“Good morning, good morning, Chicago Tribune, 75 cents!”

Keisha Coolidge repeats that phrase as people pass her on their way to work. She is peddling the Chicago Tribune from her spot on the corner of Van Buren and Michigan Avenues.

Coolidge is one of many Chicagoans who sell newspapers on the street in order to make a living.  According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, street peddling is in fact part of the city’s legacy, and has provided an important service to Chicago residents and continues to operate as an economic option for entrepreneurs.

From hot dog vendors to impromptu performances, people can find many things on Chicago streets. But for those who hawk newspapers to pay the bills, their reliance on selling what some experts say is a dying industry and product is a growing concern.

Coolidge, 23, is prepared for the worst.

“I’m looking for another job right now,” she said.

Coolidge and her colleague Jeremy Williams, who camps out two blocks north on Jackson Blvd. and Michigan Avenue, both get paid $10 an hour for each of their four hours of labor every morning.

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” said Williams, 23, who has been peddling papers for the last three months on his assigned corner. “You have to pay the bills to survive.”

A few blocks northeast of Williams, Gino Smith and James Smith are trying to sell copies of the competing Chicago Sun-Times. For Gino and James, the survival of print newspapers is equal to their own survival. They are both homeless and make commission off the number of papers they sell.

“These people go to work every day and buy papers and when they give us that (money) that’s our ticket to eat,” James said. “Being homeless and all, that’s our ticket to eat. I appreciate when they come and I appreciate when they sometimes give me the whole dollar and don’t wait for the quarter.”

After seven hours of street sales, from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m., the men sometimes only earn about $15. According to them, the weather often has an effect on their sales.

“When it is cold, people don’t like to dig in their pockets for the change,” James said.

But the cold isn’t the only reason the men have noticed a decline.

“The Sun-Times and the Tribune are both going down in sales,” said Gino.

In October 2009, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that the average weekday circulation at the Chicago Tribune fell 9.7 percent and the Chicago Sun-Times circulation dropped 12 percent from the same period the previous year. The article also revealed that U.S. papers suffered a 10.6 percent decline overall for the April to September time period.

Gino’s boss, Bob, has seen this change first-hand.

“There has definitely been a decline for sure,” he said.

Bob, who did not give his last name, spends his mornings delivering and picking up copies of the Sun-Times from his street vendors and recruiting new salesmen and women. In his six years in the business, Bob has noticed a decrease in the street sales of the newspapers.

“If it all goes online, I’ll lose my job and they’ll lose their jobs,” Bob said.

Bob said there are about 40 Sun-Times street vendors in the downtown Chicago area, half of which are homeless and others who spend time in mission houses.

Brendan Wolfe, a 23-year-old auto mechanic starts his day off at the Fullerton El stop passing out Red Eye newspapers to commuters.

“You know, if it all goes digital, which it already is, I think we’re all out of job,” he said.

This is Wolfe’s second job and uses the $10 an hour to supplement his income.

“I’ll just have to find something else,” he said.

For some, finding another job won’t be as easy. William Klee sells copies of StreetWise magazine outside Dominick’s on the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield avenues. Klee, who is homeless, spends eight hours a day in this spot, sometimes longer if there is a new issue out, in order to make money – but it’s still not enough.

“In line with today’s standards of life, no you don’t make enough,” Klee said. “You make just enough to keep you going from day to day. And hopefully someday you will find something that’s better.”

Klee, who has been peddling the paper for three years, said StreetWise is valuable more for what it’s meant to do.

“They’re going through a lot to help people have some type of income,” Klee added. “I’ve had times where I haven’t had any and that can be very depressing.”

Street newspaper sales might appear to e a novelty upon first glance or while passing by, but for people like Klee, it serves a purpose of not only providing some income, but also increased self-worth. It is their livelihood.

“This is good for people who are homeless or unemployed,” Klee said. “It gives them a chance to have something to do and to give them some income until they can find something better. It keeps them out of trouble.”

Because selling newspapers on the street does good things for those in need, Gino and James are confident that print newspapers and street vending will survive.

“If it does go all online, a lot of people aren’t going to do that,” James said. “A lot of people appreciate us being out here. That’s the God’s honest truth. We’re not shaking a cup, we’re not begging for money. We’re selling papers. At least we’re doing something. ”

Whether that day ever comes or not, you can find Williams on his corner no matter what.

“Rain, snow, thundering, hail, Monday through Friday, I’m out here,” he said. “You have to come out here and get the job done. I’ve got to survive. I’ve got responsibilities.”

To view a map of these newspaper vendors, visit our map.

Wolff has built his Newser business on the shoulders of traditional journalism.  If his business model is to summarize longer news stories for his readers, what will he do without any sources to summarize?  I believe there will always be a need for someone to do the heavy lifting and hard reporting in the journalism world, and Newser cannot exist without it. 

A recent Huffington Post article claims that of the 46 citations Wolff used in his writing last year, none of them were from personal reporting.  The essence of old school journalism is “hitting the streets” and exploring news beats and the need for that will never be diminished.  The recent drop in Newser visitors may prove that an aggregated news website is not the future of journalism and does not compare to traditional news sites like The New York Times, which is suing Newser over the use of their logo. 

While I do not agree with the idea that Newser will be responsible for the end of newspapers, I do believe with Wolff when he said that this site will be part of the new journalism model.  Wolff said the future will consist of a new business replacing an old business, with the old timers replaced by tech savvy new comers, i.e. bloggers, podcasters, etc.  In the CNBC interview, he claimed that essentially journalism will exist, but will be done more efficiently. 

As more and more newsrooms are turning to electronic media and content, they will begin to hire journalists who embody the idea of a backpack journalist, one who can efficiently tell a news story across a variety of media.  Time is of the essence when it comes to reporting in the digital era.  Because of this, Wolff is right when he insists that journalism will turn into a technology-driven industry. 

I just wouldn’t count on computers, or Newser, taking over the world–or the New York Times– just yet.

The website goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to the top law: interactivity. Websites like ESPN and People attempt to combine video along with their articles as part of their online content. However, FLYPmedia.com uses their space more efficiently and when it comes to leveraging digital assets. Nearly every page in the online magazine links to either audio or video (or both), which adds substance to the written story.

When a reader logs on to FLYPmedia.com, he or she is presented with a front page promise, which addresses a major issue of public concern. The current centerpiece story on the front page is about health care. This demonstrates Reilley’s law of public opinion, because it gives front page attention to a hot issue most readers care about. The video testimonials that begin this feature strike a chord with readers, because those people on the video are concerned citizens just like those individuals reading the story.

The stories on FLYPmedia.com most often link to other forms of media and allow the reader to explore stories in other ways. This multitude of options gives reader an opportunity to choose how much or how little of each story he or she wants to know.

These different media options also offer more of a personal experience for readers. For example, when a reader clicks to hear more audio, it sounds like the expert is speaking directly to the reader. This gives the reader more of an interactive and personal experience. You don’t have anyone reading to you when you read the Chicago Tribune online.

The few rules FLYPmedia.com seems to pass over are mapping and viraling through additional links. However, these additions might clutter the pages which are already very busy with audio, video and type.

FLYPmedia.com is a very impressive and interactive site, and perhaps just where online journalism is headed in the future.

This map of the robberies shows the cluster of incidents in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The economic recession has forced media to change, and like the revolutionary stylists who influence trends with their sketch pads, it is now time for journalists of the future to step in and help facilitate this change in media with their computers.

While journalists of the future will need to be savvy and leaders in this change, they will ultimately need to be versatile story tellers. They will need to combine their reporting skills with new media and technology while still holding fast to the true spirit and ethics of journalism.

As news organizations begin to integrate the blogosphere and other electronic media platforms, preserving the true spirit of journalism—truthful, accurate reporting of issues that affect the public—is essential to the future of this industry. If journalism is to survive this transplant, journalists need to carry over their ethics along with their story telling skills when they move to the World Wide Web. If not, they will never be able to distinguish themselves from every day bloggers.

One’s love for writing and the ability to do it well will no longer cut it in this ever-evolving world of technology. What will be very important now is that journalists begin to learn and love technology. Without hesitation, a journalist will need to creativity tell the same story across different mediums and to separate oneself from the next online publication.

Like seasonal fashion trends and electronic gadgets, online journalism will continue to face quarterly or bi-annual updates. Journalists of the future will be responsible for providing these fresh ideas in order for the industry to survive.