The news that the Rocky Mountain News is shutting down today after 150 years, leaving the Denver Post as the only newspaper in the area, is a sad commentary on the decline in promotion of information and of alternative sources.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the San Francisco Chronicle are also in danger of being silenced forever due to the economic hard times and the fact that fewer people buy and read newspapers, other than online.
American democracy is the loser, and this is yet another example of the decline of American culture and American society. This is a day that will be mourned when we look back in the future at the horrible turn of events, the rapid disintegration of what is good about America!
5 things to consider here:
a) Creative destructionism via capitalism (Buggy Whip vs Steering Wheel & Telegram vs cell phone)
b) Who’s alleging that news papers are "alternative sources" of news? (or even independent?) You’re a history buff….
c) The decline in the Paper buisness is not symbolic of "the decline of American culture and American society" as you said just one sentence prior. "the fact that fewer people buy and read newspapers, other than online." There is tremendous support for the position that Americans are increasingly ignorant; but the failure of the paper business, at best, could be anecdotally attributed to support that argument. The previous readers/customers are just reading elsewhere.
d) The news paper’s aren’t going broke because of falling subscription rates, it’s because of falling ad revenues. Most painfully so in the Classifieds, which are free through websites such as craigslist.com
e) "Papers" always have yesterday’s news at best. People who really like the news are not willing to wait 24 hours to find out what they want to know. People who didn’t care at all didn’t buy the paper previously. And the mostly sustained subscriber base is either so accustomed to having a physical object to read (Like me) or they are interested in the news but don’t need it "Right Now"
So in summation, News papers are going down because people are increasingly and irreversibly becoming accustomed to the faster, more diverse, and more targeted news distribution venues that eliminates the need (demand) for a single local communication and trade venue (Paper).