Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

(thanks to Shannon Rudolph for the pointer to the Huffington Post article)

I first read a copy of the Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) at a table piled with foreign newspapers at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan some time in the ‘70s or ‘80s. Among the major international newspapers like Le Monde and the Manchester Guardian were a few local US papers that somehow got added to the heap.

Nearby was the room with manual typewriters up-ended so reporters had some table space. No computers yet. To write, pull down the keyboard, stick in two pages separated by a carbon, and type away. We associate members were not allowed inside, as I recall, but we could read all the world’s newspapers there and check out the wire teletype.

The Rocky Mountain News, Colorado's oldest newspaper and a Denver fixture since 1859, will publish its last edition Friday. [Huffington Post, 2/26,2009]

Friday… that’s tomorrow.

The manual typewriters are certainly gone (?). I have no idea if there are any actual foreign newspapers on the table at the FCCJ, they might just read papers on the Internet as you and I do. I haven’t been back in too many years, I’m just guessing.

One day there may not be very many newspapers anyway, anywhere, though I think the FCCJ will continue to prosper. It was and is unique in the world of journalism. After we left, they put in what I understand is a world-class sushi restaurant. It was the place to talk with foreign journalists, their families, and spies. Everyone exchanged information and also tips about the best places to visit in Japan or what’s hot if you are headed to Munich, for example.

Yes, decent facilities for journalists. That’s a radical idea even today. Bloggers don’t know what they’ve missed.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 2/26/2009 12:45:00 PM