Paperless Paper

Ebo writes in support of paperless newspapers. So how will the newspapers deal with this in the future? Supposedly, advertisers will pay for online ads, especially if there is a lot of traffic to the web site. But, evidently the Akron Beacon Journal is not making enough profit to satisfy the new owners. If the newstaff is cut in half, that's a hell of a lot of reporting power out the door and in the unemployment lines.

Hypatia writes that I could subscribe but ask for the paper not to be delivered. Or I could designate that my subscription go somewhere useful, like to a women's shelter. These are good options, but do I want to support a paper that is about to fire a bunch of staff members?

Weird how I'm making it my problem instead of the Beacon's problem! After all, they are the ones in charge of business decisions. They need to come up with a plan that doesn't gut the reporting staff.

What we really need are a bunch of reporters working on some big time local stuff (we're talking Pulitzer calibre material) such as the whys and wherefores of all the murders and robberies going on in Akron this summer. I'd really like to know the back stories of everyone who was murdered or robbed, as well as the stories of the perps. Are they classic cases of children who were left behind and never got a chance in life? Or is it not so simple? How about a hard look at the crime areas in this town? When the houses start to deteriorate and the people living in them have no money to fix them up, what kind of actions are left to take?

I'd also like to see a series on the actual workings of our local political parties. Being a newbie to the political scene, I'd like to know more about how it all works, what doesn't work, and what could be a whole lot better. Is there power at the grass roots level or is it all controlled by the people in long term positions? What the heck does a precinct captain do? Is phone banking effective? Does the average Jane who always votes Democratic ever have any contact with the party? And how do you get the local Dems to think forward and come up with some creative solutions to difficult local problems?