The Bigger Picture. . . with Marty Cheek: Journalism can have a bright new day if the industry can get creative
Published in the August 24 – September 6, 2016 issue of Gilroy Life
By Marty Cheek
Marty Cheek
The other week I made a 7 a.m. trip to the Westside Grill banquet room to meet Gilroy’s Sunrise Rotary Club and talk to the members about Life Media Group’s newest newspaper endeavor — Gilroy Life. Let me tell you, they’re a fun bunch of Rotarians — and the spread of a calorie-dense breakfast buffet of sausages, pancakes and other culinary delights served at the meeting makes it well worth joining their club.
One of the Sunrise Rotarians suggested that I watch John Oliver’s most recent Sunday night show “Last Week, Tonight” which featured the comedian’s commentary on the current state of journalism in America. I did indeed take a look at it online — and felt a bit depressed by how the esteem and financial viability of print newspapers has declined. Yes, no doubt the Internet has reduced the profitability of papers. Craigslist is always at the top of the blame game for journalism’s decline, and no doubt it has done some damage by taking away considerable classified ads revenue. But I think the real culprit is the newspaper business itself. The owners got complacent and lazy during the fat years, and when along came digital media, they didn’t seem to understand how technology could be an ally and not an enemy. They forgot the basic American capitalist principle: that innovation is the driving force of all industries. There’s a reason people don’t drive Model T Fords anymore — other than at Morgan Hill’s Fourth of July Parade. We’ve moved into to the Tesla era. Newspapers need to do the same.
Much of the problem for the financial decline of journalism is the bean-counters bringing in cost-cutting maneuvers where competent reporters and editors are cut from the news room. They’re replaced by the fresh-faced college graduates who understand the social media audience’s need for a constant deluge of tweets on what kitten-gets-rescued story or celebrity scandal might be trending at the moment. That’s not journalism. It’s a lackey serving the public’s need for instant entertainment gratification.
When a young person tells me they’re interested in studying journalism, my first inclination is to warn them away from the profession. Newspaper reporters don’t get rich. With an annual average pay of $35,600 (versus $54,940 for public relations), those who get into the profession do it more for love than money. During the past decade, the salaries of journalists haven’t even kept up with inflation.
OK, I’ll make a confession. I love journalism. I have newspaper ink running through my arteries, as they say. Perhaps what I should tell the journalist wannabe is that there are a lot more perks than a paycheck that comes from working for a newspaper or magazine. It’s a great gig that opens the doors to many amazing adventures. You”ll get to connect with countless individuals who have fantastic stories. You’re always learning something new. And you’ll develop your creative skills by releasing your inner wordsmith when you’re finding a fresh way to tell a story.
I’d recommend a journalism degree over a MBA any day to someone who might be interested in going into a business career. Work a couple of years at a newspaper as a reporter and you’ll quickly develop some really valuable people skills — especially an intuition power much like Peter Parker’s “spidey senses” when interviewing someone who might be inclined to fabricate facts.
It’s sad to see a noble profession like print journalism in its decline. The romantic idealist in me wants to believe it’s also unnecessary. Although I question whether the top-heavy big-guy newspapers can continue much longer with their traditional business model, the small-town local newspapers have opportunities to not just survive but thrive. Their owners just need to gather the courage to get creative and develop ways to use modern media distribution methods to better serve the public’s need.
An important first step is to recall who the news-consuming audience is — and provide content that’s targeted locally. Another step is to take pride in the quality of the news product. Too many newspapers just fill their pages with stories with no real substance.
Time after time, people have told me that they just scan the traditional newspapers because there’s nothing much of interest in them. Time after time, I also hear that people read Morgan Hill Life — and now Gilroy Life — “from cover to cover.” I ask them why. Usually, their answer is that the content they read is interesting to their lives — and that the newspaper makes them feel good about their community.
Newspapers are not dead — at least not yet. Maybe the print news biz is not heading toward a dead end. There are amazing opportunities waiting on the road ahead. Who knows? Maybe with gumption and smart innovation in media and marketing, the state of journalism in America might yet be turned around — and we can see a bright new sunrise for a noble profession.
