Rare Book Monthly

Articles - November - 2020 Issue

Print is losing its grip

Utah is losing two of its’ daily newspapers, The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News.  This story was printed on October 29th in America’s paper of record, The New York Times.  It’s another chapter of reality over romance in the printed newspaper business.  This business type peaked in the 1970’s but such is the romance and appeal of printed newspapers that literally no one wants to believe this business model no longer works.  Nevertheless, enthusiasm doesn’t pay the bills.

 

Worldwide people love the printed word or character [if idiographic or logographic], and newspapers continue to be published on every continent except for Antarctica.  The simple fact though they are all marked for extinction.

 

These two newspapers and most others that fail leave audiences with long memories whose understanding of the places they live have been defined in the printed word over generations.

 

In a sorry regression these enterprises will become weekly newspapers and inevitably rely on the internet commerce they can create.

 

RIP

Rare Book Monthly

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