Implosion

Los Angeles has learned to survive without an NFL team. Will we next learn to live without a newspaper?

Kevin Roderick has two posts at L.A. Observed that are pretty depressing.

Comments

[Eric Enders]

1.  Wow, Zell is really on a roll today. He's also announced that he wants to sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field.

[ImprobableImpossible]

2.  A lot of good people are going to be out of work soon. I count my blessings that several of my peers and I got out in time.

[GoBears]

3.  Well, it's shame that good people will be out of work, to be sure. But some part of me believes that Zell, while evidently a bit of a jerk, isn't wrong. With the internet what it is (to say nothing of what it can become), I can't believe that the traditional model of big-city newspapers is still viable. I know that I haven't read a hard copy of a newspaper in years, unless I'm stuck in an airport without a book, and there's a paper sitting on the chair next to me.

I feel the same way about network, and especially local TV news. Those models were for a time when consumers had fewer choices and more time (who is home at 6pm?!).

The death of the daily newspaper need not mean the death of journalism. And it certainly wouldn't mean the death of news.

I guess I believe in the market. I feel bad for those who will become victims of "creative destruction," and I would favor subsidized job-retraining programs, but the maladroit and offensive style of someone like Zell shouldn't obscure the deeper problem.

[Eric Enders]

4.  "I can't believe that the traditional model of big-city newspapers is still viable."

While that's true, it's not clear that Zell sees it that way. Instead of trying to tweak the model or come up with a new one, he's still sticking with the traditional model, only a lesser version of it.

[scareduck]

5.  4 - if so, why bother purchasing the Tribune and all its assets?