Will pump pain kill journalism?

[leo1]

look, soaring gas prices - especially if they keep soaring - will change our entire economy. as a result, it'll change society.

that said, in one way or another, the economy and society overall will adapt. things will change but high gas prices aren't going to put the entire working population out of work.

hybrids will become cheaper and more popular. we're already seeing fewer SUVs and trucks sold. alternative energy will suddenly no longer be a trendy, cute-sy thing that only your unshaven, hippie-wannabe cousin cares about. the electric car, a long running joke for decades, may become reality once someone figures out how to build a viable one. local governments outside of the top 10-15 major metro areas may wake up to the reality of public transportation.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

I know most papers have raised their mileage rates, but I'm wondering if carriers, as "independant contractors" have to eat the gas or can they deduct it as a business expense.

HA! Our shop's contract expired last month. We're still without a new one and mileage rate hasn't budge. I fired off an angry email to my union steward today.

 

[STLIrish]

And its not like gas stations advertise. About the only bright spot is the increased use of public transit, which must help readership.

Great point about public transit. Hadn't thought of that. But I still think papers are going to have to start letting reporters, even editors, telecommute a few days a week to keep the profession viable. If it still is.

I'm a bit confused. How does the commuting time/cost of reporters and editors have any bearing on the newspaper itself? Do you get reimbursed for driving to the office?
Telecommuting's all fine and good, but I don't see how papers will "have to let reporters and editors" telecommute to "keep the profession viable." If gas prices are that big a problem, they'll just tell you to live closer to the office, or they'll hire someone who will.
I could definitely see gas costs being a problem for delivery, and, to a lesser degree, for reporting-related travel (one thing's for sure, I'm a lot more vigilant about keeping track of my mileage these days). But having reporters work from home doesn't really solve either of those issues.

 

[Football_Bat]

We've basically been told by our publisher we (writers and photogs) cannot leave the county to cover anything.

That policy will last about two nanoseconds into football tab.

 

[steveu]

look, soaring gas prices - especially if they keep soaring - will change our entire economy. as a result, it'll change society.

that said, in one way or another, the economy and society overall will adapt. things will change but high gas prices aren't going to put the entire working population out of work.

hybrids will become cheaper and more popular. we're already seeing fewer SUVs and trucks sold. alternative energy will suddenly no longer be a trendy, cute-sy thing that only your unshaven, hippie-wannabe cousin cares about. the electric car, a long running joke for decades, may become reality once someone figures out how to build a viable one. local governments outside of the top 10-15 major metro areas may wake up to the reality of public transportation.

Agreed. I'm no tree-hugger by any means, but anyone can see the value of hybrid or "flex-fuel" vehicles. My next purchase will be one of those vehicles.

 

[BrianGriffin]

I wouldn't bother with "Flex-fuel" until the alternative is something other than ethanol, which doesn't sound like a viable alternative for the long run.

The hybrids are interesting though. My wife just bought a Corolla and we do most of our driving around in that. Nice to get 34 highway mpgs and about 25-26 in the city. Right now, it seems like the most useless vehicle to me is a mid-size or especially a full size car. Trucks don't give you gas mileage, but they do offer utility that some people need. And you need the fuel economy of the compact.

 

[STLIrish]

Right now, it seems like the most useless vehicle to me is a mid-size or especially a full size car. Trucks don't give you gas mileage, but they do offer utility that some people need. And you need the fuel economy of the compact.

Indeed. For all the death-of-the-SUV talk lately, I suspect sales of large sedans are falling even faster. My wife has a hand-me-down Crown Vic her parents gave her about six years ago. For us, it's about the most useless car imaginable, and she can't wait for it to kick the bucket so she can justify buying something smaller. Unfortunately, it shows no signs of slowing down. 125K miles and going strong.

 

[Football_Bat]

A hatchback-type thingy like a Honda Fit would be awesome, but I'm not impressed with their mileage. In fact, there's little out there in the non-hybrid category that impresses me. I'm not ready to trust hybrid technology and dropping 7 G's on a battery that goes kaput the moment warranty expires.

I hope there's a 1989 Chevy Sprint in mothballs somewhere. Those ****ing 3-bangers were awesome gas sippers.

 

[lono]

Right now, it seems like the most useless vehicle to me is a mid-size or especially a full size car. Trucks don't give you gas mileage, but they do offer utility that some people need. And you need the fuel economy of the compact.

Indeed. For all the death-of-the-SUV talk lately, I suspect sales of large sedans are falling even faster. My wife has a hand-me-down Crown Vic her parents gave her about six years ago. For us, it's about the most useless car imaginable, and she can't wait for it to kick the bucket so she can justify buying something smaller. Unfortunately, it shows no signs of slowing down. 125K miles and going strong.

There aren't many big sedans made anymore, period. The Crown Vic has been discontinued, GM downsized its big sedans years ago and Chrysler can't give away the 300 anymore.

 

[chazp]

The likes of Singleton and Zell are doing their part, to be sure. But if and when a newspaper's obituary is written (probably on a craigslist post), coroners may determine skyrocketting gas prices to be the ultimate cause of death.
Gas prices are killing the business on multiple fronts, draining already shrinking household incomes, and creating a trickle-up effect that hurts retailers who no longer can afford to advertise to the few remaining readers we have.
But for those of us living on barely subsistence wages (I'm guessing about 90 percent of us), $4.20 a gallon is creating major hardship. If you commute 40 miles to work - and many of us have travel further - five times a week, you're spending $400 a month in a car that averages 20 mpg. That's almost five grand a year, that you have to earn about $7,000 (pretax) to cover. If you have bridge/tunnel tolls, it's even worse.
Exacerbating the problem is reduced travel, that's ostensibly cut our salary.
There seems to be no relief in sight. $5 gas doesn't appear to be far off, and $10-12 in years to follow.
And considering the precarious state of our industry, I'm not sure this is the best time to be asking for a raise.
Only idea I can come up with is editors cutting us a little more slack, allowing us to telecommute.

Great points. Also, how about the people who handle the home delivery of the papers? Can they afford to do so once gas hits $5 a gallon? Can papers afford to pay them enough to keep home delivery alive? The horizon is not bright for our business. The end may come sooner than we think and gas prices could be a contributing factor.

 

[steveu]

A hatchback-type thingy like a Honda Fit would be awesome, but I'm not impressed with their mileage. In fact, there's little out there in the non-hybrid category that impresses me. I'm not ready to trust hybrid technology and dropping 7 G's on a battery that goes kaput the moment warranty expires.

I hope there's a 1989 Chevy Sprint in mothballs somewhere. Those ****ing 3-bangers were awesome gas sippers.

I wonder if Chrysler/Dodge regrets dropping the Neon about now? Those babies could really fly.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

My car's in the shop again, just for an oil change and tuneup — and to have the AC looked at.

It's nearly eight years old and has 135K miles on it.

I don't know WHAT to do. I want a Prius — and maybe two, eventually. But we're starting a family, and may need a minivan-type thing.

There is no denying I need to replace my car, probably by the beginning of 2009, but we're also shopping for a house for May 2009.

If I get something that's NOT a Prius, I can keep my car payments down significantly, because a) a Prius is about $5,000 more than regular cars and b) I assume the Big Three et al. will have blowout sales in the fall considering the economy and gas prices.

Life was much, much easier with $2/gallon gas.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

A hatchback-type thingy like a Honda Fit would be awesome, but I'm not impressed with their mileage. In fact, there's little out there in the non-hybrid category that impresses me. I'm not ready to trust hybrid technology and dropping 7 G's on a battery that goes kaput the moment warranty expires.

I hope there's a 1989 Chevy Sprint in mothballs somewhere. Those ****ing 3-bangers were awesome gas sippers.

I wonder if Chrysler/Dodge regrets dropping the Neon about now? Those babies could really fly.

The Caliber is its new "equivalent."

 

[BrianGriffin]

My car's in the shop again, just for an oil change and tuneup — and to have the AC looked at.

It's nearly eight years old and has 135K miles on it.

I don't know WHAT to do. I want a Prius — and maybe two, eventually. But we're starting a family, and may need a minivan-type thing.

There is no denying I need to replace my car, probably by the beginning of 2009, but we're also shopping for a house for May 2009.

If I get something that's NOT a Prius, I can keep my car payments down significantly, because a) a Prius is about $5,000 more than regular cars and b) I assume the Big Three et al. will have blowout sales in the fall considering the economy and gas prices.

Life was much, much easier with $2/gallon gas.

Will gas prices alter where you look for a house?

I've always been a person who has been about convenience. So my wife and I bought a house in our city's historic district, which is right by downtown and offers me a 10 minute (if that) commute to work and a 10 minute (if that) commute to the college I cover (in two directions). If I had followed my town's trend, I'd be in a subdivision that's 20-25 minutes from work. Every day, when traffic bottles up in that part of town, I'm experiencing little to no traffic to get to and from my home.

The point is, I'm glad I'm in town and not out in the burb.

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

My car's in the shop again, just for an oil change and tuneup — and to have the AC looked at.

It's nearly eight years old and has 135K miles on it.

I don't know WHAT to do. I want a Prius — and maybe two, eventually. But we're starting a family, and may need a minivan-type thing.

There is no denying I need to replace my car, probably by the beginning of 2009, but we're also shopping for a house for May 2009.

If I get something that's NOT a Prius, I can keep my car payments down significantly, because a) a Prius is about $5,000 more than regular cars and b) I assume the Big Three et al. will have blowout sales in the fall considering the economy and gas prices.

Life was much, much easier with $2/gallon gas.

Will gas prices alter where you look for a house?

I've always been a person who has been about convenience. So my wife and I bought a house in our city's historic district, which is right by downtown and offers me a 10 minute (if that) commute to work and a 10 minute (if that) commute to the college I cover (in two directions). If I had followed my town's trend, I'd be in a subdivision that's 20-25 minutes from work. Every day, when traffic bottles up in that part of town, I'm experiencing little to no traffic to get to and from my home.

The point is, I'm glad I'm in town and not out in the burb.

Yes. We're looking to buy within walking distance of my wife's bank and a HUGE supermarket. Plus, we travel (or used to anyway) to see both sets of parents/inlaws and where we're looking offers quick escape to major highways.

Basically, she's have one car for nights when I'm at work — for emergencies purposes only. And it would also be the "travel car" (i.e. minivan, whatever).

I's still need a car for work and covering my beats. I was thinking of the Prius for that.

 

[ScribePharisee]

Newspapers need to get in line behind about 10,000 other industries that are way more affected by the price of oil.

So, in all seriousness, why aren't we asking these serious questions at the highest levels of our economic structure? Are we too stupid to know that the termites on Wall Street are eating us alive and that most of the high-exposure media handling Wall Street are merely pawns in this game of destroy and conquer?

 

[sportshack06]

That's what we've been doing, consuming less gas. Yet, when "analysts" boast to the Associated Press how much they think oil is going to rise, it rises.

I boast that oil will fall to $10 tomorrow....

 

[WS]

That's what we've been doing, consuming less gas. Yet, when "analysts" boast to the Associated Press how much they think oil is going to rise, it rises.

I boast that oil will fall to $10 tomorrow....

And if so, prices would raise 10 cents

 

[Tarheel316]

It's interesting how some so-called "expert" predicts the price of a barrel of oil will go up. And then ... it does! Can anyone say market manipulation? Insider trading?

 

[StevieNicks]

My car's in the shop again, just for an oil change and tuneup — and to have the AC looked at.

It's nearly eight years old and has 135K miles on it.

I don't know WHAT to do. I want a Prius — and maybe two, eventually. But we're starting a family, and may need a minivan-type thing.

There is no denying I need to replace my car, probably by the beginning of 2009, but we're also shopping for a house for May 2009.

If I get something that's NOT a Prius, I can keep my car payments down significantly, because a) a Prius is about $5,000 more than regular cars and b) I assume the Big Three et al. will have blowout sales in the fall considering the economy and gas prices.

Life was much, much easier with $2/gallon gas.

Will gas prices alter where you look for a house?

I've always been a person who has been about convenience. So my wife and I bought a house in our city's historic district, which is right by downtown and offers me a 10 minute (if that) commute to work and a 10 minute (if that) commute to the college I cover (in two directions). If I had followed my town's trend, I'd be in a subdivision that's 20-25 minutes from work. Every day, when traffic bottles up in that part of town, I'm experiencing little to no traffic to get to and from my home.

The point is, I'm glad I'm in town and not out in the burb.

And don't forget, it's easier to score sweet, sweet smack in your area of town, too.