Butch McLarty, a London blogger, posted the following comments on TSF about London Free Press cutbacks and Paul Berton's editorial/opinion:
"Revenue and profit at the Quebecor-owned London Free Press remain robust, although both are down from previous years.
"It's impossible to ignore the ol' chicken or the egg question, since ongoing cutbacks leave the newspaper a mere shell of its former self, with no revenue being re-invested in the paper.
"You can milk a cow for only so long before realizing that the cow needs to eat as well.
"Quebecor is great at milking profits in the short-term, but in a few years they will have totally destroyed their newspaper assets.
"I can guarantee you that the late Walter J. Blackburn would be totally ashamed of what's happened to his once-proud and comprehensive newspaper.
"He'd also be embarrassed by what's happened to the staff morale, whereby people schlump into work every work day with the energy of a sleepwalking zombie, counting the days to retirement.
"I totally agree that this sad scenario is a very real threat to democracy.
"How can an uninformed electorate hold their civic/government officials, elected and non-elected, accountable?
"Regarding Paul Berton's column on the state of today's newspaper industry, he's muzzled by his corporate paymasters so he's beating around the bush not speaking his mind about what he knows to be true."
"It's impossible to ignore the ol' chicken or the egg question, since ongoing cutbacks leave the newspaper a mere shell of its former self, with no revenue being re-invested in the paper.
"You can milk a cow for only so long before realizing that the cow needs to eat as well.
"Quebecor is great at milking profits in the short-term, but in a few years they will have totally destroyed their newspaper assets.
"I can guarantee you that the late Walter J. Blackburn would be totally ashamed of what's happened to his once-proud and comprehensive newspaper.
"He'd also be embarrassed by what's happened to the staff morale, whereby people schlump into work every work day with the energy of a sleepwalking zombie, counting the days to retirement.
"I totally agree that this sad scenario is a very real threat to democracy.
"How can an uninformed electorate hold their civic/government officials, elected and non-elected, accountable?
"Regarding Paul Berton's column on the state of today's newspaper industry, he's muzzled by his corporate paymasters so he's beating around the bush not speaking his mind about what he knows to be true."
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