Little surprise accompanied my reading that Coreweekly, one of Madison's alternative weekly publications, was ending its 18-month run because of apparent financial difficulties. In the saturated news environment that is Madison, publications that have a hard time defining themselves and their product usually have a hard time attracting readers and advertisers. Coreweekly's demise, however, provides local journalists a unique look at the way the newspaper industry is currently being run: with both eyes on the business prize and a total lack of interest for substantive news coverage.
Coreweekly was owned by Capital Newspapers Inc., the company that also owns The Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal. Half of Capital Newspapers is owned by Iowa-based Lee Enterprises. Fairly stated, Lee Enterprises can be described as a newspaper monopoly. According to its website, Lee owns 52 daily newspapers and more than 300 weekly publications in 23 states. In 2005, Lee became the fourth largest newspaper company in the country in terms of dailies owned — quite the successful business model.
While most in the financial world would applaud this kind of growth and development, the journalist in me is wary of this type of economic conglomeration and take-over. Should the primary objective of a newspaper company or publisher be to reap the greatest financial award, even at the expense of fulfilling its duty and obligations as articulated by the Founding Fathers? Should news coverage and dissemination of critical information take a backseat to crass capitalism?
In essence, this is what is happening in the contemporary newspaper industry. Business companies masquerading as news publishers have monopolized the industry, acquiring smaller news sources in bulk to add to their financial coffers. Local newspapers that regularly reported on significant political, economic and social issues affecting a community are being replaced with newspapers that dilute their front page with the AP News wire. Text and substantive content are overwhelmed by glossy photo spreads and advertisements, room that could be used to educate readers about events occurring beyond our borders in places other than Iraq.
According to The Washington Post, newspaper circulation numbers have been gradually decreasing for the last 20 years. This loss in revenue has forced a number of publishers to adopt business models that are usually acquainted with GE or IBM. Newspapers are increasingly being run by business professionals who turn the newsroom into an environment where the words "profit," "incentive" and "merger" don't seem so out of place anymore. Nowhere is this more evident than Lee Enterprises.
Of its six key operating principles, most important is Lee's commitment to "growing revenue creatively and rapidly." Not to be ignored, Lee also believes in "exercising careful cost controls." At first look, it seems Lee believes in running its newspapers like a Fortune 500 company — maximize profit, cut costs and disregard any grey in between. And while it has a section entitled "Principles for Quality Journalism," after a few looks, one cannot help feel like they are being lectured in the environs of a Journalism 202 lecture.
Many point to the decline in newspaper circulation as a direct result of the emergence of the 24-hour cable news cycle and the Internet. However, cable news continues to disappoint, with its infatuation of celebrity idiots and novel diet plans. "News" programs featuring Bill O'Reilly and Chris Mathews tend to be less than informative, if one can even escape the boorish behavior that predominates them. And while the Internet has spawned a number of fantastic sites that tackle news stories far and wide, it has also been abused by the likes of bloggers who care little for the basic tenets of journalism and its practice.
The business model that dominates the newspaper industry has undoubtedly undermined the core principles and functions of the press — to act as a governmental watchdog, to create an informed citizenry and to foster a marketplace of ideas. Smaller papers will continue to be bought out by monopolies driven by profit-maximization, ensuring the steady elimination of diversity of thought, ideas and opinion — elements that have made this country what it is today.
Josh Moskowitz ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.
