(BLACK PR WIRE/FAMU-TALLAHASSEE) – With a new digital age where news can be accessed through a phone, the black and white dailies are losing readership and moving to the Internet. Some papers may have to make the tough decision of budget cuts and newspapers are feeling the crisis. The San Francisco Chronicle and the Rocky Mountain News in Colorado are two of many daily newspapers that are being sold as a result of the economic downfall. 

According to a January article in the New York Times, the Gannett Company furloughed over 30,000 employees in order to prevent lay-offs. “Being owned by Gannett, we are subject to the furlough program,” said Chris Lewis, general manager for the FSView. “Luckily, spring break was a great opportunity to take some time out of the office.” 

San Francisco serves as the 14th largest city in population; the San Francisco Chronicle is ranked the 12th largest newspaper in the country. “Newspapers have been losing ground with readers in the United States since the 1960s,” said Bob Gabordi, executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat. “There was a steady decline in both the number of newspapers and overall readership.” 

The Capital Outlook, a Tallahassee newspaper, has had to cut down expenses on their production costs, but has not lost any readers in the community. “Most of our readers are African-American, so our readership is steady, but with the economy on the decline, we have to increase our cost to pay for printing,” said Roosevelt Wilson, editor-in-chief of the Capital Outlook.