There’s no denying it, the ink is drying for the last time on many print publications as you read this. There are different opinions about the cause, but we’re definitely seeing a large number of print publications close their doors – and their pages.

This unfortunate trend has recently been very noticeable in cities that boast two newspapers. In late 2007, the print version of the Cincinnati Post closed after 126 years. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado just closed in 2009 after 150 years and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 146 years-old, just last week announced its decision to go Web-only.

Other papers may not yet be closed, but are still in jeopardy. The San Francisco Chronicle announced a possible closing in February but is now looking for voluntary buyouts to improve the situation. Chicago, which at one time had 11 daily newspapers, is down to two – both of which are feeling the pain of declining revenue and circulation.

It’s not just the newspapers with competitors in the same city either. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism expects several newspapers to fail and numerous others to cease seven-day home delivery in 2009, according to a recent PR Week article. The article also reveals Pew’s recent data showing that while newspapers collectively take in about $38 billion in revenue, those revenues have dropped 23 percent in the past two years.

Naturally, the BLASTmedia team is sad to see the editors with whom we work leave their respective media outlets. It’s an adjustment on our end to have high-profile outlets close, but many, like the Post-Intelligencer, are planning to keep an online presence. Several newspapers are already heavily involved with social media such as Twitter. The New York Times, the Orlando Sentinel, the Oregonian and our own local paper, the Indianapolis Star all tweet the news regularly.

At BLAST, we actively engage our clients in social media and help them gain a presence in that growing medium. If your current agency is not guiding you through the social media circuit, give us a call – we guarantee we can let more consumers know about you and your latest innovation.

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