Do We Really Need Two Newspapers In Town?

OWNERS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN News in Denver, CO announced today that the newspaper would print their last edition ever on Friday. After nearly 150 years, the paper is folding.

"Denver can't support two newspapers any longer," the owners told staffers, some of whom cried at the news. "It's certainly not good news for you, and it's certainly not good news for Denver."

Other towns with multiple daily newspapers are being scrutinized now by the national media, as everyone is searching for ways to keep newspapers alive (or at least continuing to produce quality journalism).

Here in Philadelphia, the idea of killing the Philadelphia Daily News has drawn attention, and impassioned pleas from various corners.

"The Daily News has survived by being the kind of paper that our readers -- heavily urban, weighted towards the kind of folks who don't spend all day staring into a computer screen -- will not replace with any other," wrote Daily News blogger Will Bunch.

Is there room for two major printed, daily newspapers in Philadelphia (or anywhere for that matter) in the age of the Internet?

Can you save newspapers? Your ideas could make you wealthy (seriously ... no one has an answer right now).

Or should newspapers be allowed to fade into memory?

In Your Face, News Radio! Newspapers Rule!

THE IMAGE ABOVE IS FROM an ad that ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday.

The ad boasted that the newsgathering staff at the Inquirer was WAY larger than the that of the local news radio station. It accuses the radio anchors of reading the Inquirer on air as a way of doing their reporting.

The ad, of course, comes a few days after the owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer filed for bankruptcy.

I just wanted you to see how desperate the mainstream print media is getting.

You guys are the future of journalism. You have the ability to shape how news is delivered in the years ahead.

Do we even need printed newspapers anymore if most people get their information online?

(BTW - Fox29 did a reaction story and basically found that most people don't read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Lovely.)

Ug. Another Reason To Hate Journalists.

I'VE BEEN RELUCTANT to post this controversial image, a cartoon that ran in the New York Post last week, for obvious reasons. It is racist as all hell.

But there are larger issues at stake here.

We have established that print journalists cannot be censored before going to press unless there are very specific, dire circumstances. But how can you control the media and deter them from spreading offensive material like this? Is there a way? Should there be?

Legally, the cartoon was acceptable. Ethically, it is despicable.

How do you train journalists to be ethically sound, and who decides what is ethically proper?

Historically, political cartoonists have exaggerated the distinct appearances of public figures, such as President Barack Obama's rather large ears. Former President George Bush was drawn as a chimp on numerous occassions. Are political cartoonists now required to be politically correct when drawing people?

Is there a lesson that can be learned from this?

Jackson: "You Can't Make Excuses."

WHAT DID YOU THINK of today's guest, Donnell Jackson? Did he enlighten you on the ways of the broadcast world?

Here's what stood out to me:

- Establish your goals, and figure out how to reach them.
- Broadcast news requires A LOT OF WRITING.
- There are many jobs in newsrooms besides reporters and anchors.
- Producers have a influence in terms of what gets on the news (and how it is presented).
- The people you meet today may be leaders of tomorrow, even the slackers sitting next to you in class.
- You need multiple skills - writing, editing, shooting, etc.
- You can't make excuses.
- Journalism is not a craft that will make you rich.
- Talk to people doing what you want to do in the future.
- Get started now.

What stood out for you?

Who's Packing? Check Online.

A TENNESSEE NEWSPAPER posted a database of people who were registered with the state to carry a concealed weapon.

People freaked out, saying that posting the database threatens people's Second Amendment right - the right to bear arms. The newspaper is anti-gun, they said.

Others argued that the list is already available by asking the state government, so why not post an otherwise public list? People have the right to know if their neighbor is armed, right?

What do you think? Should the newspaper out those packing heat?

Your Career Starts Now.

JENNIFER MERRILL APPROACHED me on the first day of school during the fall semester. She told me that she may have to run out of class sometimes - she was pregnant, and morning sickness was unpredictable.

I told her to write about her experiences. She's 18, a freshman at TU. She doesn't know what she will do with the child - she is weighing keeping the child versus putting the child up for adoption.

Jennifer wrote a long, thoughtful piece. I sent it to my editor at the Philadelphia Weekly. And it is the cover story of this week's paper.

Get your career started now. Write, photograph and create videos for the Temple News. Join student groups like ED2010, TABJ, WHIP, Temple Update, the Templar, SPJ, whatever.

Get involved. Now.

Photographing the War Dead: Is It Honoring or Disrespecting Them?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA said that he may reconsider the ban on photographing the caskets of service men and women who died in combat.

In place since 1991, the ban has been denied the public the ability to witness the "dignified transfer of remains."

Some argue that politics is in play - showing the coffins will turn the public against the war. Others argue that allowing the press to document these transfers disrespects the service these soldiers provided, and it is an intrusion on the family's privacy.

Should the media be allowed to document the return of our deceased soldiers?

NBA to Players: No Gangsta-style Tats (SIKE!)

A PHOENIX ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER ran a cover story last week about the NBA's proposed new rule to limit the number of tattoos NBA players can sport.

They quoted NBA commissioner David Stern: "We feel it is important that our players not scare the bejesus out of affluent demographic groups with gangsta-style tattoos."

They clarified with this: The proposed cap, as strange as it sounds, would require teams to limit their roster as a whole to 61 percent tattoo coverage of the "upper arms and necks." So if a team has a couple of players covered in tats, conceivably two or three players with flesh as pure as a baby's butt would be needed to offset.

Fascinating stuff, eh?

Yeah, except it was all a hoax.

The Phoenix paper picked up on the story after it ran on Foxsports.com who pulled the story from a satirical blogger.

Should the Phoenix paper be punished in any way for running a story based on false information? Should they be reprimanded for their poor journalism?

Or is this just the way things are in the age of the Internet?

Parent Company: Bye Bye Community News.

THERE IS NO LONGER A NEWSPAPER dedicated to documenting the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Germantown and Mount Airy.

This week, the Journal Register company closed the Germantown Courier and the Mount Airy Times Express. These closings come after the Journal Register closed two Northeast Philadelphia newspapers last year - the Northeast Breeze and the the News Gleaner.

Just yesterday in class, we were talking about media ownership and their impact on the audience.

"I've been living in Germantown all my life and we've always had the Courier," Brian Matthews told the Daily News. "This is terrible. It's a total loss."

"It's very sad," said Sally Maddox, who was mailing a letter at a box on Price Street. "We'll definitely miss it around here."

How To Save Your Newspaper.

WALTER ISAACSON, THE AUTHOR of this week's Time magazine cover story, discussed the future of print journalism with Daily Show host John Stewart.

Check out the interview. Read Isaacson's essay. Pass along your thoughts.

How can newspapers make money when information on the Internet is generally accepted as being free? Will you pay the "micropayments" Isaacson mentions to read news online?

Who Owns The Image?

THE POSTER OF NOW President Barack Obama (above, right) that was widely circulated during the campaign was based on an image created by an Associated Press photographer (above, left).

Now the Associated Press wants credit and compensation for the image. The artist, apparently, has sold thousands of posters and stickers and parlayed the poster into fame. He now has a gallery show in Boston, and a version of the image has been added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

Should the Associated Press be compensated for their photojournalism? Or is this art, and therefore fair game?

(by the way, the artist is also the guy who created the "OBEY" stickers and posters that hang around the world).

McLoone: "Do Something You Really Like."

I'M INTERESTED IN your thoughts about today's speaker, Pat McLoone, the managing editor of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Here are a few things that stood out for me:

- Every day is a constant battle between what's going to sell and what's most important.
- You can be a fan but you must always remain objective.
- He wouldn't have allowed Larry Fitzgerald to cover his son.
- There is a liberal bias in the media.
- Sportswriters craft their stories during the game and send them to the editors almost immediately after the game ends.
- Drive, hard work and integrity are the keys to success.
- Offer to do the dirty work as a young reporter. It'll give you the foundation for your future work and it will endear you to the editors.

What stood out for you?

(the photo is via flickr)

In Today's News: God?

OVER THE PAST YEAR, the International Bible Society has delivered around 700,000 bibles that were packaged with newspapers.

The newspapers were delivered as part of people's home subscriptions and they arrived with a 200-page bible.

Is there any problem with newspapers delivering bibles? Does it make it seem like the newspaper is endorsing one religion over the others? Should there be a separation between news and religion? Or should the newspapers consider the bible products like any other advertising revenue?

What would you do?

Blatant Self-Promotion: Your Teacher is a Multimedia Journalist.


SO, I KEEP PREACHING TO YOU about the way journalism is evolving. The way things were done in the past may not be the way journalism is practiced in the future.

For instance, journalists today will be more readily employed if they have multiple skills - writing, shooting still images, packaging video, gathering sound, and creating full on web packages that include all of those elements (including graphics). That is the reason the MURL course exists.

I try to practice these things as well. I shot and edited the video above, and it complements the story here (for which I also shot the still images). It's not a great video by any means. But it's fun. And I got to drink beer as part of my job.

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