The Times-Picayune in a Changing Media World - The Transformation of an American Newspaper (Hardcover)

In 2012-2013, one of the United States largest newspaper chains, Advance Publications, determined its main product was no longer newspapers but news, and switched from daily print publication of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans to three days a week, while upgrading its presence online ( Digital First ). More than 200 employees, including half the newsroom, were laid off in one of the poorest U.S. cities with among the lowest literacy rates and percentages of households with Internet access. The decision raised a furor in New Orleans. Alfred Lawrence Lorenz presents an historical overview of The Times-Picayune, from its 1837 founding through the present; Frank Durham describes the crucial role the dailies played in the 1960 school desegregation crisis; S.L. Alexander studies the impact of the switch on print coverage of hard news in the context of media developments, with the advent of The New Orleans Advocate resulting in a modern-day news war; Vicki Mayer presents a content analysis of specific print editions of The Times-Picayune and its digital formats conducted before and after the switch and its possible effects on quantity and quality of news coverage. As suggested by C.W. Anderson in the Introduction, this book is instructive for all concerned with what the transformation might portend for the news profession and for the traditional role of the press in the digital age."