[johninvegas]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

I don't think it is purely a matter of the RJ "funding" the LV Sun. They are compensated for their troubles. Also, they have asked that the Greenspuns sign a five-year non compete agreement which would effectively kill all of the other Greenspun Media publications, including Vegas Inc. and the Las Vegas Weekly.

The latest stories say that the non-compete clause has been pulled as the RJ people think that might be a reason for the judge to deem the JOA a necessary evil.

Personally, since there are no ads in the Sun section, I have a hard time believing that the RJ is being "compensated for their troubles". Since I don't have access to the Stephens media books, I might be wrong about this.

As to Vegas Inc, is that the website? If so, the RJ is offering the website to the Sun as a parting gift.

Sadly, newspapers are in business to make money. Offering news, sports, and an editorial policy is a side-effect of making money, the ads are what keeps a paper in the city, not it's editorial stance. If they can't make a profit, they will go out of business, sooner or later. That appears to be the case with the Sun, and probably soon for the RJ also.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by owelles

This is a 4 1/2-year-old story. The landscape has changed significantly since it was written and not for the better.

Yes, I know. And the article spelled out what was going to happen. And we're watching it happening. And it's happening faster than anyone predicted. The entire industry is circling the drain, and all we can do is watch it die.

All we need now is for a reporter from the R-J or Sun to join C-D and rebuke us for never having anything nice to say about reporters. And then this thread will be just like all the others which describe the Valley going to hell in a hand basket.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by johninvegas

The latest stories say that the non-compete clause has been pulled as the RJ people think that might be a reason for the judge to deem the JOA a necessary evil.

Personally, since there are no ads in the Sun section, I have a hard time believing that the RJ is being "compensated for their troubles". Since I don't have access to the Stephens media books, I might be wrong about this.

As to Vegas Inc, is that the website? If so, the RJ is offering the website to the Sun as a parting gift.

Sadly, newspapers are in business to make money. Offering news, sports, and an editorial policy is a side-effect of making money, the ads are what keeps a paper in the city, not it's editorial stance. If they can't make a profit, they will go out of business, sooner or later. That appears to be the case with the Sun, and probably soon for the RJ also.

Vegas Inc is a Greenspun business magazine that also has a website. The URL lasvegas.com is the website that the RJ is so generously offering the Greenspuns. It was a Greenspun site to begin with and Expedia has effectively rendered that website irrelevant anyway.

[kttam186290]

Despite whatever one's political leanings may be, I think it's pretty obvious that the R-J is vastly superior in quality to the LV Sun. Just the quality of writing in the R-J, alone, is superior. Nevermind everything else.

The owners of the Sun have apparently given socialism the finger and caved in to capitalism, it seems. They wouldn't have done so if they knew there was any chance for print media to continue to be viable.

For those who are bemoaning the possibility that Las Vegas will be left with only a "right wing" voice if the Sun closes, I'm soooo sorry ....Now you'll know what it feels like for those of us Republicans in other cities who have to put up with the left-leaning articles and leftist editorial voices as our only sources of print news...

One voice for the whole city SUCKS, doesn't it????

Print news is slowly going the way of the DoDo Bird anyways, thanks to the Internet and the stranglehold it has broken re: biased journalism.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

Print news is slowly going the way of the DoDo Bird anyways, thanks to the Internet and the stranglehold it has broken re: biased journalism.

That has not much to do why newspapers are dying. Did you read the articles I linked? Partisan "journalism" becomes more an more prevalent as their market shrinks. It is a result of their death throes, not the cause.

The reason for this is that editors are relaxing their standards and simply giving people what they want. And what people want is celebrity gossip, editorials that tell them what they want to hear, and "good" news. And if the news is bad, make sure to blame the "right" people.

Unfortunately for us, our republic stands on two legs -- a free and robust press and an informed, educated public. We're quickly losing both. It's just happening faster in Las Vegas and nobody is bothering to gloss it over.

[brucerby]

While I will miss newspapers, it was inevitable once the internet became pervasive.

Younger people don't read newspapers, and they are the ones advertisers covet most. I really don't think it has anything to do with content, right or left. Even the venerable Washington Post, was just bought by Amazon's founder....probably unthinkable 15 years ago.

The smaller newspaper markets, like Las Vegas, won't be able to sustain a daily paper. You can tell by just counting the shrinking number of ads...

one day kids will ask, "What was a newspaper boy?"

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by brucerby

While I will miss newspapers, it was inevitable once the internet became pervasive.

I think you will miss newspapers more than you realize. Throw away Norm Clarke, Dan Elfman and Heidi Knapp Rinella, and you have real reporters doing what they've always done -- covering the news. Even the sports section will generate "real" news -- football coaches embroiled in scandals, for instance. Stories like that are usually broken by sports reporters.

America no longer wants newspapers -- but America NEEDS newspapers*. Our republic will free-fall even faster when they are gone.



* What we need is for professional writers to continue to gather and write the news. Whether that is delivered in paper-form by a kid on a bicycle or electronically, it does not matter. If we don't have reporters covering city commissions, HOAs, sewer department meetings and similar, what little safeguard we have against widespread graft and corruption is gone.

[NLVgal]

There is a reason that freedom of the press is constitutionally protected. It's important in a democratic society to have a well-informed electorate. While the RJ and the Sun have different editorial stances, I think they both offer some value and I don't want to see either of them fail. I hope they can reach an agreement.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

There is a reason that freedom of the press is constitutionally protected. It's important in a democratic society to have a well-informed electorate. While the RJ and the Sun have different editorial stances, I think they both offer some value and I don't want to see either of them fail. I hope they can reach an agreement.

And I'd be willing to bet that they won't. We are more fractious than at any time in our history since 1860. I don't think it's going to get any better, either. Not unless we have a "precipice moment" and back away from this cliff our society is standing on.

[UTES]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

Despite whatever one's political leanings may be, I think it's pretty obvious that the R-J is vastly superior in quality to the LV Sun. Just the quality of writing in the R-J, alone, is superior.

You'll need to remind me which paper won a Pulitzer and which one has not.

The Sun is not only better written, it's simply more interesting to read. The photo spreads and galleries are outstanding. And, Sun staff do more investigating and analysis of what happens in Las Vegas. Their examinations of government issues have resulted in well-needed changes in the valley, county and state.

I don't care about the politics of either paper and read both of them daily. But, having said that, I would miss the Sun more if it shut down.

Bill