"No Paper Today"

Can you imagine what would happen if an established, "Mainstream Media" daily newspaper were to put out a paper on Tuesday, then on Wednesday they just put the same paper out on the streets, with the new headline, "No Paper Today"? Under the headline, there would be a one or two-sentence explanation, saying something to the effect of "we're working on some interesting things" or "we're really busy with book-keeping, vacations and um, a couple of our editors have dentist appointments today," therefore there will be no paper today. "We'll be back tomorrow though. Unless tomorrow is a Saturday, in which case we'll be back in like three or four days."

There would be an outcry! People would say newspapers are dying! They're damned near dead! They're already in the grave, just bury them now!

But that doesn't happen with newspapers. Love or hate them, praise or decry them, there are at least four major newspapers in the Chicago area that are published every day, day in and day out, even on Sundays. Editors and reporters, no matter how sick they sometimes are, no matter how much stuff they are dealing with at home, no matter how much they may have drunk the night before, come in and get the job done and the next day there is a newspaper on your corner or at the newsstand at your office.

But what about bloggers, especially those who love to write on about how bloated and decrepit and behind the times newspapers are? These guys who say the future is in twittering, facebooking, "citizen journalisming" being "mobile journalists" etc.? What happens when one of these self-righteous folks goes to some "citizen journalist" conference or has a medical appointment, or can't find their pants in the morning (or afternoon or whenever they wake up and walk over to their "home office")? You know what happens? They say, "no reporting today" or their "news" section of their site will say "last updated 3 days ago" but their links to the grown-up media will still be up and they promise to be back "soon" with hard-hitting MSM criticism or earnest "reporting" on a Community Policing or Water Reclamation District meeting.  

A bunch of cowardly lions, these types are.