I dig in and prove that some news organizations are using polls and polling results to shape public opinion rather than measure it.
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Sharyl is warm and forthright and a voice many of us can relate to from a time when reason and wisdom meant something.
Hi Sharyl,
I’m not sure you would think this is an investigative story. But for the past 10 years I have seen one company destroying small town news papers. I had worked for a news paper printer in Canandaigua, New York called Adnet Printing. This commercial printer was bought up by Gatehouse Media just before the 2008 crash. It then claimed chapter seven bankruptcy and sold its stock for pennies. And started another company called New Media, but kept the same name for printing news papers. As it acquired small news hometown papers it would close the presses down and consolidate these papers to print at the Canandaigua location in the middle of upstate NY. It closed several large printers such as the Utica press. And would continue to buy up new locations across the country while reducing staff and reporters. The subscriber complaints are that the local stories were not being reported and AP news was often published along with cooking recipes and car wash tips.
The companies claim was they wanted to go digital and all efforts were to get digital subscribers. This seems like a legitimate business model. The only problem I see, is that now they merged with Gannet and are the largest newspaper publisher in the country. They are now closing my building, the only major printer left in the area. We also print commercial work for college papers and local small town news outlets. But they do not want to print these little papers anymore. Gannet has been a strong newspaper in the Rochester NY area producing the Democrat and Chronicle. But I’m afraid this too will be closed in five years. Without local independent newspapers, I think we will be at the mercy of internet subscriptions and terrible censorship.
Now, I have worked for this printer for 30 years. I know Benjamin Franklin’s printing press will be obsolete some day. It smells fishy, when one company seeks to gobble up perfectly good presses and shut them down. It seems a competitive market will soon be monopolized. That can’t be good for America. Just wanted someone to see what I have been seeing for 10 years.
thank you I will put this on my list to try to check into