MiniMediaGuy

An editorial in Columbia Journalism Review says profit margins at big, publicly traded newspapers have widened, not shrank. An accompanying essay issue calls for more “aggressive journalism” to set agendas and explore solutions. Soul-searching is the order of the day in newspapers. Introspection may not be the panacea, however, if the soul is dead.

Perhaps, as a working journalist I should have known better, but I was astonished to learn how profitable newspapers remain, at least on average. The CJR editorial notes that:

“According to Morton Research Inc., John Morton’s Maryland media consulting firm, the weighted average of profit margins for the newspaper divisions of major media companies was 13 percent in 1991. It had climbed to nearly 20 percent last year — more than double the average profit margin of the Fortune 500.”

The editorial, subtitled “The American newspaper at a crossroads,” went on to urge that print media, “with their firepower, traditions and reach” should lead “great civic conversations” on the important issues of the day, even if political or business leaders avoid these problems. Amen!

The accompanying essay by CJR managing editor Brent Cunningham argues that only mass media have the penetration and reach to spur meaningful conversations on topics of public concern. He exhorts the press to write “stories grounded in solid reporting about what is possible, rather than simply what is probable; stories that shatter the official zeitgeist; stories that help set the agenda.”

While CJR pieces make rich use of the “conversation” buzzword of the blogosphere, they avoid mention of the term “advocacy” which is anathema to orthodox journalism. I understand the rationale. Journalism as practiced today is a set of conventions that have evolved over a century. Why inflame the traditionalists with a word like advocacy when you can lull them with a substitute like aggressive — which is how reporters like to think of themselves.

The trouble is audience habits and news delivery technologies are changing in Internet time. Newspapers and newspaper journalists can’t afford to cushion their professional ego-shock with euphemisms. As Philadelphia Daily News journalist Will Bunch said in a widely-quoted post on his Attywood blog :

“Much of the blame really lies with us, as journalists. We have, for the most part, allowed our product to become humorless and dull. In an era when it seems most people truly will be famous for 15 minutes, newspapers have stubbornly avoided creating personalities…or having a personality, for that matter. In a pathologically obsessive quest for two false goddesses — named Objectivity and Balance — we have completely ceded the great American political debate to talk radio, cable TV and the Internet, where people have learned that politics is actually interesting and even fun when people are allowed to take sides.”

Tom Abate
MiniMediaGuy
‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media

If you are operating or plan to launch a local news site, and can get your plans together by February 8, consider applying for a New Voices grant worth up to $17,000 over the next two years. The grant competition is being run by the University of Maryland’s foundation-supported J-Lab. This is the second year these grants have been offered. J-Lab jjudges culled through 243 applications to pick 10 winners last year.

The guidelines are simple. A “how-to” page will step you through the application process. The competition is designed to encourage the creation of web sites aimed at “geographic or special interest communities” that “foster an open exchange of journalistically sound ideas” and can serve as a prototype for other home-grown journalism startups. Think ahead to how the site would sustain itself after the two year grant expires, because the judges will also consider that.

Looking over the 2005 winners seems like the first step in figuring out what the judges wanted — at least last year. All 10 winners began with a local emphasis (as opposed to a special interest focus, like model train hobbyists). Four of the 10 winning sites added an ethnic slant, such as Losaida Speaks, a project designed to reach young Latinas on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The name of the site appears to have changed to Girls On Air, but the emphasis seems still to be training girls in the target group to podcast.

Most of the 10 grantees from last year had some local affiliation. In the case of Losaida it was a girl’s club. There were a couple of projects with a university association. Others were affiliated with local radio stations. One grew out of a library.

It’s not immediately apparent to me how last year’s winners fulfilled the requirement to be a template for other groups, nor even how well they have done on their basic mission.

In any event the New Voices competition seems like a good and accessible opportunity for a small-scale, low-budget, local startup. Look over the grant winners and consider whipping your plans into shape by Feb. 8.

Tom Abate
MiniMediaGuy
‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media

I’m back home in California after visiting Philadelphia and suburban New Jersey. I did little of consequence to this blog, except perhaps observing how my siblings stay informed without newspaper subscriptions.

My brother-in-law the scientist takes the Sunday New York Times and reads it while having breakfast the rest of the week. Otherwise he uses Google News to scan the headlines. If a story piques his interest, he’ll check out the NYT online (not sure how their new charging policies will intersect with those practices). His wife, also a scientist, gets her news watching TV while using the exercise machine in the basement.

My sister the entrepreneur takes the Wall Street Journal. I saw a dozen unwrapped and unread papers piled up in her home office. She reads them in batches. Sounds like a duty rather than a pleasure. My brother the lawyer is another online browser. He used to read a lot of blogs but has scaled that way back as he found it cut into his work time. Another brother and sister I didn’t query. But I saw no newspapers in their homes. Only my mom, who is in her 70s, reads the free local paper that is dropped on her New Jersey suburban driveway.

The common threads are time and need. These are married working people with children. They don’t have time to read the print paper at home before work, and their commutes don’t allow it (my brother, the ex blog reader, used to buy a paper and read it on the train but now he commutes by car).

This reminds me of how afternoon newspapers blinked out of existence in the last 40 years. For instance, an entry from a history of the Kansas City newspapers says:

“1965: The Times circulation reaches 347,742, exceeding for the first time The Star’s. It represented the first stirrings of a lifestyle change that saw the demise of afternoon papers nationwide and of the afternoon Star in 1990.”

Much has been written about how young people are deserting newspapers. “Only one-fifth of people under 40 read the newspaper everyday, according to author and journalism professor David Mindich … author of “Tuned Out: Why Young People Don’t Follow the News” (Oxford University Press, Oct. 2004, $20).”

Could it be that new lifestyle changes will lead to the demise of the morning newspaper? Or do print media consumers want a different type of product? During my trip to Philadelphia I picked up a Metro paper — a free daily, tabloid in style, with great color graphics and precious little news but plenty of ads. Here is a snippet from an interesting European website about the Metro phenomenon:

“The Luxembourg-based Metro chain has free papers in the Americas, Asia and Europe … The Metro group now publishes 40 free daily Metro editions in 61 major cities in 16 countries in 15 languages across Europe, North & South America and East Asia. The group claims that Metro’s advertising sales have grown at a compound annual rate of 47% since the launch of the first edition in 1995 … The Metro editions are distributed in “high-traffic commuter zones or in public transport networks from a combination of self-service racks and by hand distributors on weekdays.”

I also came across a site put up by a Dutch media studies professor that contains research on free newspapers. I’lll park a link here now and perhaps come back to it later, as I have run out of time this morning.

Tom Abate
MiniMediaGuy
‘Cause if you ain’t Mass Media, you’re Mini Media