Struggling to survive in a world saturated by the internet, newspapers across the country have been suffering the past few years, as ad revenue and readership fade. But the days following Obama's win have shown that people really do need the newspaper as a historical record of a monumental event.
The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times were all sold out by mid-morning on the day after Barack Obama was announced as the winner of the presidential election. Many papers went back to the presses, printing thousands more copies. The Washington Post planned to print 350,000 papers and then sell them for $1.50, triple the regular newsstand price. The Chicago Tribune will distribute an additional 200,000 copies.
Major papers across the nation also cited high viewerships online. The Times recorded 8.3 million page views, slightly above the high reached during the Southern California wildfires last year. The Washington Post toped it's past high of slightly more than 15.2 million views.
The Los Angeles Times has Lines Around the Block
The Los Angeles Times, which has suffered severe layoffs in the past few months, saw a day of amazing sales On November 5,. The Los Angeles Times printed 107,000 papers in addition to its weekday press run of 750,000, and sold some at retail outlets because copies were being pilfered from newsstands. At their downtown office, a line formed around the block with people waiting to buy the paper in bulk.
For the past two days, the line continues to expand. The LA Times is also selling a commemorative print plates, and copies of the front page on glossy paper. Many people are walking about with both plaques and dozen of newspapers.
A make-shift t-shirt and memorabilia stand has been set -up by an "entrepreneur" looking to make a buck off of the people waiting in line.
Selling for a Profit
EBay has been flooded by newspapers from November 5, some selling for as much as $75. While some seem to believe that these issues will be collector's items, Nicho Lowry, expert in paper collectibles and President of Swann Auction Gallery believes that these newspapers will not be collector's items as people may believe. He explains that other issues such as "Kennedy Assassinated" don't hold any real value today.
The Future of the Los Angeles Times
While this past week shows promise for the importance of the newspaper, there is still no telling what will happen to the print issues in the future. People still want to hold history in their hands, rather than viewing it on the computer screens, that much is true. But how the news can adjust the the access and availability of the internet is still a work in progress.
