Several years ago news viewers started hearing about their local stations newspaper exchange partners. Some people wondered why certain stations chose certain newspapers to align themselves, and why ALL local stations now seem to have one partner or several. Newspapers are hurting terribly in recent years. Weekly circulation is down almost 5 %. While the number or web viewers is on the rise, making money off of those viewers is proving difficult for newspapers and news stations alike. So why join forces in what seems to be a more competitive market for your viewership? The reason is quite simple: money.The majority of news is originated and gathered by newspaper reporters. That fact hasn't changed much over the years. Add to that fact that newspapers and news stations alike are cutting staff to save money.....and partnerships (where a tv station pays a local paper for their information) makes sense.
Every market has a dominating tv station and a dominating newspaper. When the two align forces to bring you your news, it can be devastating to the other competitors. Don't be surprised in the next decade or two if you see these types of partnerships pushing the rest of competition out of the market completely, leaving just one set of news gatherers to bring you the news. Do you run the risk of news bias that way? ABSOLUTELY! But when the bottom line is staring them in the face do you really think the bosses care about something as small as fairness in news? Come on....be honest now!
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