The Reno Gazette-Journal and the The Cincinnati Enquirer are among newspapers that have eliminated standalone business sections, Talking Biz News says, as publishers look for more ways to cut costs. And no wonder: Those pesky business news reporters threaten revenue streams from major advertisers if they write negative stories. If you were a publisher desperate to trim expenses, wouldn't you take a hard look at the business news department, too?(A side note: One of the things that's always killed me about the Gazette-Journal is its willingness to kow-tow to powerful local casinos by using the more palatable term "gaming'' when referring to that industry. Who's the paper fooling? I mean, when was the last time you heard someone say they go to Reno to "game"?)
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[Image: this morning's Gazette-Journal, Newseum. The paper's lede story says: "After cutting their teeth in Nevada, this year's presidential candidates will take on the rest of the Mountain West on Tuesday, the biggest single day on the nominating calendar."]
Well, as a long-time Nevadan (one, btw, never employed by the RGJ) one of the things that's always killed me is how east- and west-coast media types take such offense at the word 'gaming.' Y'all seem shocked, shocked! that gambling occurs in casinos! The word 'gaming' has been enshrined in Nevada regulation since the 1950s, when the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission were established. The state regulates the gaming industry and the media cover it. No one attempts to deny that gambling is the primary activity of the gaming industry (although food and entertainment revenue has grown significantly as a percentage of the whole in recent years) and no one is kowtowing to anyone in the use of the word. Welcome to Nevada (and that's Nev-add-a, not Ne-vah-da ...)
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting to see a negative or pesky story in a business section. They seem to exist to pander to advertisers and the "business community." Good riddance, I say.
ReplyDeleteIt it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck -- it's gambling. Evidence of the Reno Gazette-Journal's cozy history with the GAMBLING industry, when Sue Clark-Johnson was the grand poobah: http://www.pyramid.net/burghart/scj.html
ReplyDeletewhy bother!
ReplyDeleteI posted a comment when this story originally appeared and it's never been posted.
Did you post a comment on Gannett Blog -- or somewhere else?
ReplyDelete