2005年NPR美国国家公共电台十二月-In Defense of Newspapers

Knight 1 Ridder, the second largest newspaper chain in the country may very well be sold in the coming weeks. Its largest shareholder 2 has demanded that the company be put up for sale even though its newspapers are all turning a profit. To commentator 3 Steve Lopez, this is just another sign of the decline of the newspaper business.

I don't know if you've heard the news, but I'm dying. That's right. I'm a newspaperman. Vultures are circling as I speak. I'm vinyl records, I'm VHS, I'm the pony 4 express. In lieu of flowers, please buy me a drink. They say the cause of imminent 5 death is the flight of readers and advertisers to cable television and the Internet, but let's not overlook the self-inflicted wounds. In a thirty-year career, I've worked for 7 newspapers and 3 corporate 6 conglomerates 7 referred to by some of my peers as the evil axis 8. Gannett, Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company, despite gargantuan 9 profits by those behemoths, the wizards in charge have skimped 10 on promoting their own newspapers. Wait a minute, Aren't they in the business of convincing companies that got to advertise to survive? Yes, I understand we're in the midst of a vast, reinvention of the media universe. And some of these forces are irreversible. But if our ship is going down, can't we at least put up a better fight? Make some waves? Send up a flare 11? I can't figure out why, but no newspaper executive has ever followed my suggestion on how to properly promote the product.

Here is what I do in my TV ad. A guy is walking down the street, all right, he comes to a newsrack with a fabulous 12 array of headlines and it stops him in his tracks, now the guy reaches into his pocket for 2 quarters, 2 quarters, what else can you buy for 50 cents? The moment he plunks the coins into the box, you see/ a shot of our team on the scene in Bagdad, a local politician in handcuffs after a big Page One expose, the sports column is going toe-to-toe with the Dodger 13 owner, the car columnist 14 test-driving the sporty new convertible 15 and the perfect shot of the prep stud on a touchdown sprint 16.

I'd point out in my TV ad that 50 cents buys you a seasoned editorial staff of 900 people, covering every corner of the world. And you also get the TV listings, the box scores, the crossword 17 puzzle and enough coupons 18 to cut the cost of dinner in half. For these reasons and more, you're going to miss us when we're gone. Wait till all you've got to choose from is one of the thousands of fly-by-night Internet news sites, or one of the millions of blogs posted by unapologetically biased 19 hacks 20 who haven't left the house in five years. Boy, are you going to miss us. If newspapers die, you'll still have radio, sure, but you might also find yourself fiddling 21 with a laptop that keeps crashing, the moment it finds the story you want. Even in a best case scenario 22, it can't pass the A-section to your wife or husband, and take the sports or entertainment page to the bathroom, divorce rates will spike 23. As for you older folks out there, imagine trying to read the news of the new Medicare prescription 24 plan on a cellphone screen. All of this unpleasantness can be avoided, you know, and a cost to you, 2 quarters, 50 cents, the last great bargain in America.

Steve Lopez is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.