Another one bites the dust
The Kansas City Kansan — a daily for nearly 87 years that switched to twice-weekly last year — announced last week it was ending its print edition and would concentrate on its web site.
The Kansan, owned by GateHouse Media, declined to release circulation numbers, according to the Kansas City Star.
The newspaper’s final issue will be Jan. 10, the Kansan announced in an article Wednesday on its Web site. After that, it will post its news online at www.kansascitykansan.com.
When it does, it will join a small but growing number of newspapers that have largely abandoned their print product for an electronic one, including The Christian Science Monitor and The Capital Times in Madison, Wis.
The paper’s own report explains how they’ll do it. Newsroom staffing will be cut from eight to four employees.
Businesses and civic organizations, for example, will be able to post their own press releases. Readers will find it easy to share community photos or their own stories and opinions.
“This is not going to be a newspaper turned into an online product,” Kansan General Manager Drew Savage said. “It’s going to have a completely different look.”
The format of the site will be more like a blog, making it easier for readers to scan through all the stories from a particular day and find the ones they wish to read more carefully.
The new web site will be launched Wednesday, the paper reports.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:58 am
Perhaps they should post in short form.
Staff cuts and PR based citizen journalism have seriously dangerous consequences for democracy.
Ponder Ponder Ponder….