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Media Watch
The Future of Newspapers
I recently received a phone call from a reporter from the Boston Globe who wanted to interview me about Mitt Romney’s leadership during the 2002 Olympic Games. He asked about my background and I told him I’m a former journalist, having spent nearly 20 years in the newspaper business, but I left the profession several years ago.
He surprised me by saying, “You got out at the right times. You can’t imagine how depressing it is to be working for a newspaper these days.”
I don’t know how widespread his pessimistic view is within the working ranks of the nation’s newspapers, but I do hear that morale isn’t terribly high these days at either of Salt Lake City’s dailies. Of course, low morale is pretty much the standard in most newspaper offices. Lots of newspaper reporters are professional grumblers and incurable pessimists. Some are as cynical about their own business as they are about government.
Still, the level of melancholy in the news business has clearly reached new lows. The Boston Globe is among the most beleaguered of newspapers. Its circulation and advertising revenue have declined dramatically and its owner, the New York Times Company, has been trying to sell it.
I don’t know the exact numbers for the Salt Lake newspapers, but they seem to be doing better, with combined circulation up a bit and reasonable profits still being made for the owners, which are the LDS Church (Deseret Morning News), and Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Group (Salt Lake Tribune), headquartered in Denver.
The newspaper business is changing rapidly and no one know where it will end up, although a consensus exists that the print version of newspapers is in serious trouble and will likely continue to decline.
The industry received a jolt recently when renowned investor Warren Buffett, in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, said “… fundamentals are definitely eroding in the newspaper industry . . . the skid will almost certainly continue.” He went on for more than a full page explaining why newspaper values will continue to decline. (See Washington Post report on Buffett’s commentary on newspapers, and the full text of the Buffett letter [note pages 11-12].)
National Journal media columnist William Powers doesn’t deny newspaper problems, but in a recent column, he argues that newspapers need to do a better job telling their story. He says newspapers don’t get enough credit for the immense contributions they make to society:
“Even as Buffett was spreading gloom,” Powers wrote, “The Washington Post was turning Washington upside down with its Walter Reed Army Medical Center story. … What else but a trusted big-city newspaper could have pulled off that story -- invested the resources, taken the time to report it out, and given it so much altitude, so quickly? … The horn that nobody is tooting is that this is exactly what newspapers -- plural -- in a democracy do, better and more often than anyone else. This isn't just a story about war and medical care. It's a reminder that in the solar system of journalism, newspapers are the sun, the source of energy around which everything else revolves. And that's amazing material -- a publicist's dream.”
I agree with Powers, but that doesn’t lessen the challenges facing newspapers. I’ll write more specifically about Salt Lake City’s two dailies in coming days.
Huntsman to Sign HCR3
Gov. Jon Huntsman will sign HCR3, “Resolution Urging Congress to Stop Internet Pornography to Children and Employees,” today at 2:30 in his Capitol office. In attendance will be Rep. Brad Daw, sponsor of the resolution; Sen. Curtis Bramble, Senate majority leader; and Ralph Yarro, chairman, The CP80 Foundation. Huntsman and the other leaders will make brief remarks regarding legislative and technology-related aspects of the resolution and national-level initiatives. A news media Q&A session will follow the signing ceremony.
HCR3, which passed both houses of the legislature by large majorities, urges the U.S. government take action to deal with pornography on the Internet and asks the U.S. Congress to consider legislation to facilitate a technology-based solution that allows parents and employers to subscribe to Internet access services that exclude so-called “adult content.” Utah is the first state to pass such a resolution, and the Utah-based CP80 Foundation is a technology leader in facilitating creation of “clean-channel” Internet services. Based on Utah’s leadership, 13 other states are in the early stages of creating similar resolutions.
Today in Political History
March 13, 1868: The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson begins in the United States Senate. (Source: NBC5)
March 13, 1967: In Katz v. United States, 386 U.S. 954, the Supreme Court rules that people's right to be free of unreasonable searches includes protection against electronic surveillance. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”
-- Robert Louis Stevenson (Source: Inspirational Quotations)
Leadership Tip
Importance of Values
Put out a consistent message about your values. Knowing who you are, and what you stand for, can help your employees make better decisions on their own (or at least decisions that you will like better). If you're sending mixed messages, explain them or suffer the consequences. (Source: Microsoft)
National Politics
Today's Best Stories
-- New York Times: The avalanche of states moving their presidential primaries to Feb. 5 has forced every candidate to reconsider every aspect of their nominating strategies as they gird for the prospect of a 20-state national primary day.
-- Washington Post: The campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are "increasingly fixated on the other, engaging in a shadowboxing match in which they intentionally cross paths but dodge to avoid each other's subtle jabs. With an intensity unusual for this stage of the campaign the two are indirectly engaging, invading each other's terrain and going to great lengths to contrast their candidacies."
-- Roll Call: Columnist Stuart Rothenberg says the GOP presidential nomination race is wide open.
-- National Journal: Columnist Chuck Todd says Republicans could eventually gravitate to a comfortable candidate like John McCain after flirting with others, similar to the Democrats' process in '04 when they eventually chose John Kerry after flirting with Howard Dean.
Lighter Side
Yesterday’s Washington Post Dilbert cartoon.
UDOT Open House
UDOT is hosting an open house to discuss developing long-term transportation solutions for Geneva Road (state Route 114) today between 6-8 p.m. at Vineyard Elementary School, 620 East Holdaway Road, Vineyard. For more info, click here.
Blog Watch
-- The Wall of Separation's Jeremy Leaming looks at Utah's school voucher controversy (for more on the voucher issue, see SLCSpin).
-- Utah Taxpayer posts "some sobering numbers from the current year and previous years' State Budget Overview."
-- Phil Windley discusses the recent success of the iProvo municipal broadband project. |
