OPINION - Editorial

OTHERS SAY Don’t stop the presses

A free society cannot function without vibrant professional newspapers. In light of that truism, the latest dire news for the news business should worry every American who cares about our democracy. In this era of politicians who too often see accurate information as the enemy, real journalism needs all the public support it can get.

The good news is that McClatchy, a 163-year-old family-owned company, says the bankruptcy won’t immediately affect its newsrooms. The bad news is, recent history indicates that will be a difficult promise to keep.

At the root of the problem lies the Internet, which has flooded society with so much free information that getting people to pay for it via newspaper subscriptions is an increasingly difficult pitch. There’s a huge difference between serious professional journalism offered by newspapers and the unreliable or irrelevant (or worse) noise that fills so much of cyberspace under the “news” label.

We wish the best for our competitor-colleagues at McClatchy and we encourage their readers to keep reading—and subscribing. When the horse-drawn buggy gave way to the automobile, craftsmen lost their livelihoods and a way of life disappeared, but it didn’t endanger the healthy functioning of our republic. This does.

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