A man reads a newspaper by the wall. 23% of US citizens read a newspaper regularly—a declining number.By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger. Original post Jan. 2019
Ocean Grove had a local newspaper for most of its history, but there has been none for about the last 20 years. Why is that newsworthy? It’s because citizens need a way to receive community information.
Since 2004, ” financial cutbacks have led to the shutdown of nearly 1,800 daily and weekly newspapers.”* In general, declining numbers of people read newspapers or care about the news.
Social media, especially Facebook, is taking an interest in this problem, recently spending over $300 million to look into the situation. But does that source seem trustworthy?
And those who use social networking sites for social networking (such as Twitter) often get news that way.
Many people read their favorite “newspaper” (e-editions) on their mobile devices. Most news sources these days take a partisan stance. They don’t try to go down the middle.
Recently new sources of news post online in a variety of formats (eg BuzzFeed), and much of that is suspect in terms of fake news, hoaxes, and outright lies. Intellectually honest readers try to verify “news” obtained on line before believing the information.
In a recent piece by the Associated Press*, a journalism professor said, “The challenge for the news business is convincing the public–many of whom aren’t particularly enamored with journalists anyway—that this loss hurts them too, in terms of how connected they are to their communities when there is less opportunity to know what’s going on.”
In Ocean Grove, Blogfinger has been interested in certain selected local issues, such as the North End Redevelopment Plan, but we never claimed to be the “Ocean Grove newspaper.” Our original idea to have an information sharing blog has largely failed because of lack of public input and lack of interest by local elected officials.
We offer citizens the opportunity to bring up topics for discussion (our “Just Wondering” segments or “letters to the editor”) but there has been little cooperation.
The Coaster barely looks our way and they are not actually journalists.
And the APP is only good for headline news such as when a body was found stuffed into a car trunk on Main Avenue many years ago.
The statistics show that huge numbers of US newspapers and journalists are vanishing. “Metropolitan and regional newspapers cut circulation in outlying suburban and rural areas, while many weekly newspapers simply shuttered.”*. The Press used to send a reporter to each Township Committee meeting, but that stopped a long time ago. Blogfinger used to go, but the dishonesty of the process turned us off.
From England: The Guardian has declining readership.Ocean Grove really needs a local news source to tap into. Some small towns have online publications where a few people earn some money with ads, but covering local stories can be time consuming and difficult (as you can see from the messy North End situation which has been ignored by all except Blogfinger.)
At Blogfinger we try to find out about selected important local stories, but we don’t have the manpower or womanpower to investigate all such news. If we return to our blogging roots, then there will be a news blackout which will enable the Neptuners at the Mother Ship and all the rest of those indifferent local OG organizations to continue dumping on the citizens.
Human nature is such, especially in a democracy, that we take for granted certain rights and institutions. The First Amendment speaks of “freedom of the press.” What a gift that is, but when that freedom is ignored in Ocean Grove and other small towns across America, then the locals will eventually appreciate what is missing—-and who then will pick up the ball?
We will do the best we can for as long as we can. Maybe someone will now think about what will replace us, and that time will come.
—–*David Bauder in an Associated Press article widely distributed 1/17/2019
2023. The need for local news coverage continues. The Coaster and the Asbury Park Press have deficiencies. In some ways things are worse because it is common, especially on campuses, to shout down guest speakers whose views students and professors abhor. Thus voices of reason may be squelched at places where all views should be encouraged.
Blogfinger has never tried to be a local newspaper and we have actually moved back to our roots as a blog, with a variety of topics chosen according to what interests us. We have run into community apathy, and that is a shame in this small town where different demographics and views need to be publicly sorted out. We will do what we can.
You might take a look at Patch.com, a national movement to provide “hyper-local news” on line and free. Go to their site and sign up for their Asbury Park edition. I think you will like it. And maybe some of you will organize an OG Patch.
Then there is the NJnewscommons.org out of Montclair State University . They put up a “news roundup” sent by email and their view is quite broad. They turned down some of our local news. Also NJ.com takes an interest in big local stories such as the pier recently. But they usually hit hard and then vanish. And none of these sources really dig in and follow our news.
BILLY JOEL: “Movin’ Out
