The sad state of affairs in the newspaper business

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

By Sabra Ayres

As the new editor of the Planet, I’ve been asked to write an editorial each week.
In my opinion, it’s the worst part of my job. Worse than hammering on my reporters to file on deadline and worse than taking phone calls from ticked off readers.
You see, I don’t think editors should be expressing their opinions in newspapers. I think editorial page editors should do that. And I don’t think reporters should be writing editorials, either. But since we don’t have a budget for an editorial page editor, here I am.

The problem is, and I do see it as a problem, this is where this new world of journalism is taking us. Editors are writing Op-Ed columns, reporters are editorializing in blogs and anyone who reads the paper can spew their opinions on newspaper’s websites.
To be honest, it goes against all my sensibilities as a veteran journalist who’s been doing this for some 10 years now.

In my opinion, editors and reporters should report, write and offer readers a broader understanding of the news. Their opinion on the news should never come into the copy.
I’ll admit it, I’m a traditional journalist stuck in a rapidly changing media industry, and I’m having a hard time catching up. I don’t like reading blogs; I want the “real news” from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. I’d rather see what’s on those papers’ headlines than read The Drudge Report. Drudge means nothing to me, though, ironically, as a journalist, I have to pay attention to what he’s posting in order to keep my knowledge of current events balanced.

I still like the feel of a newspaper in my hands. I like the ink that I smear on my face when I scratch my nose while reading the morning paper. I think reading the newspaper on the Internet is a pain.

As a former foreign correspondent, who spent the better part of 10 years in the former Soviet Union, I like international news. But papers across the country are shrinking down in size, and with that, there has been a sizable reduction in the amount of world news on their pages.

I think that’s depressing. I actually care about what happens in China, and I think you should, too. I think what’s happening over there is more important than how many wolves have been killed in the Cowboy State. China’s economy is one of the fastest growing economies and populations in the world. We better be paying attention.
But these days, it’s all about local news. Local, local, local. That’s what sells newspapers these days.

 So, I have to care more about the buffalo wondering outside the park boundaries, even though I’m more interested in what China’s economy is doing.
And I have to push my reporters be more sensational to keep readers’ attentions. Sigh.
 I think the direction in which newspapering is headed is depressing. Not all of it, mind you. I love the multimedia reports you can get on the BBC website with videos and audio slideshows. And even some of the country’s smaller papers are getting in the game. And there are some good, unbiased blogs out there.

But it seems to me that as the newsgathering business continues to make changes and goes more local or more sensational, we are dumbing down not just our papers, we also are dumbing down ourselves. Reading only local news keeps us isolated in a globalized world. When we headline Britney Spears’ latest encounter with the paparazzi or when reporters blog their opinions about current events, the publication’s reputation gets discredited.

Blame it on my journalistic sensibilities, but I promise I’ll keep my opinion out of the news.
PERMALINK:
The sad state of affairs in the newspaper business | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

Leave a Comment