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I want to tell you a simple story. All the money that used to go to journalists goes to Facebook and Google. That’s my story.

If you agree to donate to The Manchester Mirror, we can continue to work to keep this community informed and together.

You can set up a monthly donation here: https://www.patreon.com/themanchestermirror

Or you can mail us a check at:

PO Box 696

Manchester, Michigan 48158

Now, you may be like, “Hold on, explain yourself.”

So here is the slightly longer version of this story. Newspapers used to make money from advertising. Advertising works because lots of people read the paper, and advertisers want to communicate with all those people.

(Subscriptions have never really generated much money for newspapers; they’ve only made it easier for more people to read the paper, which makes advertisers happy. Currently, The Manchester Mirror runs our subscriptions service at exactly break even.)

Unfortunately for newspapers, the Google and Facebook are better at connecting with people than newspapers. And because of technology, can offer a better price, and a more effective return on investment, for advertisers. (Now, I do think local advertising still works in a local paper…and we are VERY grateful for our local advertisers, but that’s beside my current point.)

You might then say, “Well, free market, etc etc. FaceGoogle has invented a better mousetrap, so newspapers will die. So what?”

And generally, I would agree. Cars really did a number on the Horse and Buggy Industry.

Except journalists are one of the few Constitutional actors not employed by the government. Journalists and Pastors are right there in the First Amendment. Democracy kind of needs them. You can check out this article, written by a journalist, about all the bad stuff that happens when journalists abandon your town. One of the big ones is that, without someone watching, local government spending tends to go up unnecessarily.

So, we’re necessary. Hopefully you have found the presence of a newspaper better than the absence. And hopefully you think WE are good stewards of this responsibility.

But the problem is, without advertising, we can’t afford to do it forever. And as I said above, all the advertising money is being gobbled up by TWO global companies. Below I want to show you four charts that prove my point. First, notice that advertising spending in the United States continues to climb. The money is out there, and it is growing. But second, check out how much the share of advertising dollars going to Newspapers (and Magazines, and Radio) have SHRUNK over the same time. While at the same time, the share going to digital companies like Facebook and Google has exploded. Then, just to rub the salt in the wound, watch the sad and precipitous decline of revenue going to newspapers. And finally, look at the decline in actual paid journalists.

I want to tell you a simple story. All the money that used to go to journalists goes to Facebook and Google. That’s my story.

If you agree to donate to The Manchester Mirror, we can continue to work to keep this community informed and together.

You can set up a monthly donation here: https://www.patreon.com/themanchestermirror

Or you can mail us a check at:

PO Box 696

Manchester, Michigan 48158

We can keep a paper alive and active in Manchester.

If you buy an ad. Or donate some cash. Or commit to a small monthly donation.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Fritz Swanson

Fritz Swanson has written for The Believer, the Christian Science Monitor, Print Magazine, McSweeney's, Esopus, LSA Magazine, and The Mid-American Review. He serves as a trustee on the Manchester District Library Board. He's the designer and publisher of The Manchester Mirror.

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