And yet there is a reality behind their business decisions:\u00a0 there are fewer and fewer newspaper subscribers, and most of those who subscribe do so simply out of inertia.\u00a0 Newspapers all over are losing money, even the vaunted Washington Post<\/em> which recently laid off large numbers of writers.<\/p>\n As a citizen attempting to do my civic duty of being informed about the world, it\u2019s frustrating.\u00a0 As a candidate, it\u2019s even worse.\u00a0 How do I, as a low-budget, grassroots local candidate for state rep, get my message out?\u00a0 How does anyone learn about candidates and make their decisions?\u00a0 I certainly talk to many people, and read the assertions of many more, who say that they \u201cdo their own research\u201d on candidates and they \u201cdon\u2019t let the negative campaign ads\u201d or, for local candidates, negative mailers, influence them.\u00a0 And the advice being given by \u201cexperts\u201d \u2014 whether it\u2019s true, or when it\u2019s being given out because it\u2019s the best available advice to grassroots candidates \u2014 is to knock on doors.\u00a0 \u201cKnock on doors,\u201d they say, because if you\u2019ve made a personal connection, that\u2019ll cause voters to be skeptical of the negative mailers that come their way later.<\/p>\n But times have changed.\u00a0 Phone banking used to involve talking to real voters.\u00a0 Now it means leaving endless voice mail messages on phone numbers compiled by large data companies rather than the phone company.\u00a0 And fewer and fewer people open up the door, with fewer stay-at-home-moms, and with more screening of doorbells through cameras, and more reluctance to\u00a0 open the door at a time when it\u2019s much less likely that it\u2019s a neighbor, or, really, anyone with anything worthwhile to say, and when there\u2019s much more fear that it\u2019s a criminal.<\/p>\n And how do people actually get their news?\u00a0 So far as I can tell, mostly from sources that confirm what they already believe, and for younger voters, not necessarily even from traditional news at all, but from podcasts like Joe Rogan, or from TikTok or YouTube content creators that have established their trust.<\/p>\n Heck, even Facebook isn\u2019t what it was.\u00a0 People used to share little bits and pieces of their lives.\u00a0 Now people use the \u201cgroups\u201d in Facebook \u2014 but even there, actual conversations are decreasing, and community groups are more likely to be a stream of ads or business pages promoting their services or shares of angry comments about national politics.\u00a0 I\u2019m told that people have shifted to watching reels, TikTok and other short videos rather than engaging with real people on social media.<\/p>\n And, again, you can\u2019t even hope that people will read the paper to learn about the issues, let alone that you can achieve the goal of \u201cearned media\u201d \u2014 of newspaper reporting about your events or the statements you make.\u00a0 The local suburban Daily Herald<\/em> has a policy: declared candidates for office cannot public an op-ed piece \u2014 but elected officials can do precisely that!\u00a0 The cards are stacked against challengers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a mess.\u00a0 Am I soldiering on and doing the best I can?\u00a0 You bet.\u00a0 But I sure wish that times were different.<\/p>\n For most of my adult life, I was a subscriber to the Chicago Tribune.\u00a0 That ended in November, or a couple months prior, depending on how you measure, since I cancelled but didn\u2019t demand a pro-rate refund for the prepaid portion, and it finally ran out in November.\u00a0 Funny thing is, though, that I can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":7901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,813],"class_list":["post-19396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-campaign-ads","tag-newspapers"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2017\/12\/800px-Brownsville_Herald_Newspaper.jpg\")