In early February, the Rocky Mountain News announced its plans to reduce its stock listings to a single page. Business editor Rob Reueteman received a firestorm of complaints from long-time readers upset at the change. The majority of the complaints came via Ma Bell instead of AOL. It seems that most of the people frustrated with the change aren't big Internet users.
It's too bad too. The extensive stock listing is available online, but that doesn't help the folks who pay an annual subscription rate to receive this information the old fashioned way.
According to a story available on www.westword.com, the Rocky Mountain News received more than 150 complaint calls following the announcement. They also received about a dozen or so e-mails objecting to the reductions. Fifty four of those complaining canceled their subscriptions.
Although many readers are turning to the Internet as their primary source of news, an older generation hasn't and most likely won't adapt. Many of these readers have already adapted a great deal over the course of their lives. We're talking about a group of people who have made it from the outhouse to the .com. Is reducing the content they desire really necessary? If so, what's next to go?
As convergence continues between print newspapers and their online counterparts, maintaining loyal readers (translation: the ones who pay the bills) is essential.
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