Reviving my role as a Wall Street equity analyst, I conducted an interview with the publisher and the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer as part of a small fundraiser for the Cleveland Film Society. While the formal discussion probably lasted 45 minutes, the conversation continued throughout the remainder of the evening. The conclusion was that newspapers matter. While I would like to think that is an obvious point, the revelation for me was that newspapers need to re-engage their respective communities to remind them of that fact.
The audience seemed dazzled by Egger & Goldberg, the typical criticism stifled. There seemed to be a better appreciation for the complexities of the business and the difficult decisions that needed to be made daily. Perhaps if papers were more direct with their community they would both get more respect and better readership.
Terrance C.Z. Egger became publisher of the Plain Dealer in May of 2006; among his many achievements to date was the hiring of Susan Goldberg in May of 2007. They are a terrific, convivial team that did a nice job of communicating their passion, especially for the active role a newspaper can play in its community.
Recognizing that Cleveland has a perpetual cloud over it, Susan is trying to shake it loose. It doesn't hurt that the Cavs and Indians had exciting post-seasons with the Browns continuing that momentum. With that as a backdrop, the front page has changed dramatically and has come to life. More color, more local stories, less structure, a left hand bar highlighting content -- just like a real newspaper. Cleveland is a sports town; the coverage has been beefed up with tremendous promotion of the individual columnists. Restaurant reviews appear on line first so that readers can comment resulting in a print version that captures both. Readers can contribute photographs and commentary each week on high school sports and other topics. Blogs have been launched, albeit with some controversy; but better to make mistakes and learn from them than sit still and get passed over. In short, rapid progress is being made; towards what eventual end is less clear, but that is an industry issue, not a local one. .
Major metropolitan papers need to increase their relevance to their readers. They can no longer be everything to everyone as the resources are constrained. Tradeoffs need to be made about what can be covered comprehensively and what cannot. Newspapers need to focus on what makes them distinct in their market and stick to their core strengths. Increasingly, community dialogues are taking place online; newspapers are doing a better job of participating, More data driven stories are being developed that should result in stories with potentially longer shelf lives.
Newspaper matter as they can help ferret out the good guys from the bad. They can keep the dialogue civil. They provide a watchdog role
All told, I was more optimistic about the newspaper industry at the end of that evening than I have been in some time. The industry won't return to its former profitability but it strikes me as far from dead.
Also, politicians don't 'attack' each other except in the reporting. They 'say' things no matter what the content is. If an article says Sen. X attacked the president's plan, you might as well stop reading any more. It's bias one way or the other.
On the other hand, newspapers are committing suicide locally by taking on more syndicated material while getting rid of local reporters and editors with local contacts.
Not to long ago, for example, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) made a splash nationally by firing its popular, long-time book review editor. Nobody expected this splash, which included such blogs as "Critical Mass," to cause the paper to re-think what they were doing. In short, instead of using local reviewers, who know something about Georgia authors, we're seeing more stuff from the Associated Press and others who don't live here.
If the AJC, and other newspapers with similar approaches, want to become "just another website," with very little local relevance, they've got the formula down pat.
Malcolm R. Campbell
http://www.writeslikeshetalks.com/2007/11/17/lauren-rich-fine-wplain-dealers-goldberg-egger-in-interview-on-huffpo/
Thanks.
However, Cleveland is now a one-newspaper town. The PD has a stranglehold on news coverage. The lack of multiple points of view is a factor in driving astute readers to other sources (Huffpo being one such example).
Maybe I am weird...but I want to read the newspaper for news...not sports coverage or restaurant reviews. (I mean, this extra stuff is nice...but I am mainly interested in getting more important news for my buck. I can get tips on dining out from friends or from other local entertainment mags.) The traditional media outlets (big newspapers and tv networks) have become too homogenized and too beholden to their boards of directors and the "top 2%" types that call the shots. Sure, the public can make comments on the PD website...but if the Big Bosses don't like the comments (or if local Republican politicos get their panties in a bunch...these comments will get deleted: See the LaTourette debacle)
I won't even get into the whole trap of discussing the "liberal bias" charges. In my world of Fox News, Hannity, Rush and Coulter (and the Plain Dealer!) this is just not the case. But lately I have come to believe that right wingers live in a parallel universe where these people simply do not exist on the airwaves and thery see only crazed lefties everywhere...
Meanwhile, newspaper circulation is well down but the industry does, from the non-trendoid, non-tinfoil side of the world, seem viable. The major issue is to connect with readers more locally and more personally, and what is outlined here is, as said, a good start that will require adjustments as it goes along. What I see as the major adjustment is creating core content that is sparked with but not overwhelmed by that local, personal content, and then getting rid of, or at least hiding, the Brittny Spears coverage and the wire service filler junk that is used to justify an 8-section doorstop. The print product has to come down to no more than 40 pages and would do better at 32 or even 24. And I don't know how giant corporate metros can do that unless they are willing to microzone the product and microzone the advertising that goes into each edition.
But, as evidenced here, part of the problem is that the hipsters have already decided newspapers are dead, and so the question is, how do you market to the majority who don't feel that way without constantly swatting away the noisy group that tends to dominate public discourse?
Where is the health and science and technology section?
I am an electrical engineer and I live in Cleveland (Parma actually), Why? Because my family lives here, and my husband and I have professional opportunties made only possible by science and technology.