By now many of my local readers have heard that our daily newspaper, The Post-Standard, announced it no longer will publish and deliver a newspaper seven days a week. Instead, it will move to Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, with smaller, newsstand-only newspapers in between. It plans to focus its efforts online now.
I have been thinking about this news frequently since I first heard it. I am wondering what’s happening to my city. Can Syracuse still be called a city, if it no longer has a robust daily, printed newspaper? Already, I can see the demographic changes in the population of my hometown. There are many more older folks than ever before and fewer young people. The majority of these older folks are not even on computers, let alone iPads, Kindles and the like. What will they do for news? Turn to TV? Try to learn the computer?
Cities have many characteristics but in my mind, they include the following:
Diverse population – age, gender, race, etc.
Robust media
Education centers
Healthcare
Arts
Tourism
Syracuse has lost young people, experienced media consolidation and changes, seen merged hospitals and lost a symphony. In addition, it is experiencing deep economic woes in the form of fewer tax dollars and job loss. The housing market is struggling.
None of this is encouraging to me, a young person trying to make a life in her hometown.