Several weeks ago, the New York Daily News raised its weekday price from 75 cents to $1.25 and $1.50 on Saturdays.
At the same time, the New York Daily News just celebrated its 95th Anniversary of publication. As a teenager in the 1960’s, I can still remember being able to buy four newspapers for less than a dollar and getting change back.
At the end of the day, increasing the newsstand price, shrinking content, reduction in actual newsprint size or favorable government subsidies will not be the determining factor for the survival of the New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, Newsday or other daily newspapers.
We live in one of the few remaining free societies, with a wealth of information sources available for any citizen to access.
However, sadly, most American cities and suburbs are down to one local daily or weekly newspaper. Most papers have to deal with continued increasing costs for news print, delivery and distribution along with reduced advertising revenues and declining readership.
They may face competitors in the surrounding suburbs, along with national editions of USA Today, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Epoch Times.
In our metropolitan New York region, there are also all news radio stations such as WCBS, 1010 WINS, Bloomberg News and 101.9FM News along with other radio stations. ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS have national network news, as do local affiliates along with local independent news broadcasts such as FOX 5, MY 9 and PIX 11, cable news stations such as News One (in NYC), CNBC, CNN, FOX, BBC along with News Twelve and 10/55 (in Nassau/Suffolk counties). Many get late breaking news from the Internet. This is stale when reaching print the next day.
The growing population of new immigrants support their own newspapers, radio and television stations.
These financial challenges on maintaining the bottom line have also resulted in less resources being devoted to investigative reporting and a greater reliance on wire service stories.
As a result, original newspaper content continues to shrink. This puts even more pressure on the remaining reporters assigned to various departments. There is intense competition between international, state, business, sports, entertainment and other sections of newspapers. It is becoming more difficult to provide real detailed coverage of local news.
Prior to the New York City 1962 newspaper strike, there were actually 12 daily newspapers published in the Big Apple. The strike resulted in the closing or consolidation of several papers including the New York Journal American, New York World Telegram & Sun, New York Mirror and New York Herald Tribune.
Later both the Long Island Star Journal and Long Island Press ended publication.
Today, residents can select from the New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Staten Island Advance along with freebies such as AM New York, New York Metro and Epoch Times.
There has also been major growth in weekly papers such as the Village Voice, New York Observer, Long Island Press, Dan’s Papers and dozens of others based in neighborhoods all around the five boroughs of New York City and Long Island. Neighborhood weekly newspapers like our very own Great Neck News along with competitors such as the Great Neck Record provide real coverage of local community news stories usually overlooked by other media.
The Sunday New York Times consolidation of their former “City Section” and “Long Island Section” into a “Metropolitan Section” combining the City with Long Island resulting in even less coverage of news from Long Island.
Newsday, The Times, Daily News and Post with limited space can only provide a minimal amount of news stories based in various Nassau County neighborhoods including Great Neck, New Hyde Park, Herricks, Williston Park, Albertson, Searingtown, Garden City, Mineola, Manhasset and Roslyn.
There are still many like myself and others who have a continued thirst for news provided by either daily or weekly newspapers covering Washington, Albany, New York City, Nassau County and Town of North Hempstead.
In the marketplace of ideas, let us hope there continues to be room for everyone including the New York Daily News and our own Great Neck News regardless of the price.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
