Two Views About Why Papers Are in a Slump

Why has newspaper readership dropped so heavily in two decades and, in my opinion, will continue to do so? Most newspapers have antagonized their older core readers, who in turn are turning off the next generation.

Some of the answers were knocked about in newspaper circles a few years and then forgotten. More people than ever question the balance in reporting. We have learned words like “spin” and sense it in what we read, the importance of its length and where it’s located.

We know that perhaps 80% of a paper’s reporters and columnists are of a single, uncompromising mind-set, which we can define a bit too easily: affirmative action, multiculturalism, women’s rights, anti-death penalty, anti-business, the environment at any expense, government solutions for all societal ills, heavy taxes and, above all, political correctness. And I assume that any overt deviation from the bulk of this platform will not be tolerated.

As a 20-year-old student, I was a third-generation, active communist. I embraced all such ideals and far more. I tagged The Times as reactionary.

As a 30-year-old father and professional, The Times suited me fine--an unquestioning liberal and very trendy, a real core reader and loyal subscriber. But then I realized that the rich were not going to pay for all my ideals.

Now I am only a casual reader. And The Times never fails to remind me that it has branded me the enemy: middle class, white, male, non-PC (politically correct) and, worst of all, a libertarian.

DAVID PAUL GREGG

Culver City