Excerpt of the Day: On Newspaper Devolution
Can’t help but think of the Cincinnati Enquirer as I read this three year-old piece from Dan Froomkin (HT Jill at Writes Like She Talks via e-mail):
I have a theory about why newspaper circulation is down. It’s not so much the Internet or demographics — at least not in and of themselves.
I think it’s at least in part because newspapers have failed to give readers evidence that reporters really know the community, least of all care about it. That used to be a given, decades ago.
Similarly, newspapers have failed to showcase how deeply knowledgeable and caring their reporters are about the issues they cover.
And in the absence of evidence of that sort of connection, readers feel free to drift away, either to ignorance or to commoditized news on the likes of Yahoo.
Many would decry this as the result of industry consolidation. But just because the businesses consolidated, it shouldn’t necessarily have followed that the local papers lost touch with their communities. But lost it they mostly have.
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UPDATE: In fact, many “reporters” seem to pride themselves on how detached they are, to the point of considering it an integral element of what they misguidedly see as their “integrity.” Geez, was Ernie Pyle less of a “reporter” in World War II because he clearly hoped that our side would win?
UPDATE 2, Sept. 3: Ed Driscoll points to “cosmopolitanism” and refers to a great related 2003 piece from Jonah Goldberg.
Great post, Tom.
They have lost touch. You might start by asking? How many reporters live in the community they cover? How many know a cop? The results could be astounding.
Comment by bill sloat — September 2, 2007 @ 7:25 pm
Hi Tom - good excerpt from the various articels.
Re- reading it here the way you’ve showcased this piece from Froomkin reminds me of the kind of epic tug of war in teaching: on the one hand, teachers are often instructed that, as professionals, they need to retain a certain distance from their students, that if they get too close, the kids won’t respect them won’t learn to see them as authority figures.
On the other hand, some people want to direct the teachers (and some teachers prefer this as well) to be closer to students, to get to know them more personally (without creeping them out of course) because it’s believed that that will foster a relationship in which the teacher and student will feel more vested in one another and that “being vested” will give rise to a student caring about how they perform and a teacher caring more about a student’s individual needs.
I’ve said this before - I’ve met and am happy to say that I know several PD reporters, and I always coming away feeling like - they are good, so good. And then, when I see the paper, it just doesn’t meet my expectations. I don’t doubt that they all care - but I don’t know why the product doesn’t match the heart and talent of what these journalists, writers, reporters can produce. Sometimes they do it, sometimes they don’t.
And, to be fair, the ground is shifting underneath them. What is fair to expect? They’re for-profit - they are in the business of figuring it out.
But none of us should fool ourselves into thinking it’s an easy job.
Comment by Jill — September 2, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
Cosmopolitanism And The Death Of The Community Newspaper…
Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog ponders whatever happened to what was supposed to be the newspapers’ “killer app”:Many would decry this as the result of industry consolidation. But just because the businesses consolidated, it shouldnÂ’t necessarily have fol…
Trackback by Ed Driscoll.com — September 3, 2007 @ 2:11 am
[…] Bizzy has similar thoughts and lays the blame on cosmopolitanism. Whatever it is, it’s been an expensive lesson to learn. Filed under: Blogging, media, Business by — Dave @ 9:45 am […]
Pingback by NixGuy.com » Journalism and Blogging — September 3, 2007 @ 9:45 am
Has anyone mentioned a leftist bias in so many local rags? I got so sick of reading supposedly objective reporting in the Cincinnati Enquirer during the elections of 2000 and 2004 and the Second District elections of June and August, 2005, and spring (I think it was) and November, 2006, that I terminated my subscription of many years. In addition, by the time I read about whatever in the paper, it’s already been reported in detail on various well-written blogs, such as Bizzyblog, I might add. So my conclusion is this, the printed news sources along with the TV network news “shows” aren’t keeping up and are headed toward the same fate as triceratops, the buggy whip and the muzzle loader.
Comment by Excelsior — September 3, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
It’s funny how neocon bloggers are always whining about print media–maybe it’s because none of you could actually write for a real newspaper. “Oh no! *snivel* we can’t control and close the forums so we always get the last word!”
Comment by Tammy Obeidallah — September 3, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
#5, the fallback position of an uninvolved journo is an easy knee-jerk liberalism. Witness the Enquirer.
#6, A belated welcome to the blogosphere, Tammy.
As to your comment: This post is anything but “whining†— it’s bemoaning how poorly readers are being served, and shaking one’s head in amazement as people running the papers, which are after all businesses, for the most part refuse to acknowledge or do anything about what’s causing their revenues and profits to contract.
The comment issue you refer to is two-fold:
- Comments need to be moderated or handled through a registration system because I want to keep profanity off the site.
- I close comments off at most posts over a week old to give comment spammers fewer targets to aim at. If you’re tripped up by that, e-mail directly. K?
Before and since the advent of the Net, print media routinely has used biased selection to decided whose letters to the editor get in, and whose don’t. They still do, in part to make sure they have the last word. But now there is an alternative.
One loose end — thought you’d want to know that the OIG report on the Ohio data theft earlier this year said on Pages 2 and 8 that the stolen data device was not encrypted. Google “ohio oig report on data theft†(without quotes) to find it. Your former editor was advised; I don’t know if he corrected your report or not.
As for that “not good enough for a newspaper thing,†I would suggest you stay tuned.
Hope all is going well in South Gate, CA (where your blog profile says you are).
Comment by TBlumer — September 3, 2007 @ 7:07 pm
#7 “…give comment spammers fewer targets to aim at.” *Never end a sentence in a preposition* …if you want that career in print media.
There were no follow-ups to my original report. The Darke County Job & Family Services had no more info to add. That agency was the topic of my report and all the info was quoted or pulled from their website. It’s called a local angle to a broader story. Besides, my former newspaper does not take dictation from out-of-town crackpots.
Things are great here in sunny South Gate, and I’ll guarantee it’s a lot more happening than Mason.
Comment by Tammy Obeidallah — September 12, 2007 @ 4:05 am
#8, thanks for that timely reminder (about the preposition).
Your former editor was quite cordial when we spoke about your reportorial error relating to the broader story just before the OIG report was released.
Comment by TBlumer — September 12, 2007 @ 5:12 am