“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/ Humpty  Dumpty had a great fall/All the kings horses and all the kings men/Couldn’t put Humpty back together again.” Once upon a time, newspapers had great power.  They could sway elections and make or break someone’s career overnight. That was when small town newspapers published all sorts of personal information.  If Sears Roebuck took you to court over a $400 unpaid bill, they printed it in the paper. Divorces were announced on the inside page.  You were at their mercy.  Any misstep was fair game. But suddenly, that’s over. Like Humpty Dumpty, our local newspaper has had a great fall.

Back in 1912, they  built a four story  building on Main Street.  If you walked in the back door to meet with a reporter  or editor, you could hear the printing presses thrumming.  Everything was there—immediacy, excitement, urgency, and most importantly, power.  Being the publisher or editor on the top floor epitomized prestige and social standing.  It was still that way a scant 14 years ago,  when our local paper built a  new, two and a half million dollar building near their old offices.

But then everything went downhill.  The best reporters were let go, or left.  Quantity, not quality, became the norm.  Hard news, defined as news or investigative journalism that deals with serious topics and events, requires more  journalists.  Soft news is defined as information that is primarily entertaining or personally useful.  It’s easier to produce and can be done at a leisurely pace.  It also  fills more space and is far less interesting.  If you want soft news, you can read a magazine. And yet, the newspaper’s front pages began featuring  more and more“soft news.”

Consequently, circulation dropped, and   the newspaper’s  advertising revenues began to dwindle. At the same time,   Television  and  the  internet have replaced many of the newspaper’s functions.  Younger generations no longer subscribe to newspapers.   And so, the big expensive building was no longer sustainable.  This year,  the entire newspaper staff moved their offices to the basement of  a  neighborhood  mall that’s struggling for occupancy. Today, they  announced the paper will only be published five days a week, rather than seven.

Newspapers have lost the ability  to influence public opinion.  No one  cares who they endorse for office or what they think about plans for a new jail.  Yes, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.  And no one can put Humpty back together again.

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