Newspaper's Today: Good and Bad News

"Newspapers are dying." This is a common comment among people in and outside the media world, it seems.

But to hear a 40-year newspaper veteran say it is something else.  That is why I asked Orangeburg Times and Democrat editor Lee Harter if I heard him correctly when he uttered those three words.  Then I asked him if I could quote him on that. And he said yes I could.

Lee Harter points out a feature of the large printing press

Harter gave his blunt assessment while showing my SC State Copy Editing students and me his paper's newsroom and huge Goss printing press.

The daily expense of turning out thousands of newspapers is evident when seeing the massive machinery that is required.  Huge round bundles of paper are all around and a big vat of ink sits to one side.

Therein lies the dilemma many newspapers face today.