What journalism could be

Brent Cunningham, writing in a recent issue of Columbia Journalism Review, gives us a well-thought out analysis of where current news media have fallen short, while showing what the profession could do to better serve America. The article quotes extensively from Pepperdine religion professor Richard Hughes, author of Myths America Lives By, a very thoughtful and provocative explanation of the larger narrative visions politicians evoke, and news media mindlessly reproduce, because these myths are so deeply embedded in the American cultural psyche.

More on classifieds

A report from the Pew Internet & American Life Projects reports that 27 million internet users are selling something online. Craigslist.org tops the list of online classified ad usage. The report also notes that internet classified traffic is up 80 percent the past year. Seventeen percent of people in Gen Y (ages 18 to 28) are selling something, while 26 percent of older adults (ages 29 to 40) are hawking something online. This is a study that provides more data to the fears of newspaper executives watching their cash cow of classifieds ads migrate to the internet.

It's the ads!!

John Ellis, a venture capital executive formerly with the Boston Globe, writes in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that “Knight Ridder has been publishing mostly second-rate newspapers for as long as anyone can remember.” He says the company’s strategy has been to offer mediocre content while leveraging its hold on classified advertising, the real money maker for newspapers. With the advent of new technologies to deliver ads (from the internet to E-Bay to Craigslist and others), the need for newspapers to deliver customers is diminishing. It is looking ahead to the demise of classified and space ads in newspapers that worries investors and futurists—some of whom have already declared that newspapers will cease to exist in the near future. He notes that newspaper chains had the opportunity to buy their new rivals, including Yahoo and Google, five years ago and passed. Now they may be looking to those companies, plus Microsoft, to bail them out in the future. Ironic, isn’t it?

$300 million profit?

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports in its Nov. 23 edition that one reason Bruce S. Sherman, chief executive of Legg Mason’s Private Capital Management LP wants Knight Ridder sold is to enhance profit performance by his firm. PCM owns 19 percent of Knight Ridder and recently urged the conglomerate's board to “aggressively pursue the competitive sale of the company.” If the targets are met, Sherman and his firm pocket $300 million. The Journal says, “Legg Mason. . . had agreed to make the $300 million payment to Mr. Sherman and other principles if PCM reaches certain growth targets by next Aug. 1” To reach those growth targets, PCM needs a big winner and evidently it decided that forcing the sale of Knight Ridder might help it get there. That helps explain the timing of PCM’s desire to cash out its stake. Those who would question the morality of putting $300 million in profit above the interests of citizens who rely on those papers for information will, of course, be accused of naivety for neglecting to consider the morality of honoring shareholders who own Knight Ridder and investors who gave money to PCM expecting a profit.

Encouraging numbers

The Newspaper Association of America reports an increase in ad spending for newspapers and their affiliated websites. Individuals and companies spent nearly $12 billion on ads for the third quarter of 2005. That's a 2.4 percent increase over the same period last year. While only $518 million of the $12 billion was for online advertising, that figure represents a 27 percent jump from last year's third quarter. Classified advertising spending increased 5.5 percent. While these numbers are encouraging, the report noted that ads from national advertisers decreased 4.7 percent.

Are Washington journalists killing journalism?

In Washington D.C., where all things political converge, a debate rages over journalistic practices of star journalists like Judith Miller of the New York Times and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. A special prosecutor is trying to find out who in government leaked the name of Valerie Plume, a CIA employee, to the media. Already one indictment has been handed down. Was this leak a deliberate effort by the government to get back at her husband for his opposition to the war in Iraq? Inquiring minds want to know. Miller spent time in jail for refusing to reveal her source. Now, seemingly out of the blue, Woodward says he received the information about Plume before any of the other journalists did. What's the significance of this late breaking news from Woodward? Speculation abounds. Marty Kaplan, associate dean of the Annenberg School of Communication at USC, weighs in. It's worth a read. Note especially his appeal to today's journalism students. Learn well and help us out of these continual problems!

They still make money

Make no mistake, most American newspapers are profitable. Even as the Los Angeles Times announced another round of news room layoffs (85 people or 8 percent of its staff), its carpetbagging parent—the (Chicago) Tribune Company—still makes more money than it spends each year. Because the conglomerate also owns television stations and entertainment properties (like the Chicago Cubs), losses in its newspapers can be offset, hence the company's continuing profit. But in 2004 newspapers earned more than 20 cents on the dollar, according to analyst John Morton, a much better showing than for most companies in the Standard and Poors 500 index. (A great explanation of newspaper profitability and its challenges can be found here.) The issue is future growth. Already, growth in profits has slowed to 3 percent a year, down from 5 percent in recent years. What troubles executives is the decline in readership, which causes advertiser flight to alternative sources. The internet is stealing ad revenue and the future looks bleak for newspapers.

To keep abreast of the Times' travails, check out L.A. Observed, the best site for news about Los Angeles media.

The Future of Journalism

This is a blog dedicated to discussing the future of journalism.

Pundicts predict that newspapers are dying. Americans aren't reading them, preferring instead to get news from television or their favorite internet site. Traditional news media like newspapers, news magazines and even network TV, meanwhile, seem to suffer from a loss of trust and credibility with the public. Media conglomerates, rather than trying to reclaim the moral high ground by improving news coverage, dance on the marionette strings of Wall Street stock analysts. News budgets are cut to meet ever-increasing demands for larger corporate profits. None of us decry the right of shareholders to make a profit; but when that profit motive erodes the noble cause of promoting democracy, freedom and a safe future for our children by providing a fair account of the day's activities, both the shareholders and the American people suffer. Even as they cut their news gathering and dissemination staff, media conglomerates try to lure in readers and viewers with dumbed down presentations of issues. They reason it is preferable to entertain than help us understand nuances of those issues, the grey areas we really need to understand in order to make informed decisions about our leaders and our culture. What an insult, especially to young adults who media bosses feel are too self-possessed and I-Pod addicted to care what happens to the world they are inheriting!

Journalism not only suffers from this set of challenges, but from larger idological conflicts in society. Political conservatives decry the liberal bias of the press, a Godless drift toward moral chaos and, eventually, the demise of the American dream. Liberals fear a censorship and oppression of the religious right, depriving the country of the free discussion of issues, eventually leading to the imposition of a monarchy, dictatorship or theocracy. Those who promote dialogue, the search for common ground and mutual respect among all people, are all too often intimidated into silence or marginalized.

Still, there is hope. Each generation possesses unique gifts and motivations to make the world a better place for themselves and their children. This blog site is dedicated to that generation. Hopefully it can provide a place for a rational discussion of how people of good will can save the news business from itself, and return civil discourse and the search for truth into the fabric of the American experience.