Headlines over today's stories about Detroit's plans to significantly curtail home delivery, starting in the spring. The Detroit News's especially bland headline reads like a lot of editors signed off on the wording. Lede stories in the News, and the Detroit Free Press.
[Images: Newseum]
fyi - the freep's front page is on freep.com, on the left about halfway down.
ReplyDeleteFreep "Newspaper moves forward in new direction"
ReplyDeleteDetoit is spinning this to make it look like the greatest thing since canned tuna fish. Oh well, what else could they, aside from closing down the properties?
ReplyDeleteFreep "Newspaper moves forward in new direction"
ReplyDeleteIf you're "moving forward" but in a "new direction," does that mean you were "moving backward" up until now?
Sounds like a headline written by a goofus publisher to deceive subscribers. Since when did any cutback in service represent a positive? If you ask me, they're trying to hawk New Coke.
ReplyDeleteI am just recovering from the speechless phase concerning this "plan." It is simply a disaster, and a retreat from a tradition of more than a century of journalism. The message Corporate is sending is that we will give you news only if we can coin cash from the ads that come with it. It is not journalism or news that is driving this decision, it is ads and money. Every other GCI property will see similar plans imposed in coming months. But who is asking the question whether our readers will continue to pick up their newspapers if they believe they are just shoppers and are only being served because advertisers want to get their ads to them. If newspaper readers believe they are going to buy newspapers only because they are viewed as being advertiser readers and coupon clippers, the whole idea of this enterprise will collapse. I am still wretching at this prospect.
ReplyDeleteI've been appalled at the lack of objective coverage -- and in some cases no coverage at all -- at some of Gannett's papers. We're writing about layoffs all across town that wind up on, at least, the local front but we fail to write about our own? Bury it inside in a brief? What ever happened to transparency?
ReplyDeleteJim: You should count how many Gannett papers failed to write stories about their layoffs, and those that only committed 6 inches. Also, some papers aren't counting the true number of jobs lost, only filled positions lost.
Also: Some paper's don't think twice about running a wire story about corporate layoffs when it affects a small branch in their community. But no wire stories about Gannett's layoffs, even though we're at least mid-size employers in a lot of communities??
ReplyDeleteIf you needed any further evidence of how gutless the Detroit newspapers have become, just read those two headlines again...
ReplyDeleteHeh 11:53 welcome to the 21st Century. These properties lose millions and millions of dollars a year. What would you do? Lets hear your recommendations how you put lipstick on this beast. These papers brought the mayor down but still ost millions. So what is yoru answer?
ReplyDelete12:29 Well, if I were a multi-million company, why would I rush in to buy newspapers in a declining market like Detroit, where the major employer is in trouble. No one held a gun to the head of Corporate when they cut this deal with Knight-Ridder, then switched. Did they not do the due diligence saavy companies are supposed to do before they make a major purchase?
ReplyDeleteThat aside, what I would do is delink from the Web, and get some staff that have some life to them. The Freep used to be a fun paper. Today it is boring, dull and miserable to read. I would stuff it with fun features, set up a investigative team of the best reporters, and raise hell in Detroit so much that people would have to buy it because they couldn't read what it said on the Internet. I would make it a compelling newspaper again instead of this soppy rag it is today.
You asked.
Add Cincinnati to the list of papers who have been less than transparent in conveying the actual number of people fired, if at all during the past few years.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, Cincy did share that they are cutting 30 pages during the week and six on Sundays...in City Beat, a weekly alternative paper owned by a competitor.
At this rate, Cincy will have to cut certain days as the paper will be too light for home delivery drivers to throw as they'll just blow away in a light breeze...
Hi, long-time reader, first-time poster. I'm just wondering how objective this post is. Isn't a little unfair to criticize the people who wrote this headline without knowing the story behind it? Isn't this blog about reporting daily facts about Gannett and its properties? What does bashing a hed at a non-Gannett paper have to do with anything?
ReplyDelete-Former Detroit News copy editor now stuck at a Gannett paper and reconsidering my $5 subscription
12:56 pm: Please tell us "the story behind" that headline.
ReplyDelete12:56 Why is it unfair? We are all newspaper readers here, and we are all educated enough to see the News headline, and the Freep's online headline seemed written to avoid telling readers the story. Certainly "Newspaper moves forward in a new direction" doesn't encapsulate the nut graf of the story, which is the paper is ending home delivery four days a week.
ReplyDeleteJim, I wish I knew the story, but I thought that was your job to report. ;)
ReplyDelete1:29 pm: This is part of the reporting process: Post something, then ask readers for more information.
ReplyDeleteWhat's worse than the headlines are the stories below them. Some were written by staff cheerleaders with buzz words like "bold" and "innovative."
ReplyDeleteRead the newspapers' stories on other declining industries and you will see completely different rhetoric.
Shame on both newspapers for not reporting the news on such a monumental day. The lines between business and news blurred today, and that's sad.
I read some the Freep story on the historic bold new direction, and was struck that not one subscriber was interviewed.
ReplyDeleteOn any other subject, that would be reporting 101. Remember, balance?
I always give people great latitude when their byline appears on what we used to call policy stories. The poor sap has no control over what the editor does to these stories, and inevitably they are read up and down on each floor of the building, with all offices having their input. I have written these stories, and have been shamed by what appeared in print, so I don't blame the reporter for any word these particular stories contain.
ReplyDeleteNo one is talking about this, but imagine the future newsroom layoffs at both newspapers when you look at the reduced newshole of both papers during the non-delivery days. I would not be surprised to see 1/3 of the staff eliminated.
ReplyDeleteSure, this was a plan to save newsroom jobs, but when this all shakes out, editors will see too many reporters, photographers, copy editors and designers for slimmed-down editions.
I talked with one of the editors yesterday, and he said they were meeting behind closed doors to prioritize beats. You can bet they will find a lot of places to cut. You'll have reporters overextended to focus on numerous areas to write small stories that skim the surface.
Well, if my name appeared on the byline for any of the cheerleading stories that ran in either newspaper, I would have demanded it be removed. Immediately.
ReplyDeleteI'd post something if I could. But unfortunately I can't since I'm no longer employed there. What I'm curious about is how you came to the conclusion that the News' headline was "especially bland" and how you know that "a lot of editors signed off on the wording" when none of the other commenters on this blog said so and you haven't offered any of your own proof. Yeah, we may *think* it's true that editors have signed off on the hed, but without the proof I'm still skeptical.
ReplyDeleteLike I asked before, where's the objectivity? You can still maintain this blog and gather info without the snark. Unfortunately, it seems to be increasing in recent posts. I may have been a little sensitive since I love the News, but it's not just this post where straight facts are getting mixed in with unwarranted criticism.
Went to freep.com today to glance through the various "change" stories and curious to see what reader feedback was through our glorious pluck service. Two disturbing things - I tried two different stories both took forever to load and neither had feedback - very sad and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think another strategic error the Detroit papers are making is this: You are ENCOURAGING your paper readers to start getting their news from the Web four days a week. What's to stop them from tightening the belt, after the initial shock wears off, and moving 100 percent to the Web? Why try to motivate those who are loyal to the hard copy version to start getting a virtual version? Sounds like a short term solution that will create another long term problem, if you ask me.
ReplyDelete1:43 is right on the money. My same theory. How can these papers employ so many people with so few days of publishing. I'd predict the staff total will be under 1,000 by this time next year.
ReplyDeleteDetroit carriers - according to the below link to a story on editorandpublisher.com you don't have a problem with the changes - is that true?
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/436d5x