Cherish the newsprint on your thumbs

‘Do not go gentle into that good night," wrote the poet Dylan Thomas in the late-1940s, lines inspired by the imminent death of his father. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The same context could hold true for newspapers.

Newspaper circulation has fallen 2.6 percent nationally in the past six months alone, more than any comparable six-month period since 1991, according to figures released Nov. 7 by the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Of the nation’s 20 biggest newspapers, 18 reported losses in circulation, many significant.

Print journalists are losing their jobs. Others are being pushed into early retirement (buyouts), or forced into taking on additional duties (if you can write three news articles a week, why not four?). The only consolation is that people who have worked for "dailies" have known for some time that they are knocking nouns against verbs down in the hold of a sinking ship.

By Mark Franek

Full Story: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1118/p09s03-coop.html?s=hns