About 'Know Newspapers'

This blog was founded by TJ Sullivan to promote the Web blackout petition launched Feb. 06, 2009, in an effort to raise awareness nationwide about the importance of newspapers to both the communities they serve and to American democracy.

Know Newspapers is an advertisement-free site and all contributors are volunteers.

This is not an effort to maintain newsprint as a news delivery method.

Clearly the future of newspapers is online, which is why it's more important than ever to educate people about what they stand to lose if many more newspapers are allowed to close.

If commentary in the Blogosphere is any indication, consumers are largely unaware that the bulk of the news they access online, or on TV, or over the radio is a follow-up, a regurgitation, or an uncredited copy of news first reported by newspaper journalists. Likewise, many readers appear to misunderstand the critical importance of newspapers in democracy.

It's a mistake to let more American newspapers close without doing all we can to help the public better understand what's at stake, and to encourage them to join the pursuit of a solution.

People need to know about the source. They need to get to know newspapers.

For more information, please view the site's FAQ.

— TJ Sullivan

---

AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU to Will Sweat and Geoff Bilau for donating their artistic talents to aid in the development of this blog. Geoff Bilau conceived the "Know Newspapers" title, and designed the "Know Newspapers" graphic. Will Sweat created both rectangular "No News" graphic used on this blog and elsewhere to promote the petition.

---

*** Sign The Petition ***

---