Posted on 04/10/2002 6:29:25 PM PDT by What Is Ain't
WASHINGTON (AP) - Newspapers could face extinction if executives do not stop focusing on profits at the expense of journalism's core public service mission, a top newspaper editor said Wednesday.
"The obsession with short-term profits is causing newspaper companies to lose sight of their long-term obligations and opportunities," said Tim J. McGuire, outgoing president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, made up of more than 800 directing editors from daily newspapers.
"We are at a crucial juncture in our profession and in our industry. We must choose today whether we're going to take newspapers forward with a genuine sense of values and commitment or if we are going to choose the path of milking our companies of every last dime. If we do that, we will die," he said.
A strong bottom line can coexist with great journalism, McGuire, executive editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, told ASNE members gathered in Washington for their annual conference.
He said reductions in newspaper advertising are leading to belt-tightening in newsrooms across the country; publishers and company executives are citing market demands for ever-higher profit margins; and newspapers have been grappling with coverage of the enormous stories related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
As a result, McGuire said, "the larger issues facing our profession have been shoved aside."
McGuire, who relinquishes his post at the convention's end on Friday, proposed that the industry create a new, well-funded organization to find ways to refocus newspapers. He suggested a coalition of existing journalism organizations, led by a dynamic, powerful individual.
In order for newspapers to survive, they must further expand into multimedia, serve more targeted markets and cultivate experts on complex topics, he said.
McGuire noted that newspapers' employment declined by 1,979 people last year, the most since ASNE began keeping track over two decades ago.
"Newsrooms are going to have to grow and grow significantly," he said.
McGuire urged news executives to take a new message about their companies to Wall Street. Instead of focusing solely on the organization's short-term financial goals, they should talk about how public service and a quality news product create a franchise with good long-term business prospects and an important community role, he said.
McGuire asked the editors to re-examine newsroom values and make sure they themselves act ethically, insist on fairness and balance and consider how their decisions and mistakes affect both readers and staff.
The relatively young, occasional reader who is the industry's best hope to attack a 30-year decline in readership needs a deeper personal connection with the hometown paper to become a more frequent consumer, Readership Institute Director John Lavine told the editors.
That increased "brand loyalty" won't come with catchy mottos or better marketing, he said. Instead, the paper must be made relevant to them, and research by his institute shows that can be done with daily, prominent, permanent fixtures that better explain what's inside and make choices easier, Lavine said.
Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., spoke against erosion of the press freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. "There will be pressures," he said.
Daschle denounced a Justice Department memo signaling it would support other agencies that decline Freedom of Information Act requests.
"Without the Freedom of Information Act, we might have never known about the Pentagon Papers, the My Lai massacre, the CIA assassination manual and other stories," Daschle said. "It has made a huge contribution to our democracy and it should not be curtailed."
Daschle also warned against legislation to criminalize all leaks of classified information, whether or not the material was related to national security. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Republican, has pushed for such a law.
An interagency task force created by Attorney General John Ashcroft is reviewing current sanctions governing leaks of classified information. Under an intelligence authorization bill, the panel is to determine by May 1 what modifications might be needed.
"It would have a chilling effect on public debate of important issues," Daschle said of a new official secrets act. "It would make America less safe, not more."
I'm not sure any such presentation would last more than 45 seconds.
The rookies and very senior people would roll their eyes and giggle. The "producers" would just sigh and walk out.
foreverfree
What about writing for your audience?? Newspapers, by and large, are extremely liberal and completely out of touch with their audience. The Washington Times and the Wall Street Journal are flourishing; the other liberal daily rags (the LAT comes to mind) around the country deserve to die.
I can get my news from FreeRepublic, Drudge, NewsMax, National Review Online, FrontPage Magazine, Town Hall, and a hundred of other Web sites, not to mention Fox, UPI, and so on. Why would I waste money on liberal propaganda?
Internet news, TV and talk radio saves paper, too. Should't the environmentalists be protesting this convention? Don't they care about the trees?
Doesn't Dash-hole have any newer material than the Pentagon Papers and Me-lie? Like the Clintoon secrets outed by Larry Klayman?
There's more to exploit but I'll give you all a shot at this whine.
Sorry, you've already proved that you're not about "public service". The federal government, which IS about public service, produces reams of published material which is NOT copyrighted, which is given to the public that paid for them for free.
You, on the other hand, file SLAPP suits against conservative Internet news sites using "copyright" on your "public service articles" as a pretext. You then turn around and sell these "public service articles" to every public library in the country in electronic form, for public taxpayer dollars. You also steal secret government documents and publish them as a "public service" in order to make more money, all the while claiming that you're the "fourth branch" of government.
What a crowd of greedy hypocrites.
No, they're not. You and I are buying access to their archives at our local public libraries (and probably access to their online daily websites, in the near future), while The Washington Times is locked out of the public money trough by their well-disguised little monopoly.
Someone must have told him this. He has not seen any great journalism at the Red Star Tribune.
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