Do We Really Need Two Newspapers In Town?

OWNERS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN News in Denver, CO announced today that the newspaper would print their last edition ever on Friday. After nearly 150 years, the paper is folding.

"Denver can't support two newspapers any longer," the owners told staffers, some of whom cried at the news. "It's certainly not good news for you, and it's certainly not good news for Denver."

Other towns with multiple daily newspapers are being scrutinized now by the national media, as everyone is searching for ways to keep newspapers alive (or at least continuing to produce quality journalism).

Here in Philadelphia, the idea of killing the Philadelphia Daily News has drawn attention, and impassioned pleas from various corners.

"The Daily News has survived by being the kind of paper that our readers -- heavily urban, weighted towards the kind of folks who don't spend all day staring into a computer screen -- will not replace with any other," wrote Daily News blogger Will Bunch.

Is there room for two major printed, daily newspapers in Philadelphia (or anywhere for that matter) in the age of the Internet?

Can you save newspapers? Your ideas could make you wealthy (seriously ... no one has an answer right now).

Or should newspapers be allowed to fade into memory?

Blatant Self-Promotion: Your Teacher Is a Journalist.

JOURNALISTS OF THE FUTURE will have to have multiple skills - writing, producing, editing, shooting pictures, designing web pages, etc.

So old folks like me are scrambling to learn new tricks. And that's why I created the video above to complement a story that I wrote about wheelchair basketball. Check it out.

In Your Face, News Radio! Newspapers Rule!

THE IMAGE ABOVE IS FROM an ad that ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday.

The ad boasted that the newsgathering staff at the Inquirer was WAY larger than the that of the local news radio station. It accuses the radio anchors of reading the Inquirer on air as a way of doing their reporting.

The ad, of course, comes a few days after the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer filed for bankruptcy.

I just wanted you to see how desperate the mainstream print media is getting.

You guys are the future of journalism. You have the ability to shape how news is delivered in the years ahead.

Do we even need printed newspapers anymore if most people get their information online?

(BTW - Fox29 did a reaction story and basically found that most people don't read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Lovely.)

Ug. Another Reason To Hate Journalists.

I'VE BEEN RELUCTANT to post this controversial image, a cartoon that ran in the New York Post last week, for obvious reasons. It is racist as all hell.

But there are larger issues at stake here.

We have established that print journalists cannot be censored before going to press unless there are very specific, dire circumstances. But how can you control the media and deter them from spreading offensive material like this? Is there a way? Should there be?

Legally, the cartoon was acceptable. Ethically, it is despicable.

How do you train journalists to be ethically sound, and who decides what is ethically proper?

Historically, political cartoonists have exaggerated the distinct appearances of public figures, such as President Barack Obama's rather large ears. Former President George Bush was drawn as a chimp on numerous occassions. Are political cartoonists now required to be politically correct when drawing people?

Is there a lesson that can be learned from this?

Jackson: "You Can't Make Excuses."

WHAT DID YOU THINK of today's guest, Donnell Jackson? Did he enlighten you on the ways of the broadcast world?

Here's what stood out to me:

- Establish your goals, and figure out how to reach them.
- Broadcast news requires A LOT OF WRITING.
- There are many jobs in newsrooms besides reporters and anchors.
- Producers have a influence in terms of what gets on the news (and how it is presented).
- The people you meet today may be leaders of tomorrow, even the slackers sitting next to you in class.
- You need multiple skills - writing, editing, shooting, etc.
- You can't make excuses.
- Journalism is not a craft that will make you rich.
- Talk to people doing what you want to do in the future.
- Get started now.

What stood out for you?

Who's Packing? Check Online.

A TENNESSEE NEWSPAPER posted a database of people who were registered with the state to carry a concealed weapon.

People freaked out, saying that posting the database threatens people's Second Amendment right - the right to bear arms. The newspaper is anti-gun, they said.

Others argued that the list is already available by asking the state government, so why not post an otherwise public list? People have the right to know if their neighbor is armed, right?

What do you think? Should the newspaper out those packing heat?

Your Career Starts Now.

JENNIFER MERRILL APPROACHED me on the first day of school during the fall semester. She told me that she may have to run out of class sometimes - she was pregnant, and morning sickness was unpredictable.

I told her to write about her experiences. She's 18, a freshman at TU. She doesn't know what she will do with the child - she is weighing keeping the child versus putting the child up for adoption.

Jennifer wrote a long, thoughtful piece. I sent it to my editor at the Philadelphia Weekly. And it is the cover story of this week's paper.

Get your career started now. Write, photograph and create videos for the Temple News. Join student groups like ED2010, TABJ, WHIP, Temple Update, the Templar, SPJ, whatever.

Get involved. Now.