Newspapers

Comm & Info 150 Newspapers Beats?areas of responsibilities that a reporter has -police beat -school beat -government beat All various sections have reporters/writers/columnists reporting on various topics that they?re assigned to. Reporters have to tell editors what they are working on (that are not givens). Editors like to have photographs for their stories. Most reporters work 8 hr shifts. The feature news is one of the earliest printed. Ethical questions may come up. -Seek truth and report it -Minimize harm -Act independently -Be accountable Danish newspaper whose cartoonist had drawn cartoons about Muslims that the Muslim community in Denmark considered offensive?another paper was battling over whether they could publish prerogative speech?Palestinian gunmen took over?do you report the story without showing the cartoons? If you showed the cartoon, people could decide for themselves. It?s an opinion, no right or wrong answer. 7 years ago a student was arrested after bringing a bomb to school. School officials said it had no danger to explode. The incident didn?t disrupt classes and no one was evacuated. Do you use the name of the student? No right or wrong answer. (But in one real-life case the name was not used). House rules for a public forum (not every one, just a specific one): Stay on topic/Be nice/Keep it clean/Be responsible/You are deputized/There are consequences Ask questions, share your knowledge, and help us get the story right Reporters always have to tell their sources, if asked by the top editor or the #2 editor. Politics never ends! It seems like the day after their election they start raising money for their next election. CHAPTER 10 NEWSPAPERS Mary Junck: Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa (p. 237-238) Note the 5 points to the corporation mission statement: 1. Emphasize strong local news 2. Grow revenue creatively and rapidly 3. Improve readership and circulation 4. Build our online future 5. Exercise careful cost controls They are a local news medium. Daily newspapers ? About 1,570 daily newspapers produce 52.4 million copies each weekday ? Each copy averages 2.2 adult readers Non-daily newspapers ? 8,000 non-daily newspapers print 50 million copies of each week ? Around 4 adult readers per copy of a weekly, producing a reach of 200 million adults Newspapers make money! Advertising expenditures ? Dailies: $46.61 billion (published at least 4x a week) ? Non-dailies: $33.00 billion_____________________ Total $79.61 billion ? Broadcast TV: $46.26 billion ? Cable TV: $21.53_____________________________ Total: $67.79 billion DIRECT MAIL: $52.19 billion SOME THINGS THAT AREN?T IN YOUR BOOK Three major types of newspaper advertising: ? Display (RunOfPress)ï? general display ad ? Classified ? Preprintsï? an insert (can distribute to certain zip codes) Standard Advertising Unit -SAU ? The original effort to standardize newspaper page sizes in the 1980s -PASS ? A revision that allows a smaller page -Newspapers are now going to an even smaller size page Column inch: the basic unit of measuring a newspaper page. One column wide x one inch deep. Appealing to the Audience Let?s get something straight: newspapers are the main source for local news and are the dominant information source in nearly any market. (A test question that too many people miss!) A fundamental reality of today?s newspaper business is many people love hyped news. (If it bleeds, it leads). The most valuable resource newspapers have in maintain their position as the leading information source is their large, sophisticated news staffs (p. 239) Changing Demographics & Lifestyles=Decreasing Circulation ? TV evening news led to fewer evening newspapers ? Sunday circulation peaked in 1988 and has declined. More people employed on Sunday and more two-income households have led to less leisure time for a Sunday newspaper. ? Younger people aren?t reading. ? Generally speaking, daily newspaper circulation in the U.S. is stagnant ? Daily newspapers are failing to attract younger readers Tabloids and broadsheets (p. 240-241)?The smaller tabloid size is popular in many markets. A tabloid is like a newspaper turned on its side. The normal size (traditional) size is called the broadsheet. Newspaper Web Sites (p. 241-242) -shovelware: publishing content on the Web after it?s been published in the print product -newspaper Web sites make little, if any, money. -Blogs ? Have changed the newspapers? traditional reliance on verifiable and known sources ? Raise concerns that newspapers will evolve more into outlets for opinion in place of neutral reporting From Family Business to Chain Ownership Chains started buying up newspapers in the 1970s and 1980s because? ?of skyrocketing profitability. They typically had profits in the double-digits. (p. 242-243) ?federal tax law made it easier for families to sell rather than to leave newspapers to their heirs (p. 243) Gannett and McClatchy: the largest newspaper chains (p. 244-245) Total Circulation Dailies Owned McClatchy 9.5 million 43 Gannett 7.6 million 86 Assessing Chain Ownership (p. 243-244) ? Journalistic emphasis ? Balanced emphasis o The papers look much the same from city to city/ lack of originality ? Profit emphasis ? Absentee ownership ? Transient management ? Weak entry-level salaries o 2008 survey showed average of $20-$25K at small chain-owned dailies ? High newsroom turnover Clusters (p. 245-246) o A chain owns several newspapers located near each other o They share a single press o Corporate management is often headquartered at the dominant newspaper of the cluster DAILY NEWSPAPERS Three types in the U.S.: (p. 246-248) 1. National dailies 2. Metro dailies 3. Local dailies NATIONAL DAILIES USA Today (p. 246-247) o Owned by Gannett o Circulation is around 2.3 million o Read largely by travelers; some advertisers have problem with the method the newspaper is circulated Wall Street Journal (p. 247-248) o The most solidly established national daily because of its advertising base o Started by Charles Dow and Edward Jones in 1889 o Barney Kilgore was the formative managing editor in the 1930s o Readership profile is very high-income, which appeals to a desirable advertising base o Owned for decades by the Bancraft family. They sold it in 2007 to News Corporation (Murdoch) Christian Science Monitor (p. 249-251) ? the first national daily ? seeks to report the facts in a way that?s constructive for society, not sensationalistic ? focuses on solution-oriented stories ? not strong financially METRO DAILIES Based in larger cities with coverage that influences an expanded area round those cities (p. 254-256) The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times: two metro dailies that have national editions (p. 251-254) New York Times (p. 251-254) ? The newspaper of record ? Its influence on national media gatekeepers affects the stories you see that appear in other media (if it?s on NYTimes it must be good!) ? New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)?not on this exam ? Pentagon Papers (1971)?not on this exam LOCAL HOMETOWN DAILIES (p. 256) ? Most Americans who read a daily newspaper read their local hometown daily newspaper ? A general trend in newspapers is the growth of medium-size & small daily newspapers at the expense of larger metro dailies Non-daily newspapers ? Community weekly newspapers (p. 256-257) o Very profitable in fast-growing suburbs o Serve advertisers by limiting their geographic reach to the communities the advertisers need at a very efficient cost o Circulation is very impressive o People like the news coverage because it usually involves them ? Telephone book journalism (p. 257)ï? kind of a derogatory term The impact of Wal*mart on community newspapers (p. 257) o Fewer rural weeklies o Many have merged o Can still do very well in rural towns that are viable retail centers o Shoppers have made good money, especially with classified advertising (p. 257) NOT IN BOOK! Free-standing inserts o Newspapers? response to direct mail o Can be zoned into areas the advertiser designates o Can be delivered to both subscribers & non-subscribers o Newspapers have seen substantial growth in this area for two decades o Valasis & News America: two companies that deliver advertising messages through free-standing inserts in newspapers w/combined revenue of nearly $500 million