There are many reasons why we still need print journalism

Where else will people find the solid reporting on events near and far that no other outlet creates?

By Leigh Donaldson

Recently, the American Society of Newspaper Editors reported that about 2,400 full-time newspaper-related jobs were lost in 2007, considered the largest annual drop in 30 years. You don’t have to be in the journalism business to see this as a troubling trend.

In the article, "The Internet is No Substitute for the Dying Newspaper Industry," Chris Hedges says, "Some 6,000 journalists nationwide have lost their jobs, news pages are being radically cut back, and newspaper stocks have tumbled." He adds that advertising at many papers is experiencing double-digit drops.

So why should non-journalists care about the possible complete demise of the written word in the form of the daily newspaper? After all, many readers are disenchanted with the press and are able to eke out their news through the Web and independent journalists’ Web sites, who often work without corporate sponsorship.

Some blame the media themselves for their problems by over consolidation and archaic business management, creating an atmosphere that encourages corporate-influenced reporting, rather than solid, unbiased, investigative news-gathering.

The adage that "you can’t believe everything you read" resonates even more these days, as countless former newspaper readers distrust what the see in print, assuming that news coverage is slanted to the whims of advertisers and corporate owners. According a study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, reported by Newsweek’s Tony Dokoupil, "less than one person in five believes what (he) reads in print …."

Add to the inescapable reality that newspapers throughout the country are losing hundreds of talented and experienced reporters, copy editors, editorial assistants, cartoonists, graphic artists, photographers, thereby creating a void in the quality of reportage.

Circulation and advertising employees, like writers and artists, have less space to work with, making their product a harder sell. This can only make the job of getting the news out to an ever-increasingly skeptical public all the more difficult.

Even though most newspapers, large, medium and small, now have Web sites, they still only make up about 10 percent of newspaper ad revenue. It’s safe to say that a large number of publishers and editors still haven’t quite figured out how to most effectively use the Internet to increase ad revenue and, to me, more importantly, readership and circulation.

But, I agree with many critics that the Internet, in general, and commercial television news offer poor substitutes for traditional news-gathering.

But, some may ask, what is traditional news reporting?

Hedges describes well-run newspapers as "a public trust." That works for me because my idea of a newspaper has always been a place where I can read about fellow citizens, abuses of power, lying elected officials, corrupt businesses and the daily workings of local, state and federal government.

It is also an open forum for coverage of the city hall, the state capital, political campaigns, sports, music, art, culture and theater.

This kind of news reporting rarely happens on the Internet, at least not yet. We seem to do more browsing on the Internet than actual reading. Investigative reporting, the backbone of the Fourth Estate, is feet on the ground, meeting with people you don’t necessarily trust, follow-up interviews, and analysis of facts.

How else can readers learn and exercise their critical thinking, but through a free, informed knowledge? Sound bites, news briefs, tabloid tripe and many factually questionable blogs (whose authors rarely acknowledge errors) just don’t count when it comes to vigorous news gathering.

Understandably, humans process information differently and certainly technology has made it possible to absorb data and communicate much more quickly and expansively. In addition to the printed word, we have computers, artificial intelligence and even robotics.

But, when it comes to reliable, impartial news coverage that significantly affects how we view our communities and the world, our standards should remain high.

Written, spoken and visual sources can all serve together to keep us informed, enlightened and engaged. But reporting has ideally been about challenging established beliefs, not pandering to corporate bean-counters or our least common denominator. Anything less is simply not newsworthy.

We should fight to maintain our local, national newspapers and wire services and community publications because we will miss them when they are gone. As citizens, we have civic and public responsibilities and they include demanding the best from our media.

When PBS "NewsHour" anchor Jim Lehrer was asked by USA Today about his views on the subject, he said: "Most of the major stories about which there is so much talk, consternation, blogging and yelling on shout shows all began with a print news story."

Enough said?


Leigh Donaldson is a Portland writer whose book "The Written Song: The Antebellum African-American Press in The Northeast" is due for publication in 2009. He can be contacted at: leighd [AT] lycos.com.

Originally published in the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, August 18, 2008. Republished by permission of the author.

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