Tigerdroppings' duty to Louisiana

This message is a dire request to Chicken.

As The Advocate and Times Picayune both die, your website will be left as the most important print media for the state of Louisiana. Most of what is posted on this website is mindless, disgusting, or simply entertaining. That's the nature of any online message board born in the 1990s or early 2000s. For whatever reason or reasons, TD rose while others fell to become the scion and leader in Louisiana print. It could be much more than it is.

Right now, as The Times Picayune/Advocate foolishly moves to make its internet print available only to those who pay for it, I hope the administration of TD is considering both its duty to Louisiana and an opportunity to avoid becoming the next dinosaur that rested on its laurels.

You have become wealthy largely from the words others have freely given and written, your users. You have moved past other LSU message boards, and somehow, past the storied Times Picayune. Could you imagine this just 16 years ago? Continue as is, as professional press dies out, and your boards become dry and barren. The stream of professional press stories feeds and ripens your message boards. What happens when that stream is gone?

Soon, Louisiana will be without a true newspaper of public record. I urge you, Chicken, to ponder or at least consider TD's role in this process and TD's duty to the people of Louisiana.

Democracy requires a free and professional press corps. With the impending bankruptcy of the TP/Advocate, what becomes of Louisiana's future? Who will be a fair watch guard for government and industry? It will not be TV or radio media with their 30 second attention spans and focus on reporters whose smarts and skills are secondary to their voices and looks.

Someone will fill the vacuum. No one knows what it will look like. Will TD become the vanguard again? I pray TD will consider its duty to the people who made it powerful and wealthy. Duty, not the inevitable wealth that will follow, I hope will be your motivation in ensuring free press continue in Louisiana.

I propose that TD look into the possibility of hiring the best reporters and columnists from the TP/Advocate and start its own online paper. Load up on the best and your fields will flourish with a harvest far greater than those paltry seeds.