Wilkes-Barre is one of only a handful of cities in the US that has 2 daily papers. That may end soon. Who likes that idea?
U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, with his national perspective, might be tempted to shrug his shoulders and say, "It happens." That's the direction of the newspaper industry anyway, as he sees it, and, besides, it could bring one positive result - more upbeat news.
In two-paper towns, he said, "There's a little more encouragement to spark stories out of conflict, and sometimes that isn't always the best thing." One-paper town Scranton's "general tone of news is supportive."
"That's healthy," he said. "That's important."
I guess it's supportive if the paper doesn't look at you in a critical way. If the paper only prints your press releases you will be happy with them. So Kanjo is happy with the Citizens Voice but not the Times-Leader.
McClatchy Co. Announced plans last week to buy all 32 Knight Ridder newspapers and quickly resell 12 of them, including the Times Leader. That raised speculation that Scranton-based Times-Shamrock Communications, owner of The citizen's Voice, would purchase the Times Leader and close one of the city's papers.
We're screwed folks. If at the end of this is we have only one newspaper our information will dry up. Having 2 newspapers is a treasure that will not be appreciated until we have only one.
I reported a while back on this very blog that Times Shamrock would more than likely purchase the TL. Nearly thirty years after the birth of the CV via a tense sometimes violent tug of war between the TL and its unionized workers, it is quite ironic how this story has turned out. The Voice lauded itself as a paper of for and by the people before selling out to Times Shamrock. Now the pending deal with the TL is the icing on the cake. ONe cannot have true democracy without opposing views and that lends itself to an opposing press. His Holiness feels that the Leader was a much better written publication than the CV--and I fear we will lose that. Good LUck SWB!
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I don't think both papers together have enough talent for one mediocre paper. They both slant their coverage, lack integrity, do virtually no real reporting (beyond being a dumping ground for quotes taken at their face values), and are generally uninspired and uninspiring. I wouldn't miss either one.
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