I am suffering from a fading industry.
The paper that you are holding in your hands is about to die. I don’t mean this paper. It’s the newspaper industry that is dying. Slowly here and there, you might not notice it. Or you notice it and don`t care. But I do. I am affected by it. That’s why I am writing this article.
I am currently an editor and journalist for a local newspaper here in Germany and it’s been four years now for me in these roles. Before that, I worked as a freelancer for different newspapers and magazines. When the opportunity arose to work as a fulltime editor I was thrilled. And I still am. This is the job of my dreams. This was the job of my dreams, I should say. Our newspaper still exists, it has the same name it’s had for the last 143 years: Neckarquelle (named after the river Neckar which has its source Quelle (spring) in Schwenningen, the town where the paper is published). Everything changed when the small family-owned publishing house that runs the newspaper decided to sell it to a larger publishing company.
In March we were informed that we had been sold. By July 1, 2024 we are closing out the editorial department. How fast it went! When I say we I mean the ten editors and journalists who are my colleagues. Some of them have been working for Neckarquelle for 30 years. I am the youngest; 40 years old and ten years of experience as a journalist.
I never wanted to be a journalist. I got into it while living in Whitehorse. Well, What’s Up Yukon is the reason I became a journalist. While living in Whitehorse I was invited to a barbecue organized by the staff at What’s Up Yukon and I was asked to write for them. It was as easy as that. From there I started working for papers in Germany. Since I was a child, I have loved to write stories. I found that the newspaper in Germany (and the Yukon) became a home for my stories.
Working at Neckarquelle felt like home. Years ago, a sculpture was placed in a local park in Schwenningen to honor the town and its newspaper. It shows a boy reading Neckarquelle close to the real Neckarquelle; the source of the river.
We are not the only dying newspapers in the world. In a town on another river, the same is happening: The Whitehorse Star has just closed its business after 124 years.
Fewer people read newspapers: According to Statista (German Statistics Website), newspaper sales are going down: 18.8 million newspapers were sold every day in 2011 in Germany. In 2023 it was 11 million issues per day. Sales went down at Neckarquelle too: our edition went down to 4,000 (we used to have 20,000 back in the 90s). During the pandemic, our publisher sold fewer classified ads and the business was suffering financially. We knew that the newspaper was not doing alright. But we still got paid very well with union wages and benefits. So, we stayed in our newspaper bubble while the rest of the publishing world was changing. I have to admit: We were rather old-fashioned. Our main focus lies on print and long stories. We were writing for our community. The new owners of Neckarquelle – a large publishing company that bought several small local newspapers in the past years – shook their heads in disbelief about our online paper. They have a different approach which is all about getting clicks and rankings online. Now it is all about writing shorter articles. According to the new publisher, readers don’t read long stories anymore.
By July 1, all the editors (except three) have to leave. I can stay, writing paid content for companies which are advertising in the newspaper with special issues. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but I am thankful that I can stay. At the same time, I am concerned for my colleagues: Will they get severance pay? They have been there for 20 to 30 years, have experienced the various changes in newspapers over the years and now all their work is worth…what?
When it comes to the newspaper industry the last word isn’t written or spoken yet. But one can sense where it is heading. Will there still be print issues in 10 years? Or even in 20 or 30 or even 50 years? Will there still be journalists researching and writing? For me the case is clear: I will keep writing. I am grateful that I got the chance to do it for newspapers for some time.
