It's nice to know there's a still a newspaper out that, you know, delivers the news.
First of all, just let me say that I would not want to be in the newspaper business these day. The internet has pretty much destroyed the business model upon which newspapers were founded, and those that are still around are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, struggling to get by with reduced staffs, minimal advertising, and entire sections that largely consist of rewritten press releases.
It's REALLY not a good time to be in the newspaper biz.
Having said that, there is one newspaper in the UP that seems to have bucked the trend, and that's the Munising Beacon. It's a weekly paper, which I'm sure helps, and it's in a smaller community with a minimum of competition for ad dollars, which I'm also sure helps. But if you get the chance to grab one, check it out.
You'll be transported back to a time when newspapers were actually good.
The new owner/editor of the paper, Jennifer Champagne, did a profile piece on me in the Marquette Monthly a couple of years ago, before buying the Munising paper, and has since been sending me copies. And I have to say...I'm impressed. It looks like a newspaper used to, with real stories written by real people, real ads, and a real sense of community that newspapers used to provide in the days before news aggregators tore the guts out of the business.
Plus, she uses talented people--including at least one Munising High School Bowl team member--and that really shows.
Like I mentioned before, it's a horrid time to be in the newspaper business; in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if most of the newspapers currently around aren't around in 20 years. But it's nice to know that in small pockets around the country (and especially here in the UP) they're still going strong.
And if you'd like a perfect example of that, just grab yourself a copy of the Munising Beacon or check 'em out online. You'll see what I'm talking about.
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