Former Journalist Comments on Decline of Newspapers
In recent months the Poughkeepsie Journal, the oldest newspaper in New York, has followed a national trend of downsizing its staff. As of March 2019, only ten reporters are listed on the Poughkeepsie Journal’s website.
Polly Sparling, a former senior editor of 13 years at Hudson Valley Magazine and Poughkeepsie Journal freelance writer, recalled her time at the two publications. “When I worked at Hudson Valley Magazine we had a staff of five people, and everyone did everything,” said Sparling.
While that is still how many people work there, some major changes have been made to the Hudson Valley Magazine staff. The magazine’s graphic designer is based in Florida, which Sparling disagrees with. “If this is a local magazine and the point is to reflect the local area, why is the person who designs pages is someone who has never been here?”
In addition, both the Poughkeepsie Journal and Hudson Valley have eliminated the editorial section of their publications, the section in which a publication can give their official opinion on an issue. “That is a crime” declared Sparling. “That’s part of what a newspaper is supported to do — digest material and give an opinion.”
Sparling believes the downfall of local newspapers is in part caused by the papers’ use of the internet. Consumers are no longer buying or subscribing to their local newspapers because the articles are published online where they can be accessed for free.
However the internet isn’t solely to blame for the decreasing popularity of local newspapers. Sparling admits she has stopped subscribing to her former employer because, “they’re not holding up their end of the bargain. They don’t have as many local reporters and much local news.”
Despite this, Sparling was adamant that local newspapers still hold an important role in their communities and will survive. This is because newspapers source the majority of their revenue from local advertisers, not solely from the number of readers.
Above all, Sparling believes the biggest loss a community will suffer if local newspaper go extinct will be the loss of professional journalists, as they’ve been trained to research, gather news, and present it in an unbiased way.
“When somebody takes the time to write a story, whether it’s for a newspaper or a magazine, it’s not fake. People do research and they get the facts. That’s what reporters do.”
