Des Moines Register

The readership for papers like the Register never went anywhere. Newspaper readership is at an all-time high, but the difference is that more and more people are reading the online version instead of the print.

One of the biggest mistakes that newspaper editors and publishers ever made was offering their content online for free and then not expecting their circulation to decline.
ya they are killing themselves slowly i like must younger people probably will never buy a paper again. The internet killed the newspaper for all general purposes
 
It has shrunk to half the content that it used to have. Expect it to fold in next two years as ads will be down for a very long time. Many large cities will not have a newspaper. If USA Today is collapsing, times are changing.


They are doomed if the ad reveues shrink which is a foregone conclusion. Internet and 24 hour news did a number on print. Even books will probably just be distributed digitized for devices like the Kindle 2.
 
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I think print media still has a bit more run left in it.

The problem is, the reasons why are not being absorbed by the media ownership. Print media is enjoyed for it's in depth nature and portability. It's also incredibly user friendly.

The problem is, what's currently offered in the paper is not in-depth. Many times the product is actually inferior in depth to other forms of media. I don't have to buy a new gadget every 24 months and learn a new system of interface just to read the paper, for instance.
 
There is just something about doing a crossword on the couch... on paper...

I can't speak for the political slant, because the AM Radio folks don't publish a local paper alternative. Why don't we have an alternative? Why don't we have our voice out there?

What is inherently wrong with us Conservatives that we cannot publish a profitable paper in this market? We need a "Fox News Iowa Daily" yet nobody has any idea how to do it.
 
There is just something about doing a crossword on the couch... on paper...

I can't speak for the political slant, because the AM Radio folks don't publish a local paper alternative. Why don't we have an alternative? Why don't we have our voice out there?

What is inherently wrong with us Conservatives that we cannot publish a profitable paper in this market? We need a "Fox News Iowa Daily" yet nobody has any idea how to do it.

I don't think anyone can publish a profitable paper in this market, and that's the problem. Maybe that free 8-page Johnston/Grimes weekly newspaper that shows up in my mailbox is profitable.
 
During my freshman year, I lived in Towers. The Sunday paper would be delivered to our floor, and it was always a race between me and some dude named Phil. Sometimes he would stay up all night drinking, get the paper, and lock himself in the room with it. I wouldn't see it until 4 in the afternoon. Sometimes I was lucky enough to steal one from another floor, but I came to realize that every floor had a race for their Sunday papers.

All because it had the best sports section.

What happened???
 
Remember when they used to have the all-out MLB standings with a lot of categories, all the pitching matchups? Now it's like Wins, losses and percentage.

Yeah, and I remember when The Sporting News actually went in depth with all of it's major sports coverage, and was mostly news and info, not ads and photos.

The internet has taken a lot from the daily and weekly media outlets because they can supply timely info and stats along with articles that readers can browse through and select much faster and easier.
 
I have been thinking of dropping the Register for years as my anger over hawkeye and liberal bias increased. I think the time has finally arrived. For the most part I would rather read the Wall Street Journal and I can read that for free at work, at least as long as I am still employed. Maybe we need to all rediscover library reading rooms.
 
I entertained an offer at the fair for getting the sunday register only and the rate was more than it would be if I went 3 blocks down the street and bought it from the gas station. I realize its probably paying for the conveinence of having it delivered to your door but offer me something that makes me want to subscribe because it saves me a little money,
 
I suspect their standards went long before the readership did. The Rekha Basu's of the world were hired when newspapers ruled the earth.

But using the "competition" excuse to explain why noone reads the newspaper anymore is their reason for continuing to suck.

For sure, competition is part of it, but look at when Basu was hired, and their shift from journalism to advocacy, and you'll see where the real problem is.

Newsgathering in the print media is just about dead. Just an example: I, along with a bunch of other people make a hobby out of exposing "fake" veterans. Our number one source of fakes is the print media. A newspaper runs a story about a decorated local veteran, who lots of times isn't even the right age for the b.s. story they tell. We then FOIA this dude's records, and give that to the reporter, and sometimes even the cops. Nearly 100% of the time, the reporter then disputes the facts and defends their story. Every once in a while, a reporter will get angry for being deceived and come down on our side, but generally not.

The thing is, the "story" is generally patently false, and a single phone call would've exposed that, but the reporter is too unskilled/eager/stupid to do their job correctly.

But that is the state of the print media, today.
Just to be sure, but are talking about you having this hobby in the US or in foreign countries? There's a big difference between the two.
 
I entertained an offer at the fair for getting the sunday register only and the rate was more than it would be if I went 3 blocks down the street and bought it from the gas station. I realize its probably paying for the conveinence of having it delivered to your door but offer me something that makes me want to subscribe because it saves me a little money,
Delivery boys should be satisfied with just doing their jobs. They have a union you know, and it's ruining the subscriptions.
 
The problem with the Register is Gannett, but the other problem is, without Gannett, there would probably be no Register.
 
ya they are killing themselves slowly i like must younger people probably will never buy a paper again. The internet killed the newspaper for all general purposes

What newspapers should have done is what the RIAA did when sites like Napster started popping up offering songs for free download - sue. Every time someone here - or any other message board/blog - posts a link to any newspaper article, it can be read for free.

If newspapers had charged for their online content from the very beginning, maybe they wouldn't be having the circulation problems that they're having. Maybe they wouldn't have as many online readers, but more people would be buying the actual newspaper.
 
The problem with the Register is Gannett, but the other problem is, without Gannett, there would probably be no Register.

They've run that paper into the ground, and it's sad. The Register used to be a nationally respected, Pulitzer winning publication.

Now we get things like Juice.

If the people that run the Register want to see how to run a newspaper in this environment, all they have to do is look at how the Gazette has changed with the times.
 
Just to be sure, but are talking about you having this hobby in the US or in foreign countries? There's a big difference between the two.

While I don't completely understand your question, I pursue this hobby only toward US citizens who claim to have military service, or decorations they have not earned.

Early on, we would just expose these phonies to their employer or to people they were trying to rip off, such as the electorate for politicians or the VA . Tom Harkin, for instance, for lying about being in combat in Viet Nam.

Now that the Stolen Valor Act is law, we go after them for criminal charges when we can.
 
I would't read the Register if it were free. It is one of the worst newspapers. My biggest problem is that they half-*** it all the time. I do not learn anything new from the Des Moines Register that I do not get on the TV news, or read online. If it provided some additional depth/research/etc, then I would be more of a fan of it.

I agree.

In addition, I do not believe for a minute that this was a necessary outcome of being purchased by Gannett. Nor is it just about the internet. It is probably too late for them now, though, to do anything about it.

The Register used to be a high quality, general purpose newspaper. Its greatest value now probably relates to Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses, in both in the Gannett constellation of things and nationally. This, IMO, is directly correlated with its (long) decline locally.
 
I remember reading The Register at McDonalds one Saturday a few years ago, then with a new editor (the current one), and thinking it wasn't so bad. Later in the day, I saw the headline, bold print, front page news in the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Quad-City Times, which related to everything of importance that was proposed and accomplished during that just completed session of the Iowa legislature. It was also reported that day in the Omaha World-Herald.

To my knowledge, it was never reported - at all - in the Register (except very tangentially several days later, in an op-ed by David Yepsen). That is exactly why politicians release news they don't want reported late in the day on Friday.
 
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I tried to get the DSM Register delivered to my home. Unfortunately, they just couldn't get it done. The organization is incompetent from the top to the bottom.

I won't even take the free copy at Kum'n'Go.

When we moved they didnt know how to do an adress change. I get a free one at Kum and Go, but everytime I do it is a waste since there is nothing in it to read.
 
I was a journalism major for a while so I think a local paper has value, I would consider this if I thought they actually did some real investigative reporting into the corruption in this town as opposed to being functional advertising for the democratic party. I will never, ever pay for the Rag under any circumstances.

What he said.

And, I can get AP stories for free on the 'net.

Liberal agenda, AP driven content (and even the AP has proven bias after last election cycle), and less content.

Am I sad about the state of affairs for the Register? Sure. Does the economy and the 'net have an affect on their business? No doubt. Have liberal papers, like the Register, hurt their own cause by having a clear agenda? ABSOLUTELY!
 

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