Saturday 9 February 2008

A four-daily town

People who live in one-newspaper communities across North America are being deprived of quality news coverage that is generated by competition.

And then there is Toronto.

Newspaper readers in the GTA and beyond are the most pampered readers in North America, with a choice of four major daily newspapers, all filling the need to read.

The scope of the news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, auto and financial coverage in the four dailies leaves us giddy and feeling privileged. There is something for every appetite.

It would be a sad day for readers and journalism if Toronto lost any of its dailies, but you have to wonder how long the Globe, Post, Star and Sun can co-exist in the competitive market.

Pending quarterly ABC circulation figures for Toronto's print media should provide evidence of where the dailies are heading. Will the dip in the previous quarter be reversed, or will the downward trend in print media circulation figures continue?

Long live the four dailies and let's not take any of them for granted. As they say, you don't know what you've got until it's gone, i.e. the Toronto Telegram in 1971, the Montreal Star in 1979, the Ottawa Journal in 1980, the Winnipeg Tribune in 1980, the Washington Star in 1981, the Buffalo Courier-Express in 1982 etc.

No comments:

Post a Comment