MEDIA

Another sad day for print

Today, two more newspapers announced cutbacks to their print editions. Brazil’s 119 year old Jornal do Brasil ended all paper printing, and will only be available online through subscription (Toronto Metro, July 15, 2010, p15).


Also announced today is that The Montreal Gazette will stop publishing a Sunday edition at the end of August, after 22 years. Weekend news and sports will be kept updated via websites. As new CEO Paul Godfrey sees it, the ownership of Postmedia is “a digital first company”. (Globe and Mail, July 15, 2010, B5)

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

First, print newspapers usually have more articles and longer, more in depth reportage than their website versions. Print ads leave lots of space for story writing, unlike the tiny ads found on the internet. So the quantity and quality of information you receive is far less.

Second, if a paper is only by subscription, it cuts out a lot of people from the information loop – casual, street box or store counter impulse buyers.

So, in the end, in Brazil and Quebec, access to quality, trained journalist coverage has faltered another step or two.