Please remember readers that the sunday paper with all its ads are the primary cash cow for newspapers. Writers have a diminished role in the sunday paper. There are no guarentees in life, I should know my entire department was eliminated at the startribune. The future for news workers may be much much lower wages. As there is no viable new news business model there is still a way for the fourth estate to function. The latest New York Review of Books has an article on why libel and slander laws may need to be rewritten. We still need investigative journalism however most of us are struggling to pay health insurance costs. That leaves little time or money to fund such reporting. We are a rich society but we are becoming poorer in some aspects. A lot of my coworkers were gatekeepers i.e. we collected the money for management, shareholders, newsroom and press and now we are gone. Societies need gatekeepers look at the music business you need big burly guys to collect the tickets otherwise everyone downloads for free.

I agree with the earlier post. Fact is that times are changing and the old days of the "paper" are largely gone. Probably the majority of it's readers now are seniors who do not get on the internet and/or are not watching TV.

I do not agree with your statements however comparing yourself to the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry already has "gatekeepers" in place.

Rightly so; business models will now have to change along with; what, "the business". If you are doing something that there is little call for any more, you will likely go the way of the Do Do Bird. The thing to do now is to change what YOU do and find a new niche. Something that hopefully brings you in a respectable revenue to live on. If I have to do it, you can do it too. Change is after all; inevitable.

jeff, thanks for the reply but you seem to assume I am not working, I am. I was fortunate enough to be able to access some retraining. As to the entertainment industry cd sales are way down their gatekeepers have been circumvented. I know kids who have watched current movies for free on the internet same for tv without commercials. Unfortunately a new business model will have much much lower salaries something more along the lines of what a Green Bay news worker is paid. I hope newsrooms survive but it is the press, distributors and ad salespeople who largely produce the profitable sunday edition.

Dan's comment stirs an interesting thought.

How much better off would the members be if the unions used their financial resources to provide re-training instead of squandering them on windmill tilting?

Union members dutifully send in a part of their paychecks each month to support their common cause. At what point does it become apparent to the leadership that the time has come to do something good for the members, even if it comes at the expense of the union?

A light study of any union's recent history illustrates that the bosses believe their responsibilities end at the tip of their own noses.

Hi again Dan;
I can speak with some authority on this having heard from many who are "customers" of the music industry. The primary reason CD sales are down and out, are strictly due to poor content, and over priced media. I am a working musician and have been for many years. Most musicians will tell you that in many areas of "entertainment", it's a game.

If you know of kids who are circumventing proper distribution channels and watching off of the internet, why are you distancing yourself from this. If you are allowing that to continue knowing its illegal, that makes you possibly complicit if your in any direct relationship to those breaching it.

As for TV without commercials; Many of us were doing this for years. In the old days, we hit FF, now we hit a button and our PVR skips ahead by 30 second increments. Are you saying now that the original "Sony Vs Paramount" law should be repealed and everyone in this country should turn in their camcorders, tape recorders, CD and DVD burners, all blank tape, CDs, etc; to the Gheshapo? Be careful how you say that because you might be showing more than is intended.

Jeff I do not want to get into a shouting match with you with words of social darwinism and geshapo. And yes I do support the arts I only watch movies in the theater and when I have the money I support theaters I've loved. I've bought a ton of new books and cds and graphic novels from stores to support writers I've loved. By the way many publishers are no longer accepting new manuscripts the system is frozen. As any scientist knows darwinism is random genetic changes across generations and humans are one of the most social animals. The next generation is of a fertile age hopefully changes will be beneficial. I have never used a recording device.

There is plenty of blame to go around.

Avista bears responsibility for incurring enormous debt. The Star Tribune is now reaching more people between the Sunday newspaper and it's website than it did in the early 90s. That is a fact. The issue is this absurd expectation of profit by Avista, Mr. Zell (from the Tribune), etc.

Unions also MUST understand it is a new world, and start realizing there is no longer a need for as many journalists, news pressmen, etc.

That being said, we are missing the broader narrative. Businessweek magazine predicts that Clear Channel - the largest owner of radio stations in the United States - will be filing for bankruptcy in 2009. It's new owners in early 2008 did EXACTLY what Avista did. High debt ( in 2008) + low revenue = bankruptcy.

Local television news ratings are tanking (ie who waits until 10 PM to get the weather or sports scores?).

Mass media is dying - to be replaced with bloggers. Each with an agenda. Each unable to afford to go to Iraq and cover it objectively.

This is a huge problem for our democracy.

Mr. Bruaer here seems to relish the idea that the StarTribune goes out of business.

Yes, David. I know you 'just have a passion for newspapers.' But most of your blogs are absurd (i.e. the apparent issue with mice at the StarTribune. I have seen countless mice in older buildings all around Minneapolis and St. Paul that never appear in your blog for some reason. How much did ECM newspapers - an apparent partner of MinnPost - give you to report that?).

Your blog shows the need for us to have an independent newspaper in this town.

This will probably be my last comment. Price is determined by a market generally when credit is easy and it was prices go up. When credit is hard to come buy you often can buy cheaper. Avista made a BIG blunder in hiring par ridder but ridder's dad probaly contributed substantial money to the strib purchase. That could be investigated by reporters/bloggers beyond the courts. Another thing that could be reported on by the press is the Fact that there is a homeland brigade assigned to the United States the first time since reconstruction. Read the army times or glenn greenwald at salon. This has gotten very limited coverage. I have literally begged reporters to cover this but they always say we gotta provide a local angle.

I agree it is a generational thing -- as a senior I would very much miss my daily hard copy, even though Minnpost and others now deliver a quality product.

I live in CA in the winters. Today's LA Times had a 4 page Business Section; and a
4 page "California" Section. Meanwhile, my interet went down for two hours when Time Warner's network failed!

Probably just nostalgia, but I am beginning to miss the "Dear Departed Past"!

Just in case you people don't think we need trained journalists, see the future without the StarTribune/New York Times/LA Times, etc:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/12/joe-the-plumber-fights-wi_n_157239.html

And your argument is that Joe the Plumber's reporting is somehow inferior to the typical job that the Strib does is approximately what?

I don't think he's any better, mind you, but it's hard to argue that he's worse.