I don’t normally plug individual posts on James’ blog, but this time I had to, since this is my new favorite picture of him. (For the non-geeks out there, he’s the bald-headed Lex Luthor to his cousin Kaleb’s Superman.)
The Christian Science Monitor is about to pull the plug on its print edition, just as the venerable newspaper is about to turn 100.
The money-losing paper announced yesterday that it will stop publishing next April, except for a weekly edition, and shift its emphasis to the Internet.
“Everyone who grew up with print, and everyone who worked in print like me, you feel a little sad,” editor John Yemma said in an interview. But he said the Church of Christ, Scientist, which has heavily subsidized the $26 million annual cost of running the Boston-based paper, wants to stem the flow of red ink.
The Monitor’s circulation is just 52,000 — down from 160,000 two decades ago — and its early deadlines are crippling. Since most copies are sent to subscribers by snail mail, all copy must be turned in by noon for the next day’s edition.
“The cost of producing it, printing it and distributing it is pretty high,” Yemma said.
But the Monitor, which concentrates on analysis, has a strong news team: 95 editorial staffers; eight foreign bureaus in an age when mid-size papers are shutting theirs; and eight domestic bureaus, including a nine-reporter Washington office.
The church has made a series of bad bets over the years, including pouring cash into a television station and a radio operation, both of which ultimately flopped. And Yemma said he will have to cut at least 10 percent of the staff when the print edition shuts down.
The Web site is drawing 1.5 million unique visitors a month, but Yemma said he must boost that if the brand is to survive. “There’s no magic bullet,” he said. “You just have to do high-quality journalism and post constantly.”
I have mixed feelings about this.
First, I think this is the direction that most dailies will eventually take, especially as older readers, the ones most wed to dead tree editions, start dying off. (It’ll probably happen before that, actually, when they’re no longer profitable enough to advertise to specifically.) So if CSM goes this way first, it doesn’t necessarily mean the beginning of the end for the publication, although if they’re too far out in front of the marketplace, it certainly could be.
Secondly, they’re still just about the best journalism around, even if the name is off-putting to a lot of folks. (It’s amazing how many people think they’re a religious paper and won’t even give them a chance as a result.)
Here’s hoping the CSM has another 100 years in it.
So, James was watching Baby Signing Time — I’m apparently the only person tired of the “Eat, Eat, What a Treat” song — and was watching the kids doing sign language for different foods and then decided to start knocking on his elbow along with the kids: the sign for “cracker.”
Sorry I didn’t post this earlier: A 75-mile commute each way is more than I can handle nowadays. I was beat. I used to drive 55 miles each way to Blizzard, back in the day, and braving the Orange Crush meant that the drive was at least as long as a 75-mile trip most days.
In any case, the convention was even better the second day, partially because of its more targeted focus on WoW. I appreciate — in every sense of the word — how great it was to have a convention talking about all three of Blizzard’s big franchises, but having sold more tickets than ever, it would have been nice if Blizzard had kept all the old WoW panels and just used the other conference rooms in the Anaheim Convention Center for the smaller panels (lore, professions, etc.).
Next year, I’d like to actually stay down in Anaheim with Jenn (who didn’t attend this year) and have James hang out with his grandparents for the weekend. Partially because it was less fun sitting there by myself, tapping away on my iPhone without company much of the time, and partially because 150 miles of commuting made me useless (well, more useless than usual) when I finally made it home each night. I would also have liked to have seen the Video Games Live concert that wrapped up the show.
I did bring the power cord and plug for my iPhone on Saturday, but just like when you bring the car to the mechanic and the noise that was bothering you stops, I didn’t end up actually needing it. Still, next time, I’ll get a supplemental battery pack ahead of time and bring it with me.
The Big Blizzard Bear in-game prize won’t be available until tomorrow, when WoW gets patched to be ready for the new expansion next month, but a good looking mount like that is worth the wait.
— I’m apparently the only person tired of the “Eat, Eat, What a Treat” song — and was watching the kids doing sign language for different foods and then decided to start knocking on his elbow along with the kids: the sign for “cracker.”
