Jeremiah Foxwell admits he enjoys being lazy on Sundays, just kicking back and reading his newspaper. But that’s not necessarily why he started a new group on Facebook.com called “I commit to buy at least one newspaper a week.”
“I started this group the exact second after I listened to my girlfriend, Emily Badger, who is a journalist, rant and rave about real-estate mogul Sam Zell,” Foxwell said in a Facebook message to me.
In April 2007, Zell purchased the Tribune Co. – which includes the Chicago Tribune, other newspapers and operations, 23 television stations and the Chicago Cubs – in a heavily-financed deal. The business lost value and was unable to pay its bills.
So it recently filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws while it tries to reorganize. In its filing, the company listed $13 billion in debt and $7.6 billion in assets.
“I felt that it is a tragic state when the everyday news turns into a commodity instead of a public service,” said Foxwell, who grew up in Tallahassee and Wakulla County, but now lives in Atlanta. “I do believe that the news print arts can be saved, but it has to start at a grass-roots community level.”
I was among the first members of his group, alerted by Foxwell’s mother, Chris Duggan, executive director of the Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend. The group is growing rapidly as word spreads among journalists and others who love newspapers. It’s rather ironic, when you think about it: a viral marketing campaign in a digital setting to support print.
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