Newspapers-Which do you prefer? (Highlands Ranch: public schools, live, subway)

[Sockeye]

I have a journalist pal over at the DP, and he says they're essentially operating with a skeleton crew. Newsrooms aren't the hustling and bustling places they once were before the internet age came along. I was disappointed when the DP merged the Business section in with Denver and the West, and got desperate for $ with those 1-on-1 striptease and male enhancement ads. Gone are the days of the great op ed writers like John Coit and Gene Amole.

[DenverLawGal]

wow, I never thought of it that way. I bet you are right, papers are losing out to the net. I like the convenience of the net, but hate to see old American pasttimes go away.

[kimmer]

There's nothing like being able to sit down at the breakfast table with my large Diet Pepsi, and the paper. Even if what's in it is cr*p.

[livecontent]

The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News did not merge--but it close to the same thing. They are coperating under an agreement that merges their production, circulation departments under the Denver Newspaper Agency. However, their newsrooms are two separate running entities. The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News are both owned by separate newspaper groups.

Under their agreement, The Denver Post does not publish on Saturdays and the Rocky Mountain News does not publish on Sundays; they compete all the other days of the week.

I do not subscribe to any of these papers and get all my news on the net. I was once a very consistent newspaper reader and I subscribed to the Denver Post; I thought it was better than the Rocky Mountain News. The News to me, heralds excessively the sports headlines on the front page.

Today printed newspapers are not needed as much with the rising use of the internet. If you really must have a paper, I would suggest to subscribe to exact dublicate of the paper with a online viewer or a PDF download for $30 a year. That is cheaper than the $100 plus they want for home delivery and you are assured of delivery. After their agreements the ads rates went up and cost for a newspaper delivery increased because their is no more competition. It is a result of some ridiculous federal act to allow newspaper to operate non-competively and not be subject to anti-trust and competitive rules in the marketplace.

It is predicted that after the Democratic Convention, one paper will cease to publish, as the revenue from advertisements and ciriculation is fast diminishing. One will probably buy the other.

Livecontent

[Moonwalkr]

My subscription was like $31 for 52 weekends, I don't think that's too bad at all. Again, I don't get my news from the newspaper, I enjoy the other leisurely sections and coupons.

[icewater]

I subscribe to the Denver Post, and it's about $25 for 3 months for everyday but Tuesday. I think it's a hassle for the carriers and circulation dept to remember this, so they give the tuesday paper also about 5 weeks out of 6. It's a great deal, and while it's true the journalistic quality isn't the NY Times, this isn't NY and the MSN news homepage is far more insulting (which is cuter: puppies or bunnies?). If the net is responsible for keeping everyone informed, then the terrorists really HAVE won.

On the weekends I think they merge the two papers and it's not that different (better yet, on sat you get both comics sections and both opinion/letters to the editor pages).

The Post seems to have a good weather page and is pretty accurate. Pretty good classifieds section. The A section is good, but sometimes doesn't seem to have enough national news. The city metro section is very good, and they do keep the reader up to date on ongoing stories. Plus, it has alot of good stories are under the radar (land acquisitions, ordinance updates, court hearings). Definitely more in depth than the tv news. The business section is very thorough and has a good amount of colorado business updates. The lifestyle section is pretty light but has a good column by the Car Talk guys. Good comics and evening tv listings. Unfortunately they eliminated their tv media writer who was like a tv watchdog. The sports section is great with good local coverage, especially on the broncos. But they also cover outdoors and some local stuff....very helpful listings of area events too.

Unfortunately during football season, your Monday front page is ALWAYS a Broncos story. This probably sells more papers, but shows the news biz to be what it really is. They even ran a cheerleader swimsuit issue.....a low point to be sure. Nice photos though. Actually, the Post's photos are always crisp with good coloring.

I'd highly recommend the Denver Post. If you have reading age kids, get this paper so they can get in the habit of reading it. (hell, kids reading anything at this point is a small victory) Yes, it's a dying industry, but is very much a part of our heritage and the history of the world. It's too important to allow to it be completely eclipsed by the tripe-masquerading-as-oil-spill that is the internet. The newspaper has higher standards, better language, decorum, an ideal of journalistic integrity, and is still a very integral part of today's world. It'd be a shame not to spend the $2 per week on something this important. Skip a frappuccino.

[ColoWeb]

I read new on the net now but when I had the 'paper' I loved RMN. I can take it with me, read it on the bus/light rail. With the post, you need he whole buss to yourself if you want to flip a page or you injure 20 people.

As for the weekends, Sunday's are Denver Post and we do not even have a choice there.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by kimmer

There's nothing like being able to sit down at the breakfast table with my large Diet Pepsi, and the paper. Even if what's in it is cr*p.

Yeah, I have to agree with that! I read online sometimes, but much prefer the actual paper.

[DenverLawGal]

I'm pretty sure there are things in the actual paper we don't see online. Like ads! and coupons! But I still like online versions just because I'm a creature of the internet.

[MobyLL]

Originally Posted by ColoWeb

I read new on the net now but when I had the 'paper' I loved RMN. I can take it with me, read it on the bus/light rail. With the post, you need he whole buss to yourself if you want to flip a page or you injure 20 people.

There is something known as the "subway fold" which I'm sure is becoming a lost art even in NYC... but back in the day it was commonly practiced for the broadsheet (vs. tabloid) format papers. My wife, who grew up in New York told me that they used to teach the subway fold in NYC public schools.

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

I'm pretty sure there are things in the actual paper we don't see online. Like ads! and coupons! But I still like online versions just because I'm a creature of the internet.

yeah, me too. To a certain extent I lament the loss of hardcopy newspaper reading, but on the other hand I think the quality of both major Denver papers is pretty poor and can't justify extra money and time in supporting them by subscribing; plus even if using recycled paper there has to be negative environmental issues associated with printing and delivering newspapers to your door.