Decades ago, as I settled into my tiny apartment to start graduate school in Washington, D.C., I subscribed to the Washington Post â seven days a week for $5 a month.
Many years later, when I oversaw operations as a vice president of Madison Newspapers, I realized that my $5 perhaps had covered the costs of paper, ink, printing and delivery. And perhaps not. But the costs of producing all of that incredible journalism, well, that had to have been supported entirely by print advertising revenue.
That was then. Print advertising is now a fraction of what it once was.
I have shared that anecdote in speeches about economic challenges facing news organizations and how even historic local newspapers like the Cap Times need to adapt. And when Iâm not speaking about journalism economics I am likely talking about the assault on the professionâs integrity, epitomized by the popular use of âfake newsâ as a blanket descriptor for what is pejoratively called the â