Capital Times changes a sign of the times
I've written about the challenges facing newspapers many times before. Those challenges hit home in another big way today when the Capital Times in Madison announced major changes in how it does business.
I have many good friends at tbe Capital Times, and I doubt all of them will still be there when this shakes out.
The Cap Times is going from a six-day-a-week afternoon paper to a two-times-a-week free tabloid with a ramped-up Web site. The tabloid will be inserted in the Wisconsin State Journal on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and it will be available free on newsracks. The Wednesday paper will be news and opinion; the Thursday paper will be entertainment.
I've always admired the Cap Times for its feisty news coverage and its unwavering liberal stance on the editorial page. Whether you love or hate the political position itself, it's nice to see a paper so consistently and passionately lay out its beliefs.
The paper has been propped up by the State Journal and their joint operating agreement for years, and that probably accounts for its big staff and the strong people on board. It's Opinion page and its sports pages, in particular, have fabulous writers. It will be interesting to see how many of them stay with the paper.
Exactly what this means for the Cap Times in the long run is hard to know. But it is clear that another newspaper is changing forever, and the country will have one fewer two-newspaper city. That's sad, but it's not surprising given what's happening in our industry.
Feb 12, 2008 at 4:31 p.m.
Suggest removal
As each one of these papers disappears, it leaves even more responsibility on those that remain--such as the Gazette--to resist the temptation to eventually sell out to the corporate-owned media conglomerates. Keep giving us the local news we need to know, not just the entertaining news we want to read, Gazette!
Feb 11, 2008 at 12:34 p.m.
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The Cap Times' circulation is nearly non-existant outside the city limits of Madison. Daily newspapers simply cannot flourish in such a small geo area, unless it is free and "different," like the Isthmus.
And really, the WI State Journal is not any sort of powerhouse to keep carrying the Cap Times, given their circulation is hardly the "Wisconsin State," more like the "Dane County and Surrounding County Journal."
The Beloit Daily News and the Janesville Gazette might want to consider a merger at some point - pick-up some of those Cap Times employees and target the entire stateline - from Dubuque to Kenosha.
Feb 11, 2008 at 10:42 a.m.
Suggest removal
I go to school up in Madison, and have spoken to a couple of my friends who work for the State Journal. The general census is that we'll be seeing the Cap Times move to an Isthmus type situation before long.
I agree that the Cap Times coverage is passionate to say the least, but unfortunately I think that newspapers--actual papers--are going to be more and more rare.
Hopefully this never happens to The Onion...
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