Newspapers, as they slowly — and painfully — sink into a quick-sand filled pit of irrelevance, still speak much about integrity, of truth and credibility.
Newsrooms and reporters, I think for the most part, hold those tenets intact. Sure, they sometimes miss too many stories and fail to investigate potential points of corruption, but much of that has to do with staffing — the lack of it — and that a bulk of the stalwart veteran reporters have left through terminations and buyouts.
Many really good reporters and editors — some of whom are friends — continue on, doing the best they can each day to fulfill a commitment toward finding the truth, weeding out corruption and telling good stories.
But so often anymore, corporate types — publishers, spokespeople and bean counters — undermine their efforts by failing to, well, tell the truth.
Things are bad. Newspapers can no longer make money on ROP or classified ads, for example, and they have failed to effectively monetize the Internet. They’ve done nothing in 100-plus years to revamp a failed business model, and their readers are dying, literally.
So, enough with the subterfuge and sound bites, already. Just be honest. Rather, however, we get displaced optimism and misguided realism. Take, for instance the Tribune Review — or Trib Total Media — in Pittsburgh, which “will lay off 153 full- and part-time employees as part of a restructuring of the media company,” said Trib President Jennifer Bertetto in the paper on Nov. 10.
“We are doing this to match the changing needs of our readers, subscribers, advertisers, business partners and our own employees, in order to build an exciting and profitable media future for all of those parties.”
Right.
The Trib isn’t alone, of course. There are other examples, including one just across the Allegheny River.
“’The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offered voluntary buyouts to 120 employees, underscoring the newspaper’s struggles in the midst of ‘weak’ revenue,’” the Trib reported in July.
“Weak revenue,” they say. Yep, for sure.
Philly; New Haven, Connecticut; Rochester … the list goes on. More layoffs, more excuses.
After a round of layoffs last fall, USA Today had this to say, according to its website:
“USA TODAY is working to align its staffing levels to meet current market conditions. The actions taken today will allow USA TODAY to reinvest in the business to ensure the continued success of its digital transformation.”
Digital transformation? Please.
Tell your “loyal” readers this, or something like it:
“Sorry, we’re terminally ill and dying a slow, painful death. It hurts, and it hurts badly. But please, keep donating your hard-earned money, because we want to live just one more day. We understand there’s no cure, despite all of our hard research. We, as a company, think we have a future, so give us a chance to eliminate this parasite, which is sucking away all of our reserves, and pass it on to someone else, who might find away to boost his stocks for awhile or gain a convenient tax write-off. We will now, while we can, work to come up with a catchy ad slogan. Thank you.”
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johntrump 