When I opened my browser last week and the Seattle Times (my home page) loaded, I was drawn - not to the story about the mass flooding in Western Washington or the jarring photo of destruction that accompanied it - but to the news of the P-I's impending closure. "Seattle P-I up for sale, but almost certainly it will fold, industry observers say." The headline didn't come as a surprise; the P-I has been in bad shape for almost as long as I can remember. Still, the news hit a lot closer to home than the other laundry list of closures. The orange P-I boxes were the representation of the paper business to me. As a kid, I recall asking my mom why there were two newspapers in one city (if there's one set of facts then there's one set of facts, right? Why don't they just put all the facts in one paper?) This, for me, was a lot of my initial understanding of the paper biz.
In addition to the closure/cuts/buyouts articles of late, there have been quite a few interesting analysis-based ones, as well. Particularly interesting was The Atlantic's "End Times". The article examines the potential that newspapers could fold (at least in their traditional "daily print" sense) much earlier than everyone has been estimating. Michael Hirschorn writes:
"But what if the old media dies much more quickly? What if a hurricane comes along and obliterates the dunes entirely? Specifically, what if The New York Times goes out of business—like, this May?"Hirschorn cites the paper's significant debt, existing cut-backs and the current state of the economy to back the supposition. He acknowledges the impressive implication of the end of Times - including the ritual of Sunday morning tangible-paper over coffee, but also the role of newspapers as a watchdog for politics and society overall. "Internet purists may maintain that the Web will throw up a new pro-am class of citizen journalists to fill the void, but for now, at least, there’s no online substitute for institutions that can marshal years of well-developed sourcing and reporting experience—not to mention the resources to, say, send journalists leapfrogging between Mumbai and Islamabad to decode the complexities of the India-Pakistan conflict," he writes. Still, the article maintains some semblance of optimism. These cuts and the creation of a web-only Times could mean focusing on the quality. Sure, the T magazine and wedding sections might disappear, but the paper could focus on their best writers and creating the best, most-focused product:
"Journalistic outlets will discover that the Web allows (okay, forces) them to concentrate on developing expertise in a narrower set of issues and interests, while helping journalists from other places and publications find new audiences."Still, what the article does not address, is what is going to happen to the small, community newspapers. When I think about the news (read: corruption) goldmine that is San Benito County, the prospect of no one covering that once the Free Lance inevitably folds is devastating - not only to my "journalists are an important part of a community" sensibilities, but to the community and its' tax dollars.
Monday's Fresh Air also focused on the future of print media. One interview was with Leonard Downie Jr., the former executive editor of the Washington Post and the other was with John Yemma, editor of the Christian Science Monitor, about their move to web-only content. (Thanks to Megan for pointing these interviews out to me.) I found myself frantically typing up notes as I listened to these two editors talk (embarrassingly, I'm not joking).
For me, the most interesting part of Downie's interview was when Terry Gross asked him about how he talks to journalist-hopefuls. Now that he's retired from the Washington Post, Downie plans to teach journalism. I have often wondered how my Santa Clara journalism professors encourage students, with the paper business looking more dire, even, than when I graduated. To the best of my quick-transcribe ability, here is how he responded:
This profession is a calling and it is so very important to the American people...and it’s not going to go away, it’s going to take different forms.. The work is very long, you have to be very dedicated to it, but it’s very rewarding and it’s worth sticking it out and joining this great adventure in figuring out how we’re going to present news in the future.
4 comments:
Oh Alice, we'll always have Inside San Benito.
First, your idea that items normally covered in newsprint would go totally unnoticed by the public if newspapers continue to die out really freaks me out. It is strange to think that there is so little support for a means of getting tangible information, when most people I know are very dramatic if they don't know about events, gossip, whathaveyou. Weirdly, this post also makes me think about how people get so up in arms about censorship. In times of yore, the idea that newspaper would go kaput seems more closely linked to the restrictions on content that news moguls or government officials had reasons for enforcing. But the idea that newspapers would just go away, with little concern over the loss of information and credibility, is devastating.
I dont know if you caught it but one thing that the Christian Science Monitor editor said reminded me of some stuff that you talked about when the Hollister Free Lance downsized... that the real loss in investigative journalism will be with local papers.... the national and international stories will be covered (by the Monitor, or the Times, or the Guardian or whoever) but the local stuff is what is in danger of falling through the cracks.
well, here's what this j prof does: when i get over the dismay at what's happening to the industry, i put on a happy face and bound into the classroom with two distinct missions in mind:
1. to teach the students the enduring values that underlie good journalism as a means, if nothing else, to get them to appreciate its purpose;
2. to convince them that, should they enter the field, they will be the architects of the news media of the future.
and then when class is over, i cross my fingers and go get coffee. bk
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