BSO: Paper Comeback?

I was intrigued by this announcement that appeared in the Springfield Republican yesterday. (click to enlarge)

For the last several years people have been talking about the Springfield Republican as if it were in an irreversible death spiral. Certainly that view was re-inforced last year when the paper went to a tabloid format twice a week, with many observers suggesting it was only a matter of time before all editions were done in the down-sized tabloid style. That of course would only be a prelude to one by one eliminating the daily editions until finally the presses were turned off for good.

But a funny thing has happened on the way to the graveyard - the newspaper got a pulse! Their announcement is sorta vague, and apparently they are still searching for ideas, but the Springfield Newspapers at least appear to have the confidence to expand back to full size in all editions starting in September.

The tabby style never really suited the Springfield Republican anyway. The paper's journalistic standards were too high to get as trashy as a true tabloid style requires, and it was embarrassing as the regions largest paper that they had been forced to cut back to the tabloid format when their smaller competitors The Hampshire Gazette and the Greenfield Recorder never did.

But perhaps their revival has more to do with the growing realization throughout the newspaper industry that, despite wrenching changes in the market, it will still be possible to make a buck off a printing press. Despite all the news to be found online, people still go to coffeeshops to read the paper, or enjoy it at the breakfast table or after dinner, and they appreciate the paper format's still unique advantage over the computer screen of being able to scan the information all at once without having to click and search all over the place. In other words, while the cocky kid The Internet is still destined to become the King of All Media, there apparently will still be a profitable place at the table after all for at least some of the lords of the old mainstream.

Wow look at this video of how some guys got their shit back from the Greenfield police all trashed.