The news about traditional newspapering can only be
described as dismal. Last week the editor of the Chicago Tribune and the publisher of
the Los Angeles Times stepped down from their jobs as their newspapers were preparing
for deep cuts in newsroom staff. The Wall
Street Journal announced the departure of
another half-dozen members of the editorial staff, on the heels of other
layoffs over the past four months. Closer to home, the stock-rating company
Morningstar said July 15 that shares of GateHouse Media, owner of the State Journal-Register, have
steeply declined in value. “Because of the company’s exposure
to a challenging advertising environment, a debt-heavy balance sheet, and
declining cash flows, we think the equity shares could be worthless,”
wrote stock analyst Tom Corbett.
With all this turmoil among the big boys, our friends
ask us, “How is Illinois Times doing?” Our answer: Not great but not bad.
The industry disruption really is a case of
“the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” The companies
cited above are all burdened with debt, so they’re having to pay the
piper for expanding their holdings at a time when most newspapers are
contracting. Most are laying off staff, getting smaller even as they try to
get smarter about how they approach their business tasks. National and
regional advertising dollars are shrinking, and newspaper management must
please external shareholders. On top of that, they face the challenges all
newspapers face — economic downturn, increased competition from the
Internet and other media, and shifting interest in public affairs and
traditional news. This is a good time for IT to be small, independent, nearly debt-free, and quick
on its feet.
Dislocation for the dailies has spawned an industry
of studies and consultants offering advice on what to do. One of these
studies, a project of the American Press Institute called “Newspaper
Next,” urges the daily newspaper to stop thinking of itself as a
newspaper company and start thinking as a communications company or even
— with help from the Internet — “a local information and
connection utility.” Such a communications company can perform
certain “megajobs,” such as helping people make good spending
decisions and helping them find things to do.
Here at IT we’ve always been careful — maybe too
careful — about looking for new ways to sell our product, for fear of
selling our soul. We’re eager to get new ideas flowing but
don’t want to lose our way. Can we give readers what they want at the
same time we give them news they need? How can we profit without pandering?
On this subject I consult the late U.S. Sen. Paul
Simon, who devoted a chapter to the media in his 2003 book Our Culture of Pandering. He
wrote: “Long-term, quality news coverage pays off. But to business
executives who want to look better and better in each quarterly report, the
simpler way is to reduce staff and to pander to whatever will satisfy the
hunger of a large audience.”
Asking readers and advertisers what they want is not
pandering, says Laura Dell, an Evanston-based consultant to this and other
newsweeklies, who offers a seminar on “Muscling Through Tough
Times.” She says her hardest job is convincing newsweekly people that
there is a need to change: “It’s just smart to understand what
your readers and advertisers need and want. Then you say,
‘Here’s what I can and want to do.’ You can choose
whether or not you want to deliver on any specific item.” It turns
out to be even more important to understand the needs of nonreaders and
nonadvertisers. “Thousands of people are not picking up your
paper,” she says. “Find out why not. I don’t think
that’s pandering.”
Dell continues: “This is not about lacking
confidence in what you are doing. It is about revitalizing your connection
with the community. Your paper is 33 years old. It’s time to dust off the idea: What can you do better?”
Contact Fletcher Farrar at ffarrar@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2008.
