What a busy news day today is. Just in sports, there’s the big Monday Night Football game as well as Monday morning quarterbacking of Les Miles’ dubious decisions in the LSU-Alabama game. Plus there is the huge story about Sean Payton’s contract being voided by the league. Then there are the Hornets who have won two in a row including on the road in Chicago—without their marquee players. And tomorrow, THE election, a gridiron-like battle in itself.
While the Newhouses can read about these things—in print—in The New York Times, Monday is one of the four days a week they have denied us. Because the Saints game is tonight rather than Sunday, we didn’t even have that flimsy little Black & Gold sports extra this morning.
Today is a great example of the devolution of the news at the hands of the Newhouses. They will say that we can find all the news digitally, but we all know it is not the same. Besides, if we have to resort to i-things over breakfast, there are many alternatives, including the local TV stations and national news websites.
Fortunately, some of us will receive The Advocate. It at least has a Monday edition, and probably no one is better at analyzing LSU. When visitors, who are in town for tonight’s game, look for our daily, they will have something to hold. We will seem a little less like the podunk town the Newhouses are making us out to be.
Since the Newhouses first announced their damage to New Orleans, there have been lots of discussions on different issues; one is about the quality of journalism now that the staff has been so dramatically reduced. Though some good people managed to survive, the overall staff is greener. Another issue is the value of having a daily newspaper. For answers, here are two quotes from the website of The Cleveland Plain Dealer, a Newhouse paper that, like the T-P, falls under the clutches of Steve Newhouse’s Advance digital division.
On experience: How does the newspaper learn of the stories it covers? Many come through reporters, who are experts on their beats and learn of stories through an exhaustive list of contacts.
On daily news: THE PLAIN DEALER. MISS A DAY. MISS A LOT. (Promotional slogan.)
Hey Newhouses, we’re missing a lot. By the way, there is a good chance that your hometown New York Giants will be coming to New Orleans to play in the Superbowl. If any of your friends are coming to the game and they want to keep up with the daily news, tell them to look for the red newsstand boxes. That’s where they can get our daily, The Advocate.
