Sound Politics: Speaking of the death of the mainstream media

May 08, 2006

Speaking of the death of the mainstream media

"Circulation at Seattle's daily newspapers keeps falling"

The Seattle Times' average weekday circulation declined 5.4 percent during the six-month period that ended March 30 when compared with the same six-month period a year earlier, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Circulation at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer dropped 9 percent, while the combined Sunday edition, which carries the mastheads of both newspapers but is produced almost entirely by The Times, slid 4.7 percent.

Ouch.

Ryan Blethen, call your office.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at May 08, 2006 02:38 PM | Email This

Comments

1. And do you think either local paper will do anything to improve their credibility or reduce their liberal bias? No, they will continue to deny it and move even further to the left.

You know, if I was a liberal, would I pay for a paper that reported news with the bias and spin that I hoped was true, but couldn't believe?

Posted by: MJC on May 8, 2006 02:50 PM

2. Had to snicker at Ryan Blethen's showing bias in that link to him. He refers to the "radical conservative" and "grassroots liberal" bloggers.

I'm sure those "grassroots liberal" bloggers could not ever be described as "radical", thus the attempt to pin the R label on only the conservative blogs.

No, the liberal ones certainly couldn't EVER be "Radical." Just grassroots. Right???

Posted by: Michele on May 8, 2006 03:02 PM

3. The only thing that will save these KLOWNS masquerading as Journalists is if they use the Joel "PHATASS" Cornholey method of registering subscribers!
All they need to do is count everyone registered to vote at Cornholey's guest cabin as subscribers! What a circulation improvement!

Cornholey truly does not understand that biased garbage masquerading as "news" and lunatic editorials like his has left folks saying.."Why bother??"!

Posted by: Mr. Cynical on May 8, 2006 03:14 PM

4. For once the PI wins a race. The Seattle newspaper race to the bottom of the barrel. I guess it's time for a government program to save their sorry asses.

Posted by: swassociates on May 8, 2006 03:43 PM

5. It has been so long since I looked at a newspaper I don't remember when it was anymore.

In the last year or so I have even quit going to their web sites.

Thier more ludicris stuff makes it to the blogsphere to be laughed (and cried) at and the rest is purely "why bother".

As someone once told me: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but no one is entitled to their own facts."

Apparently except for the LSM...

The LSM is already stinking in the sun and they aren't even fully dead yet (just mentally).

Posted by: Fox3 on May 8, 2006 04:17 PM

6. So you're suggesting it's no longer a growth industry?

Posted by: TB on May 8, 2006 04:29 PM

7. After 30 years as a subscriber I left the morning PI. I did not need some one to tell me how to think. I just wanted the news with all the facts, and was not getting it that way. I have never missed the paper and their experts, or errors.

Posted by: Bob on May 8, 2006 04:57 PM

8. About a year ago, I finally told the Seattle Times that I was tired of their liberal bias and asked them not to renew my subscription (I had been subscribing Sunday only).

They continue to send me the Sunday paper, but no longer bill me for it. I think they want to keep me on their books so that they can inflate their circulation numbers.

I wonder what part of their claimed circulation consists of nonpaying "customers" like me?

Posted by: Matt from Olympia on May 8, 2006 05:16 PM

9. They are the dying product of one of the last liberal towns in America. Gregoire and Sims will probably float legislation to pay for this rag to be delivered to every citizen in this state.

It makes me ashamed that I was a paperboy once.

Posted by: GS on May 8, 2006 06:22 PM

10. Sad. It's largely the fault of journalism hacks like Floyd McKay of WWU, who have turned out three decades worth of biased, poorly trained journalism graduates.

Posted by: Organization Man on May 8, 2006 07:02 PM

11. Let's see how this stuff translates in the election outcome this November. I am not very hopeful for Republicans at the National level, but I have more hope for them at the State level, because the left here has shown themselves to be the Totalitarian Left- led by Gregoire and Sims, with KLOWNSTEIN masquerading as spokesman for them.

Alot of the journalists nowdays are LOSERS. They are Conservatophobes and moral relativists - so I am not subscribing to any papers. There are a few left-leaning writers who are decent in local newspapers, but the irresponsible hack reporters unfortunately overshadow them.

Posted by: KS on May 8, 2006 08:14 PM

12. I pay for the Sunday Times. (Coupon math says pay for the paper)

I get it 7 days a week, they call me every 13 weeks to let me know they're extending my 13 week free paper. I've cancelled twice, but apparently the wife likes the crossword because when they call mid-day to renew my free paper it starts coming again.

They offered it to a friend as "Good to line animals cages with."

Does anyone in the Seattle area actually PAY for this paper? I know they want to loose money and end the JOA, but this seems a bit weird...

Posted by: Ryan on May 8, 2006 08:33 PM

13. I guess an effective way to slay the liberal machine is to boycott their business...

Perhaps the liberal media is just the start!

Posted by: Deborah on May 8, 2006 08:50 PM

14. I wouldn't line my birdcage with it, it would be an insult to the bird!

Posted by: GS on May 8, 2006 09:15 PM

15. No question they are getting desperate. Within 20 minutes of my hooking up new phone service, I received a solicitation from the Slimes for home delivery. Followed by another one 6 hours later and another one 14 hours after that. Each polite "no thanks" elicited a smarmy, scripted "You mean you don't read THE PAPER", which allowed me to tell them how I really felt.

What a surprise that in their list of fishwrap circulation statistics, the only one without a measurable decline is the one owned by Rupert Murdoch. That must drive them crazy. What a concept. A conservative voice bucks the trend.

At least they have Scare America and the other Progressive "Talk Radios"

Posted by: Joe from Cali on May 8, 2006 09:25 PM

16. It is with good riddance that we watch them go. An essential part of life is the cyclic nature of the life cycle. Death is an important cleansing to make way for the new.

The new media win because truth longs to be free, as in zero cost. I'm not getting paid to write here, and I appreciate the great diversity of viewpoints that I can read. I can digest all of the comments here and at other blogs and form my own opinion instead of reading one editor's opinion. If there's a mistake, someone will call it out. That's the missing link.

The real accelerator of the death of the Lamestream media is it's failure to understand transparency. In fact, it's the death of a lot of old school ideas. Think about why communism dies? It's not transparent. There's got to be someone behind the curtain trying to pretend that it's all good, even when it's not. Editors at the Lamestream rags are the same way. Obsessed with spinning the story. A million examples of their opacity every day. A million examples of their double standards every day.

It's become so common, that it's now a bad joke, and there is no surprise they are dying.

Posted by: Jeff B. on May 8, 2006 11:34 PM

17. Has anyone considered that the fall in newspapers sales may not be due to their political leanings...but the “great” educational system in the Puget Sound Region?

With 50% of kids dropping out of school, the ones that do graduate and go on to college need remedial reading classes. Most young adults are getting their news from the Daily Show, Leno, Letterman, or Sponge Bob. The better-educated kids get their news from other more factual less bias resources (Right or Left).

The fact is...if you cannot read you do not need a newspaper and if you can read you do not need a newspaper!

I love it when the LEFT is caught chasseing its own tail!!!

Posted by: Pacific Grove Phlash on May 9, 2006 08:37 AM

18. Watch what you wish for...if they go down, you'll have much less to blog about.

Posted by: Steven Donegal on May 9, 2006 09:28 AM

19. It's a little more complicated than the whole "liberal bias" thing although it does play a part of the equation.
If the bias thing were accurate, then wouldn't the San Francisco Chronicle, the PI and Times and any number of other admittedly liberal papers located in extremely liberal cities see their circulations remain steady?
Now, gearing your publication to attract un-employed philosophy majors and baristas with 3 pounds of metal stuck in their faces isn't the best way to get paid circulation and (by default) advertisers. Especially when you're alienating actual news consumers with much higher disposable incomes.

The bias thing, in my upclose thumbnail sketch opinion probably accounts for 25 percent of circulation and (far more important!) advertising loss. Technological advances and competition, lack of local coverage, demographic shifts and mismanagement probably make up the rest.

Posted by: Reporterward on May 9, 2006 11:21 AM