The View from the Meadow
Observations of the Passing Scene

Political and Social Commentary by Dave Satre

All the News That’s Fit to Print
Are Conglomerates Ruining the Nation’s Newspapers?

As a long-term subscriber and habitual reader of newspapers who is seriously considering canceling his subscription, I feel compelled to comment on the future of newspapers.

Newspapers should be run by news people – not corporate bean counters. They provide an extremely important service by providing information that is absolutely essential for a functioning democracy. This service should be the primary focus of the organization --- not increasing corporate profits and salaries for top managers or raising stock values every quarter like all of today’s corporations. Unfortunately, this has become the focus as conglomerates gobble up all of America’s media outlets.

Newspapers are failing because they no longer provide the basic services traditional readers expect.

We readers are not interested in a controlled corporate attitude that only tells one side of the story in an effort to manipulate the opinions of Americans. This country has thrived on the ability to know the truth and will not survive on a diet of controlled propaganda, which seems to be where the nation’s media sources are going. While profit is a reasonable and necessary aspect of any commercial organization, stock price should not be the primary consideration of a newspaper, much less the main focus of the entire organization.

Newspapers should not be privately owned nor controlled by conglomerates. They need to operate independently and serve their local community --- not the corporate managers and stock holders. Most papers still make plenty of money, but apparently not enough to match corporate greed.

A recent documentary dealt with the takeover of the L.A. Times by a conglomerate. Part of the story focused on a potential buyer for the newspaper who pointed out he would be more than happy to settle for the current profit levels. He would also have been happy to leave the production of the newspaper in the hands of dedicated, professional journalists.

The corporate takeovers focus immediately on reducing costs, which primarily means firing reporters. The managers believe corporate pools that deliver the same stories to all of the organization’s papers are more cost efficient.

The most important function for any local paper is the reporting of local news --- something you can’t get from a corporate pool. National news is widely available from a wide variety of sources, including the radio and television networks, online services that bring the news right to the reader’s desk, cell phones, iPods and numerous new technologies that are being introduced almost daily.

Traditional newspaper readers like to relax and read in comfort, not at a desk and on a computer screen. They prefer to enjoy a cup of coffee, fold their paper and have breakfast while catching up on what’s going on in the world. If the local newspaper no longer suffices, they will simply switch to other technologies.

But, most of these technologies don’t pay for reporters. The only reporters left are employed by newspapers and some surviving national magazines. And their numbers are rapidly diminishing.

Professional, balanced reporting should be the primary focus. Both sides of important issues should always be presented. Believability is important. Readers cannot learn the truth by reading controlled news. Unbalanced reporting, like that emanating from the Murdoch media is little more than propaganda.

Today’s readers also want to immediately know what’s in the article in order to decide whether it’s worth reading. They haven’t got the time to read the whole newspaper. They need quick access to information in a simple, clear, writing style.

Topics discussed in a newspaper article should be in the lead paragraph and presented in the inverted pyramid style, in which the main topics are introduced. As a personal matter of policy, I never make the jump to a second page in the middle of a story if the writer doesn’t get to the point before the jump. Why bother?

And I’m not interested in the reporter – just the story. I don’t read flowery, run-on artistic narratives in a writing style more appropriate for novels. I really don’t care about the reporter’s beliefs or life experiences. I’m reading the paper to learn the facts. Opening paragraphs that don’t get to the essence of the story until the second page are not going to connect with me. I want the truth and a balanced presentation of opposing view.

My complaints concerning the current state of my local newspaper include a huge disappointment with the new front page policy. It is generally wasted on a large photo, a human interest story and very few articles with actual news. I’m also concerned that the back pages of all the sections are now devoted to advertising. I know that advertising pays the bills, but the back pages could be put to much better use in a newspaper. The advertising also fills the recycle bin. I rarely read the ads. The first thing I do is go through the paper, find the comics and throw away the advertising. If I could obtain a newspaper without all the excess bulk of the advertising, I probably wouldn’t have to haul my recycling bin out to the curb every week. I’m also concerned with today’s newspapers’ focus on teenagers. Why? Oh, I know, they seem to have all the available spending money and they must be important as consumers to the advertisers, but today’s teens don’t read newspapers. They lack the attention span. The focus should be on older subscribers, people who are seeking information and are used to reading newspapers. Today’s newspaper prices are too high and subscribers are receiving a lot less for their money. There are far fewer pages in my daily newspaper than in the past. The Sunday paper is a rip off. The comics are the only value-add for the Sunday edition. People who are not interested in ads are actually paying more for less. Stripped of the excess advertising, the Sunday paper is actually smaller than most days -- with the possible exception of Mondays. My local newspaper also seems to be playing games with its readers by hiding the comics section. It’s not just that you have to go through piles of advertising to find the Sunday comics, they are shifted all around the paper during the week. Is the game really to hide them so that readers will have to go through the advertisements to find them?

Among the earliest cost-cutting measures by the local paper was the cancellation of its editorial cartoons. I have noticed a somewhat encouraging trend with the return of editorial cartoons in the paper, but more are needed.

Some rethinking of the possibilities for all newspapers is necessary. The market is definitely changing and other technologies are competing with new ways to distribute the news.

It is important to maintain the newspaper format. It provides a widely distributable source of information, requires no electric power to read and offers the freedom to roam. This makes the news readable on a bus, the light rail, in a café or on a park bench, or in your office …

Perhaps some innovative approaches could prove effective, such as offering readers a lower price for newspapers without advertising. Or perhaps the papers could be distributed for free, but including the ads. Let the advertisers pay the production costs. This policy should result in a much larger readership, which would improve the value of the advertising.

A newspaper’s goal should be to get good reporters out into the community in order to produce a valuable product. Look for the good news -- not just sensational trash. Pass on important information to the society. Present balanced views representing all cultures, neighborhoods and districts -- not just business and political issues. Adhere to a policy of multiple Verifiable Resources for All Stories.

And present news in the most readable style possible. Be concise and to the point. Get ideas across as quickly as possible -- no rambling. Think in terms of a web page design with a readable format. Short paragraphs. Tight sentences. Effective use of white space and with links to other sites and pages for additional information.

Provide useful information. There will always be a demand for it in a civilized society.

Dave Satre
November 7, 2007