Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 06, 2008 at 12:09:43:
Papers leave mark on historic election
Consistent with the notion that journalism is the first draft of history, President-elect Barack Obama's victory had people Wednesday eager to grab the first page, the front page, of the new chapter his historic achievement represents.
Newspapers in Chicago and elsewhere, already having upped their overnight press runs to meet traditional demand for post-election editions, had to print even more copies as it quickly became obvious desire was outpacing supply.
People weren't buying the news, already old on TV and Web. They wanted the paper.
They wanted something tangible, a keepsake. There's something about a front page that reinforces an event truly has happened.
Other media can't offer that combo of near-immediacy and near-permanence, despite CNN's bid to sell shirts with the image of its Election Night Web page.
So newspaper buyers across the country cleaned out stores, stands and honor boxes. Consumers choked the lobby of Chicago's Tribune Tower. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which tripled its normal single-copy output, eventually moved sales outdoors.
The Chicago Tribune, which normally would publish 670,000 copies, initially put out 690,000 heralding the Hyde Park Democrat's election. But as sales soared, the Tribune restarted its Freedom Center presses and kept them going for another 410,000 copies in hopes of keeping outlets stocked.
Becky Brubaker, the Tribune's vice president of operations, said the extra press runs are something the paper sometimes did as Bulls fans snapped up copies after titles.
But that was never on anything like this scale, suggesting that not even Air Jordan resonates as strongly as Air Force One.
The Chicago Sun-Times, which normally prints about 200,000 papers for single-copy sales, upped that number to 300,000. When that wasn't enough, it, too, moved to crank out at least 150,000 more.
Editor and Publisher reported USA Today increased its press run by some 500,000 copies. The Washington Post said it printed 350,000 copies of a special commemorative issue as hundreds of buyers lined up outside headquarters.
Others said to have restarted their presses for extra copies included The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Cincinnati Enquirer, Detroit Free Press and the Tribune's West Coast cousin, the Los Angeles Times.
A one-day surge in demand does not dissipate the challenges of receding readership and revenue that the newspaper industry faces.
But this should have reminded those who swept up copies that if the digital age relegates print to history, it will be sorely missed, especially on days seen as historic.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)