Newspapers, The Engines Of Local Journalism, Face A Bleak Future

Published April 13, 2018 at 10:00 AM CDT

A photo illustration shows how many people have left the Denver Post since it won a Pulitzer Prize after the 2012 Aurora, Colorado theater shooting. (RJ Sangosti/Katie Wood/The Denver Post)

With David Folkenflik

The Denver Post calls out its hedge fund owners for cutting jobs. We’ll look at the future of local newspapers. It isn’t pretty.

This show airs Friday at 11 a.m. EST.

Guests:

Chuck Plunkett, editorial page editor of the Denver Post. ( @chuckplunkett)

Dahleen Glanton, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, member of the organizing committee of the Chicago Tribune Guild. ( @dahleeng)

From The Reading List:

Denver Post: As Vultures Circle, The Denver Post Must Be Saved — “At The Denver Post on Monday, more than two dozen reporters, editors, photographers, videographers, page designers, digital producers and opinion staff will walk out the door. Our marching orders are to cut a full 30 by the start of July.”

NPR: In Historic Move At Labor-Skeptic ‘Chicago Tribune,’ Newsroom Pushes To Form Union — “One of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious regional newspapers, The Chicago Tribune, could soon have a unionized staff. On Wednesday morning, journalists from its newsroom informed management that they are preparing to organize and that they have collected signatures from dozens of colleagues.”

In some parts of the country, local newspapers appear to nearing a full crisis. And it’s not simply a question of sweeping technological shifts or changes in the economy. Journalists at a growing number of metro papers say their owners are actively damaging them by extracting unreasonable profits. And these journalists are taking take an unusual public stand.

This hour, On Point: the threat to newspapers – what it means for how the news is covered – and for us.

— David Folkenflik