http://wemedia.com/2008/08/22/what-went-wrong-keeps-going-wrong-for-newspapers/ The Power of Us Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:06:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://wemedia.com/2008/08/22/what-went-wrong-keeps-going-wrong-for-newspapers/comment-page-1/#comment-5697 iknowwhatyoudid Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:51:47 +0000 http://wemedia.com/?p=1791#comment-5697 ....Placating their own mamby-pampy notions of self-rightousness trumped the public's right to know. When I worked at the Fresno Bee, McClatchy started a Spanish language version of the paper. The first front-page headline on the first edition was about a youth conference. A stinkin' youth conference. Did they really think that would sell papers? No, newspapers did it to themselves. And, though I love papers, I welcome this new decline. Hopefully, in the wake of such regional giants such as McClatchy, will rise small, local papers that concentrate on the things people want to read about: crime, fires, corruption. ….Placating their own mamby-pampy notions of self-rightousness trumped the public's right to know. When I worked at the Fresno Bee, McClatchy started a Spanish language version of the paper. The first front-page headline on the first edition was about a youth conference. A stinkin' youth conference. Did they really think that would sell papers? No, newspapers did it to themselves. And, though I love papers, I welcome this new decline. Hopefully, in the wake of such regional giants such as McClatchy, will rise small, local papers that concentrate on the things people want to read about: crime, fires, corruption.

]]> http://wemedia.com/2008/08/22/what-went-wrong-keeps-going-wrong-for-newspapers/comment-page-1/#comment-5698 iknowwhatyoudid Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:51:18 +0000 http://wemedia.com/?p=1791#comment-5698 Despite the conventional wisdom of "astute analysts" such as Alan Mutter, newspapers are on the downward swing for a very simple reason: they're boring. Pick up any regional rag, such as the Chronicle, and what's on the cover? Political gossip, most of it liberal pandering. Gone are the true crime stories that taught generations of immigrants to read. When I lived in San Francisco's Mission district, the only way to find out about a murder on our block was to watch the Spanish TV stations. The Chronicle refused to cover murders there because it cast minorities in a bad light. Forget the news value, forget that thousands of people wanted to know what was going on. Despite the conventional wisdom of "astute analysts" such as Alan Mutter, newspapers are on the downward swing for a very simple reason: they're boring. Pick up any regional rag, such as the Chronicle, and what's on the cover? Political gossip, most of it liberal pandering. Gone are the true crime stories that taught generations of immigrants to read. When I lived in San Francisco's Mission district, the only way to find out about a murder on our block was to watch the Spanish TV stations. The Chronicle refused to cover murders there because it cast minorities in a bad light. Forget the news value, forget that thousands of people wanted to know what was going on.

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