Local TV more threatened than newspapers

As financially troubled as many newspapers are these days, local television news could face a tougher future as newspapers and their larger staffs provide more video via the Web, said Len Downie Jr, the former executive editor of The Washington Post. "I think there's just as good a chance of local television news disappearing as newspapers disappearing - and probably more of a chance actually." Downie called it ironic that the mainstream media are struggling financially because he said they are practicing better journalism and reaching more people than ever via the Internet. He said newspapers are becoming more entrepreneurial as they explore ways to make money with their content. The Post, for example, is delivering more news to handheld devices, including an experiment to send updated scores from certain high school football games to people's cell phones.