Newspapers and journalism in general have a lot to do with why people of all ages are turned off. We're getting less real news and almost no news that challenges or speaks to power. We witness a Fourth Estate that seems to have an entirely different set of values when dealing with Republican power than it did while dealing with Democratic power. And this writer, Farhad Manjoo, has not inspired confidence with his repeated dismissals of election questions by mathematicians and prognosticators who feel something is wrong with our system.

Having stated that, however, I must say that young people are more apathetic now than at any time I can remember. I can't help but think that a military draft would shock young people out of their stupor. I think it would be hard to say "whatever" if your classmates were being pulled out of class and stuck in the military without their consent. I hate saying "when I was young," but when I was young, young people were forced by military draft to take part in a political war of choice. Nobody would have even considered saying "whatever." We were angry. We took to the streets. Some of us were shot dead for protesting by Ohio National Guard members. That made us even angrier. We read the papers.

I couldn't agree more with the people who have taken the time to criticize the "dumbing down" of SALON. What once seemed the cutting edge of American journalism now reads like a blog about favorite TV shows, boring personal confessions, and a petulant--and inaccurate--tract against the right. Now, I'm as left as they come--honestly--but so many Salon articles of late are just semi-well-worded criticisms of this administration which are no more interesting or well-informed than regular office-cooler gossip. We keep hearing about the downfall of this administration, but these articles are so removed from reality that they remind me of Bush's MISSION ACCOMPLISHED campaign. We still have a long fight ahead.

And Garrison Keiller? Please. I was so happy when Christopher Hitchens took him down in Slate for his stale, unfunny, content-less, anti-French rant against BHL (who I agree can be incredibly annoying, but still deserves better than Keiller's small-minded, parochial NYTimes review). And his articles in SALON are equally embarrassing.

To make matters worse the movie reviews are sub-Ebert, and seem to champion middle-of-the-road flicks in the most knee-jerk of ways.

In short, SALON's decline is mirroring--with frightening clarity--all the problems of the left. Like the democrats and the left in general, it's time to sit down and think hard about the image you want to portray. Please be as self-critical as possible, and take me and other upset readers seriously. And then come back soon to represent and rejuvenate the best this country has to offer.

Respectfully,

Marc S. Silverberg

Well, then... There you go! You, Mr Mangoo, have answered your own question. I was always a pretty good newspaper reader but pretty much stuck to my San Francisco local rag - (heh,heh) what we used to call the Craminer/Exonicle. But now, with the internet, I'm reading The Guardian, The Independent, The Washington Post, The New York Times - and the list keeps growing. Hey Salon! It was you that recently turned me on the the english version of Der Spiegle, and now I'm reading that too. No doubt it's worrisome that newpapers are having difficulties bringing in the bucks; and hopefully there will be a reasonble resolution. But, dang! The internet has really opened me up to an incredible array of reading material, and has broadened me tremendously. Time to trash the paper - no?

Gawd! my spelling sucks!

Isnt it just a BIT self-serving for a webzine to be so critical of traditional newspapers?

Tabloid-esque headlines? Salon has had links to "Jacko" stories at the top of their homepage for two days in a row, with Jessica Simpson joining the fun today. And I never saw attempts to connect Cheney's 40 YEAR OLD dui arrests with current events in print. Oh, and none of my local papers have Personal ads except one buried deep in the classified section.

Layoffs? Salon hasnt had MAJOR layoffs? Salon wasnt knocking on the dot-com dead zones door a few years back? Layoffs are often a sign of increased efficiencies, and not a neccessarily a death knell

I love Salon, but this was a pretty weak article. Both papers that I read daily have slipped over the years, but most webzines have had big bumps in the road, too.

I started out as one of those apathetic drones. I never cared much for politics, news, current events, etc. I loved to read, but never cared for non-fiction. And I don't know what tipped me over the edge to give it a try, but one day I just decided that I was going to start reading the paper, and at least get some knowledge about the world around me. Cover to cover, every day. Reasonable cover-to-cover, that is. I didn't read ads, classifieds, all the comics, etc. But I did read every word of every article - local, state, national and international. And soon enough, I started to pay attention, and to actually care. I think that's what young people need - they need to decide to care. How do we do that? And if we can get them to care, then will it really matter whether they read it from physical wood-pulp paper or through the internet?

Meanwhile, here are some other points about my newspaper experience:

1. I think the SF Chronicle is a great newspaper. It's got lots of national and international news, but with good local coverage as well. They also print with ink that doesn't stain your fingers. Really! Also, in the editorial section every Sunday, on the Letters to the Editor page, there's a news quiz. Four to eight multiple choice questions. You can test your absorption of the week's news. If I don't score at least 2/3 correct, I know I haven't been paying close enough attention!

2. I am conflicted about the amount of trash that a paper newspaper generates. But I do recycle diligently, which makes me feel somewhat better.

3. There are things about newspapers today that seem to deliberately make it them hard to read and enjoy. For example, the width of the columns. Really, there's only room for a couple of words on each line. That's very hard to read for content. And when they squeeze in a head-shot picture to accompany the story, you're lucky to get a full word on the line, instead of a half-word. (Online newspapers that follow the same format of narrow columns are just as hard to read.) Maybe if they went back to fewer, wider columns, it wouldn't be so difficult to absorb the actual content. And another thing. I can't tell you how many times I've cussed at the paper for bad hyphenation. I've seen things like "jud-gment", "para-de" etc. countless times, not to mention splitting a word exactly where the story "continues on page 2". Anything that interrupts the flow of reading breaks your concentration, and that's gotta hurt the readership. If you don't make the reading enjoyable, it's akin to saying "I know it tastes bad, but it's good for you."

PS, I was young and single when I started my knowledge crusade. So I had an hour a day to read the whole thing. These days I don't read every word of every article. But I do still skim every page, every headline, and I do also check up on the news through Salon Wires, the Daily Show, etc. Anything to ensure I pass the "news quiz" each week!