In this story from Editor and Publisher we look at some of the circulation figures from the most important newspapers around the country. And it's pretty bad for most of them. Circulation is down for nearly every paper on the list, although the New York Post actually picked up readers. Of course the Post is not so virulently anti-conservative and anti-Bush as most of these other newspapers, so moderate readers are less likely to be offended by rampant liberal editorializing.
And this is really the issue. Most people are not really opposed to print as much as they are distrustful of the bias that one regularly finds in The Elite Media Monoculture. New media has found a place because it brings the public a point of view and a depth of analysis which is simply absent in the Old Media. In addition, New Media is clear about the issue of point of view. If you are reading this, you know that this is a conservative site and you can evaluate what you read here within that context and adjust for it in your evaluation of what you read. But the members of the Old Media club don't seem particularly interested in examining their own bias and how it affects their coverage of news in their organizations and, just as importantly, of what they don't cover and why they think you don't need to know certain information.
Hugh Hewitt's extensive interview with Mark Halperin of ABC News is instructive in this regard. What is lacking in this three hour conversation is any recognition of the need for transparency in the Old Media. Mr. Halperin allows that there is indeed a very liberal bias at Old Media institutions. But he keeps insisting that what we need are 'objective' reporters and editors without any logical or rational way to determine just how one would be able to distinguish between those who are biased and those who are not. And this is the central problem for Old Media.
The people who make up that club are surrounded by others like themselves, with all their opinions and viewpoints more or less the same. Disagreement is something which they avoid like the plague and any conservatives would be quickly ejected from their personal circles as if they were a deadly virus. But Mr. Halperin insists that somehow 'objective' reporters can be found without investigating their basic political and philosophical assumptions which must inevitably inform their writing and reporting. Mr. Halperin cannot bring himself to acknowledge that bias is a function of one's basic world view, and that since everyone has a world view that bias in one way or another is built into every viewpoint. The need for transparency is vital if we are to be able to adjust for the opinions which we get from Old Media and evaluate them in a fair context. But this is just what Old Media refuses to do.
The Los Angeles Times reported that daily circulation fell 8% to 775,766. Sunday dropped 6% to 1,172,005.
The San Francisco Chronicle was down. Daily dropped 5.3% to 373,805 and Sunday fell 7.3% to 432,957.
The New York Times lost 3.5% daily to 1,086,798 and 3.5% on Sunday to 1,623,697. Its sister publication, The Boston Globe, reported decreases in daily circulation, down 6.7% to 386,415 and Sunday, down 9.9% to 587,292.
The Washington Post lost daily circulation, which was down 3.3% to 656,297 while Sunday declined 3.6% to 930,619.
Circulation losses at The Wall Street Journal were average, with daily down 1.9% to 2,043,235. The paper's Weekend Edition, however, saw its circulation fall 6.7% to 1,945,830.
Daily circulation at USA Today slipped 1.3% to 2,269,509.
The Chicago Tribune showed slight declines. Daily dropped 1.7% to 576,132 and Sunday decreased 1.3% to 937,907.
Losses at the Miami Herald were steep. Daily circulation fell 8.8% to 265,583 and Sunday fell 9.1% to 361,846.
While daily circulation stabilized compared to past reporting periods at The Sun in Baltimore, down 4.4% to 236,172, Sunday took a massive hit. Circulation on that day dropped 9% to 380,701.
The Hartford (Conn.) Courant’s daily circ was down 3.9% to 179,066 while Sunday dropped slightly, 1.5% to 264,539.
At The Philadelphia Inquirer, daily fell 7.5% to 330,622 while Sunday declined 4.5% to 682,214. Daily circulation at its sister pub, The Philadelphia Daily News, dropped 7% to 112,540.
The Star Tribune in Minneapolis reported declines. Daily was down 4.1% to 358,887 while Sunday dropped 6.3% to 596,333.
At the Orlando Sentinel, daily circulation decreased 2.5% to 214,283. Sunday fell 4.2% to 317,226.
Daily circulation at The Arizona Republic declined 2.5% to 397,294 and 2.6% on Sunday to 503,943.
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland showed daily circulation almost flat -- a small victory -- with a decline of 0.6% to 336,939. Sunday was down 2.3% to 446,487.
No comments:
Post a Comment