Here's an interesting story

[Mike Sieber]

I have an intersting comics news story for you. Recently our local
paper, The Times Reporter, (timesreporter.com) out of New
Philadelphia, Ohio made major changes to their comics pages as a
cost-saving measure. Before the change their comics page consisted of:

Dilbert
Pooch Cafe
Blondie
Non Sequitur
Garfield
Beetle Bailey
Hagar
Funky Winkerbean
Marvin
Frank & Earnest
Pearls Before Swine
Zits
Hi and Lois
For Better or Wors
Peanuts
Crankshaft
Family Circus
Marmaduke

On Monday, Feb 2, they re-vamped their comics page to an all Tribune
Media lineup which consisted of:

Bound and Gagged
The Middletons
Animal Crackers
Raising Hector
Gasoline Alley
9 to 5
Loose Parts

On Wednesday, Feb 4th, an announcement on the front page of the paper
claimed, "They're Back! Popular Comics In Today's Edition." According
to the publisher, Jac Clay, "our readers have let us know in no
uncertain terms how you felt. You told us to quit messing with your
daily habit." Their current page now looks like this:

Garfield
Beetle Bailey
Hagar
Funky Winkerbean
Marvin
Blondie
Dilbert
Zits
Hi and Lois
For Better or Worse
Bound and Gagged
Crankshaft
Family Circus
Marmaduke

Not quite the number they had before, but it just goes to show how
quickly readers can affect changes to the newspapers when they want
to.

[tpiro]

Wow, interesting.

Not only does it show how receptive the newspaper can be, but also who's doing the complaining. If you don't mind me saying, that's a pretty uninspired list of comics in that final list. I wouldn't want to read any of those comics.

I doubt they got a complaint from anyone under 40.

[Mike Sieber]

Agreed, Tony. I was shocked by the Tribune Media strips they chose as well; all third-tier stuff. I also imagine that it's mostly the over 40 crowd who raised hell. The problem is, that when this group begins to die off, what will the papers do for readers?

[tpiro]

Agreed, Tony. I was shocked by the Tribune Media strips they chose as well; all third-tier stuff. I also imagine that it's mostly the over 40 crowd who raised hell. The problem is, that when this group begins to die off, what will the papers do for readers?

I thought you heard. The papers will just die. Is there another option I'm not aware of.

On a related not, a local entertainment weekly in my area removed all the comics from it's paper.

[Sean C]

The comics are always one of the first features to suffer from cutbacks - however, I do applaud my local paper. Traditionally, they have had a two-page spread of comics - nearly 50 every day. They started colorizing the strips themselves - it was like the Sundays comics every day. The cost of the paper has gone up and circulation has gone down a bit, but they've done everything to keep those color comics. They've also stuck up for the creators, publishing some of the controversial Doonesbury strips that other papers chickened out on running.

[Wit]

Wow, interesting.

Not only does it show how receptive the newspaper can be, but also who's doing the complaining. If you don't mind me saying, that's a pretty uninspired list of comics in that final list. I wouldn't want to read any of those comics.

I doubt they got a complaint from anyone under 40.

I agree... And the newspaper editor can only blame themselves.

[pdguy]

When the paper called last week to tell me I was being dropped, we briefly discussed how continuously changing to make old readers happy is helping to drive newspapers into the grave. He said that every attempt to getting younger readers has failed so they will continue to cater to the 40-65 year old target audience. What surprised me was the reason: it wasn't timeliness of news or reading on a monitor, it was that younger readers don't want to pay for infomation. Even 50 cents a day. It's more about giving people what they can't get anywhere else. The only way local papers can get or keep readers is to focus on local news, not to continuously regurgitate news off the AP wire like they do. That stuff anyone can get for free, and 23 hours sooner than the paper comes out. Course, no one will actually DO that, but that's proabably the only way to revive the industry.

[Mickel]

I agree its the baby boomers keeping the papers alive. And that audience is comfortable with the list of comics the paper decided to bring back. These people are retiring and trying to enjoy the rest of their lives and change typically is not something they do very well.

I agree the internet will kill newspapers with the next generation. It is not so much the cost for me, as much as I know I can get the most update news NOW. I "look" through about 7 papers a day online. I look at so many because they I am looking for the local news and sports from each one like pdguy said. But I am impatient and I know I can get the news when I want it. I have purchased fewer magazines for this reason also, they are all old news before the ink dries.

[Mike Sieber]

I think what will eventually happen is that the government will bail out the newspapers and eventually end up owning them. This will be great news for the papers because they'll have access to virtually unlimited tax dollars. However, I'm not really comfortable with the government controlling the media. I think we've all seen the consequences of that before.

[sethandbuddy]

What surprised me was the reason: it wasn't timeliness of news or reading on a monitor, it was that younger readers don't want to pay for infomation. Even 50 cents a day.

That's a really good but also scary point.  I personally believe this is the hardest obstacle for the comic strip to overcome.  People today, especially around my generation and younger, do not like paying for things.  It's a generation of free loaders.  This especially applies to entertainment, and considering the accessibility of such, it tends to be the first to go to such a generation.  It's not just comics - the software and music industries have been hit by it, too.  And obviously, considering where the economy is right now, I don't see things getting better in that arena particularly soon. 

It's a hard time for comics.  But I think there's still a future there.  I agree that papers will probably die off in the sense we think of them today, but I still think that there is a place for them online.  I'm not totally sure what the solution is - but I feel confident that newspapers offer something that people would miss if it were totally gone.  Perhaps journalists will go on strike one day.  Maybe that's what cartoonists need to do.   

[Pine Tree Assoc.]

As part of "Generation Y," I can confirm that there is general sentiment that paying for things like information or music is not necessary in this Internet age where nearly everything is at your fingertips.
But I myself disagree with that sentiment.  I have never illegally downloaded any music, and I subscribe to three newspapers. I am especially interested in preserving newspapers, for a variety of reasons, not all of which are comics-related. I suppose this is an unusual feeling in my generation, which is very disturbing to me, actually.

Also, I myself would be outraged by the comics lineup they originally switched to.  An all TMS-lineup is mind-bogglingly awful; I hate to say it but there is very little good material that TMS is syndicating at the moment ("Brewster Rockit" being the only exception I can think of off the top of my head).