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Newspapers are getting smaller, and there’s not a damn thing that can be done about that. In a letter to Romenesko (that I can’t, unfortunately, locate), a reader mentioned that the much-vaunted era of big papers was not a result of an expansion in the market but rather the contraction of it. Most cities don’t have as many papers as they did during the middle of the century. When second, third, or fourth dailies died, it left reporters without jobs, advertisers without venues, and readers without their usual fix. The survivors used the opportunity to expand and produced the enormous papers of the late 20th century. The contraction produced good papers, too, by separating the wheat from the chaff.
But listings aren’t the only excess. I’d argue that some content is too–actual articles and reporting.
I do wish RedEye was funnier, smarter, riskier, and less fucking corporate. Blogs have taught us that news in miniature can actually increase the public’s interest in journalism as well as making us more informed readers.
Is the Redeye free? Does the Redeye have a crossword puzzle? yes and yes.
Good enough for me.
I pick the stupid thing up a few times a week, but I can’t say that I’ve read it in months, I just do that damn crossword puzzle. So as long as they keep publishing crossword puzzles, I’ll pick it up.
Bonus link: Dude, RedEye has a cover archive.
