| Executive management at the Allentown Morning Call | | | | Go to any journalism conference, and you'll see a lot |
| recently laid off more than two dozen persons from | | | | of hand-wringing. Reporters and editors are whining |
| its newsroom, most of them veteran reporters | | | | about how bad it is. They rightly blame owners and |
| drawing higher salaries. Management plans to cut | | | | publishers. But, they also blame readers for accepting |
| 35-40 positions, according to a letter sent by | | | | abbreviated news drops from TV and myriad cable |
| publisher Timothy Johnson. The cuts are about | | | | networks. They whine about the Blogosphere and |
| one-fourth of the news staff. The remaining | | | | Internet domination. They complain about the short |
| reporters are being told to write more stories under | | | | attention span of their readers. It's this and it's that. |
| the same deadline constraints. Coverage of local | | | | And so, with the help of $500 an hour consultants |
| meetings has been put into secondary importance; | | | | who eruditely harrumph their grandeur of divine |
| bureaus have been combined. The Morning Call is not | | | | guesses, they make cosmetic changes. They follow |
| alone. | | | | the 24/7 cable networks and increase entertainment |
| About 85 percent of all dailies with more than | | | | and gossip. They give us more syrupy "feel good" |
| 100,000 circulation, and about half of all dailies with | | | | news. They say they want to be "relevant." Editors |
| circulations under 100,000, have cut the number of | | | | at the Morning Call, like many newspapers, are placing |
| reporters and editors, according to a survey | | | | light features and how-to columns higher than hard |
| conducted by the Pew Research Center for the | | | | news. Some changes improve the product, most are |
| People and the Press. During the first half of this | | | | band-aids. A decade ago, the American Society of |
| year, newspapers laid off or froze more than 6,500 | | | | Newspaper Editors published a study that revealed |
| news positions. This was the biggest loss in three | | | | Americans wanted less, not more sensationalism, |
| decades, according to the American Society of | | | | gossip, and celebrity news. Apparently, no one was |
| Newspaper Editors. | | | | listening to the people. |
| With the layoffs, news quality has suffered. A | | | | The system is broken, and it's the owners' fault. |
| newsroom filled with younger reporters-they aren't | | | | They have already "maximized profits" by low |
| paid as much as the senior reporters who were | | | | salaries and minimal benefits, giving veteran reporters |
| terminated or laid off-leaves a newspaper vulnerable | | | | "involuntary terminations," significantly reduced |
| to a newsroom with less knowledge of the | | | | employee education programs, cut the number of |
| community and how to gather, report, and write | | | | pages, reduced the page size, and increased the use |
| news. Almost no newspapers have proofreaders. | | | | of material provided by syndicates rather than local |
| About 40 percent of all newspapers report they | | | | news staff. These latest cuts are deep into the |
| have fewer copyeditors today than just two years | | | | muscle. Owners of the Morning Call, like owners at |
| ago. No proofreaders means more typos. Fewer | | | | hundreds of other newspapers, apparently believe |
| copyeditors means sloppier copy, more factual error, | | | | that reducing quality improves profits. The owners of |
| and a lot more stories that are incomplete. | | | | the newspaper industry need a course in Basic |
| During the past few years, newspaper owners | | | | Journalism 101. |
| demanded and were getting at 20-40 percent profit, | | | | - A quality news product will increase circulation. |
| among the highest for any industry-and that includes | | | | - Increased circulation will bring more advertising. |
| Big Oil. With newsrooms and the news product | | | | - More advertising brings better profits and allows |
| already lean, the owners kept taking and taking. | | | | even more news quality. |
| And now there's an economic recession. Subscribers | | | | - Cutting reporters, benefits, employee training, and |
| are questioning their annual $150-250 investments. | | | | news coverage is not the way to save newspapers. |
| Businesses are folding, and the ones remaining are | | | | WANDERINGS, with Walter Brasch |
| reducing newspaper advertising budgets. | | | | Aug. |
