THE DEATH THROES OF THE NEWSPAPER?

The Rocky Mountain News was the first newspaper to run its own obituary. And I fear it was only the first of many.

My first two jobs were as a newspaper reporter, first in Hartford, CT, and then in West Palm Beach, FL. I vividly remember those 3 a.m. phone calls from the city desk about a tornado or a fire or a robbery (or an alligator attack), and driving what seemed to be the only car on the darkened streets fifteen minutes later.

I fear that real journalism is becoming a thing of the past in our country. And that, in a few years, there may be only a couple of (super-large) papers left, each with the same stories on the outside and specific "Local" sections on the inside. I call it the "McDonaldization" of journalism, in which every product will eventually fit into - and come from - the same mold. And I fear that the soul of genuine independent journalism will have died in the country that first gave it birth.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com