy articles the Tenant Resource Center appeared in to show our funders we did outreach. Then, I got pissed at the WSJ, who knows over what, but I just couldn’t give them money any more. And with the Wisconsin State Journal subscription, went the Saturday Cap Times. I’ve been reading my news on-line ever since. Sure, I felt a little guilty knowing that their circulation (not readership) was going down, but when I looked at the piles of paper I had to recycle and the creepiness of giving money to Madison Newspapers and my concerns with the extremely biased way they edit their stories, I justified it to myself. So, for me, this change probably doesn’t mean much as long as they keep their reporting up to the standards they have had. And that’s my concern.
I hear that the news staff is being cut from 40 to 60 and people have to reapply for their reformulated jobs. I really hope they make some good decisions and I feel terrible about the folks losing their jobs. I’m also concerned that what is left of the news in this town will suffer even more. I hope they keep covering all of the issues they have been covering and don’t cut back on the news like the Wisconsin State Journal did. This is their strength, beyond the blogsphere, where else are we to get our local news? This is the niche they fill and they need to capitalize on that and then make sure they don’t have editors that screw up the news with their biases. Plus, with an internet based product, they will be able to provide even more information to the public through links and not being limited by the amount of space the ink is taking up. Like I said, this could be a really good thing.
Finally, I’m not so sure how this twice weekly thing is going to work out, but I kinda see it as a transition as people get used to the way of the future. I look forward to seeing how this all works out and I hope this community holds them to the same high standards we’ve always gotten from them!
