Posts on Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson's blog on the future of the Trinity Mirror-owned paper is overwhelmingly against it turning into a morning title printed overnight.
Opponents to the change - one proposal being considered by Trinity to cut losses at its Midlands centre - include four of the city's MPs.
Many of the posts note that the move would benefit the Wolverhampton Express & Star which carries on the day news.
Here is a sample of some of the posts:
Mike Olley: "The question do you want the Bham Mail as a live paper or an overnight is a bit like asking do you want a stale cream cake or a fresh one. Another question that I suspect could be asked in a short while could be “would you buy a stale Mail or the Express and Star.” No brainer…"
Martin Stote: "With the internet, broadcasting media and on-line news creating a rolling 24 hour a day supply of information, deciding to print an evening newspaper the night before can only accelerate decline. You take away its very reason for existence, its contemporaneity."
Anonymous: "Going to overnight production would surely reduce sales.Why would people bother to buy a newspaper containing 'news' already well-covered by other media? I can see the Express and Star's banner and promotion theme now, 'Today's news today'."
Martin Stote: "With the internet, broadcasting media and on-line news creating a rolling 24 hour a day supply of information, deciding to print an evening newspaper the night before can only accelerate decline. You take away its very reason for existence, its contemporaneity."
Anonymous: "Going to overnight production would surely reduce sales.Why would people bother to buy a newspaper containing 'news' already well-covered by other media? I can see the Express and Star's banner and promotion theme now, 'Today's news today'."
Paula Young: "Of course it's a no brainer. Management at the Express and Star must be rubbing their hands together with glee & praying the Mail goes overnight. You only have to look at the circulation of the existing morning paper to know that people don't rate 'yesterday's news'."
Richard Burden MP: "A city as important as Birmingham needs a daily paper. And it needs one that reports today's news, not just yesterday's. That is why the Mail should stay live.
But willing the ends also requires us to will the means. David Bailey is right about the importance of advertising income to papers like the Mail and aboout the role which the public sector can play. Birmingham City Council should indeed look at advertising its jobs more extensively in the Mail rather than spending so much on its promotional Forward free sheet. By helping to secure the future of the Mail, the Council would be backing Birmingham.
Keeping the Mail live also requires commitment from Trinity Mirror. I urge them to make that commitment."
But willing the ends also requires us to will the means. David Bailey is right about the importance of advertising income to papers like the Mail and aboout the role which the public sector can play. Birmingham City Council should indeed look at advertising its jobs more extensively in the Mail rather than spending so much on its promotional Forward free sheet. By helping to secure the future of the Mail, the Council would be backing Birmingham.
Keeping the Mail live also requires commitment from Trinity Mirror. I urge them to make that commitment."
John Hemming MP: "It would clearly be a commercial mistake to take the Birmingham Mail overnight as it would then lose one of its marketing advantages.
It is important to take the actions to maintain the history of the Birmingham Evening Mail, but this step would not be one likely to achieve that. Even if in the short term there are financial advantages, the long term outcome would be counter-productive."
It is important to take the actions to maintain the history of the Birmingham Evening Mail, but this step would not be one likely to achieve that. Even if in the short term there are financial advantages, the long term outcome would be counter-productive."
Siôn Simon MP: "As the Minister for Creative Industries, I have Ministerial responsibility for publishing and news. As such, it wouldn't normally be the done thing for me to comment on this kind of question. As a Birmingham MP, though, and as a Brummie and as a consumer, I feel that I have a right to express a view. In which latter capacity - and not my Ministerial one - it almost goes without saying that I support the general wish to keep the Mail as an evening paper for the city. It is a part of our cultural heritage which it would be a great shame to lose. I share the general hope that Trinity Mirror bosses can find the needed savings elsewhere. Whatever happens, though - whether the paper remains an evening or becomes a morning one - it seems to me that redoubled investment in the online platform will be crucial to its future success."
Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Minister for Birmingham: "The Birmingham Mail and its sister paper the Birmingham Post are vital to our city and the thousands of people who rely on them every day for their news. Local newspapers such as the Mail allow people to stay connected with their communities and give them a voice at a time when they may otherwise not be heard. And I think that any moves to turn the Mail from a "live" newspaper into an "overnight" newspaper would have a detrimental effect on that, especially in a world where people want their news “here and now”. The Mail is a part of our heritage and we must do all that we can to protect it."
Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves has argued on his blog in favour of the morning title going weekly.
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