A 208-year-old publication that farmers, gardeners and others keen to predict the weather have relied on for guidance will be publishing for the final time. Farmers' Almanac said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last, citing the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today's "chaotic media environment." Access to the online version will cease next month.
In the end, Disney did the right thing. Monday's decision to give Jimmy Kimmel his talk show back, less than a week after putting it on ice in the wake of government threats, was a rare bright spot in a year that has seen one major corporation or institution after another surrender to demands from the Trump White House and its acolytes.
I am no expert on the economics of news, but you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. The enterprise of news continues to face two intractable problems: the erosion of its business model, dependent upon print advertising; and the countless attempts by ideologues to undermine its credibility. As more people - especially a younger demographic - encounter the world on their phones, newspapers as objects are disappearing, along with many of the journalists who created them.