Is the Sunday Paper Now an Everyday Paper?

Casey Compernolle, Column

 The Sunday front page has always been infamous for adding that special    touch, an escape one can appreciate from the hectic week of work or  class.  However, the recent Sunday front page has underwhelmed many    people, including myself.

Where’s the surprise, the originality?  Has the front page lost that special    touch on its most important day?

Everyone’s take on the front page is simply a reflection of taste.  If you’re constantly on the go you might prefer every major story slapped on for a quick and easy read.  However, Sunday has always been a day where one could devote more time to really digest the articles.   And in a world where we can check the news on a computer with a few quick clicks of our mouse, it’s easy to see there’s no such thing as disclosure.

Many people may not be surprised at what they see on the front page paper anymore, but I do believe they still want to be immersed.

This is not to say that all newspapers are dropping the ball on Sunday.  There are still some local and national papers that are living up to the “Sunday front page” hype.  However, this group remains small.

There could be many reasons for the lack of creativity in Sunday’s front page, such as the rise of technology, budget cuts in the newsroom, the increased use of templates, or the approach to appease every reader.

The rise of technology has changed the way society views news.  It no longer entails running to the store and buying the paper, or waiting by the radio for updates on a story.  Most of us have the news in our hands at all times.   New news can become old news in the same  day if you’re accessible to technology.  Between major TV channels, social media, radio, and Internet, it’s not hard to find all the details to your favorite story within a matter of minutes.

A question I must ask is: with the element of surprise decreasing in news, is the element of creativity decreasing as well?

Budget cuts in the newsroom could also be a factor.  The design of a newspaper is meant  to grab the reader and without enough visual journalists, it can quickly turn the paper into average and eliminate that creative over-the-top page: the front page.

With budget cuts in mind, templates can be an efficient and cost effective route for newspapers.  The time and money saved can be tempting, especially during financially hard times.

This isn’t to say there is anything wrong with simplified templates, but where is that time saved being invested?  If newspapers used some of the time saved towards creating a more personalized approach for major stories, I truly believe this would enhance reader satisfaction.

The front page should be moving and inspirational.  The purpose is to lure the reader in and make them hungry for more.  When major historical events occur, often times people buy the paper from that day to remember both what was said and how they felt, and the tedious design of the page greatly contributes to this. This takes time, however, ,and should always be done skillfully with attention to detail: especially on Sundays.

Lastly, could the front page simply be an attempt to appease all readers?  Many Sunday front pages consist of a variety of articles on a variety of subjects.  From sports and leisure, to politics and entertainment, it is almost as if newspapers are trying to fit the whole paper on the front page.

Newspapers should allot enough space to interest the sports fan, political guru, and the environmentalist, but it doesn’t all have to be on the front page.

So, let’s bring back the originality and creative feel that Sunday’s front page once had.  Let’s make it competitive, let’s make it selective, but most of all: let’s make it special.

Carr Van Anda winner shares passion for local news

Kayla Hanley, Reporter

Ever wondered who was number one on the Klu Klux Klan hit list? Well as it turns out, renowned publisher H. Brandt Ayers was after covering the March of Washington for his community newspaper, the Anniston Star.

Last Monday Ayers was awarded the 72^nd Carr Van Anda award, which was established in 1968, by the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and is the highest journalism award the school gives.

Ayers is the current chairman and publisher of the Anniston Star, which serves as the site for news in all of east central Alabama. Ayers also has a current column with the newspaper titled “The news stops here.”

H. Brandt Ayers (left) receives Carr Van Anda award.

“I was born into [the business] and I just didn’t have the skill to be a drummer in a rock band.” Ayers said.

Ayer’s grandfather was the first publisher for the Anniston Star who passed the position of owning the paper on to his son who then passed it on to H. Brandt Ayers.

The Anniston Star is a community paper that Ayers said he holds very true to his heart.

“Local stories are the lifeblood of a community. Caring about everything in the community has the same impact with the publishers, as with the citizens,” he said. “There is no passion in the writing of a New York Times writer compared to a writer of a community newspaper.”

Throughout his years of writing, editing, and publishing for the Anniston Star, the one memory Ayers said impacted him most was when the newspaper published an article about a white man being convicted of murdering a black man, by an all-white jury. The trial was called the Night Rider Murder in which Ayers said a “white KKK thug was convicted of murdering a black man,”  and every person on the jury allowed for their names to be published on the front page of the paper to show that the murder was not right.

Ayers said this was a turning point for the Anniston Star because it showed their community that they were going to do everything to publish their opinions and what they believed was right.

“In community newspapers nobody is afraid of giving their opinion. We try to be fair, and we dig through to cover, or uncover, stories in and so our community believes in it,” Ayers said.

Ayers has a very strong passion for local and community news and believes that there should be a community newspaper in every town.

With regard to the changing field of journalism and the future of print news Ayers said, “We at the Anniston Star are the centripetal force pulling everyone to the center, yet the field of journalism is in trouble.”

However, Ayer has hope for the future of journalism and local news.

“Are we going to survive? I think we have to,” he said. “The news is the only connection our readers have connecting them to what’s going on in the world around them. I am absolutely convinced that until the repeal of human nature there will be a need for us.”

 

Industry changes continue to alter career outlook

Story // Raquel Harrah, Reporter

The days of the investigative reporter are few and far between as journalism looks for means of economic survival. The term “muckrakers,” once used to describe investigative journalists passionate about reporting on social issues, is no longer heard, while entrepreneurial skills are being included as a requirement for journalists to succeed.

“You can look at The Plain Dealer and how much they used to have investigators and reporters that would go and sniff out facts, and now by the shear bulk of workers, this is no longer the case,” said Scott Chapski, copy editor for Ernst & Young, a professional service firm.

Investigating seems to no longer be part of the journalism job description. The great shift from reporting to a more business-like structure can be associated directly with finances.

“I think there’s a big fear that newsprint will no longer be there, so people are trying to diversify and look for what will be the next market. In order to achieve that, they look to write for what will be out there,” Chapski said.

Yet, how will this great shift from investigative journalism to business journalism affect the integrity of news reporting? Different journalists disagree on the subject, some arguing that journalism and business do not mix.

In a Poynter article by Bill Kirtz, a Miami Herald reporter and editor Tom Fielder  said that reporters “don’t see today’s problems as journalism problems but as business problems they can’t solve.”

Some journalists believe that providing journalists  with the business skills they find necessary will help create new revenue streams for the struggling field. Classes such as Ohio University’s JOUR492 Editing and Management class, which is offered in the spring, teach a combination of journalism and business skills that can make an important difference in succeeding  or failing in the industry.

The main issue of journalists who are concerned about combining journalism and business is the fear of biased reporting. Reporters may shift their attention from reporting the unadulterated facts to not reporting certain facts in order to maintain advertisers and generate more revenue. Even though clear and unbiased views are considered essential, business affiliations can sometimes blur the lines of journalist integrity.

With social media making a breakthrough in journalism, INMA (International Newsmedia Marketing Association) has recently expressed some major concerns about this issue.

In a statement on Wednesday, Feb. 16,  Earl J. Wilkinson, the CEO of INMA, reported that he was “cautiously optimistic” about tablet subscriptions for the iPad and other technology.

The unclear guides between business and reporting have left INMA to be slightly concerned about certain implications.

In another statement released on Feb. 16, INMA said “Publishers cannot agree with the practices of technology companies that interfere with editorial decisions on what to put into a digital publication.”

This was one of the four main concerns outlined  by INMA also including censorship of content, the need for transparency in the framework and a direct relationship with customers and a fair business partnership.

This does not infer an end to all investigative reporting, but  shows the separation that reporting and business must have for fair and balanced news. Nonprofit news organizes are emerging to ensure that financial incentives do not interfere with accurate stories.

One nonprofit news market is ProPublica, who celebrated receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting last April.

In their mission statement, they explain their goal “to expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business, and other institutions, using the moral force of investigative journalism to spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.”

They point out that many news organizations struggle with investigative reporting due to time and budget. Using donations and their own time, ProPublica remains a major investigative reporting force in today’s journalism market, raising hope that not all accurate reporting to bring about social change is dead in today’s world.

Community journalism course gives students reality check

Story // Leah Petrovich, Contributing Writer

Working for a city’s top-notch newspaper or news station is the ideal job for many journalists; however, it is clear that not everyone will get that New York Times position. If the “big leagues” aren’t for everyone, another path that comprises the majority of post-college jobs may be the path more often taken — community journalism.

Associate Professor Bill Reader will teach Journalism 362, an elective course offered during Spring Quarter 2011.

Reader has been employed at Ohio University since 2002, and he is approaching his  third time teaching this course.

“Professors have specific areas of knowledge, but do not always get the chance to teach the courses of their expertise every year,” Reader said.

Fortunately, Reader, a national expert in community journalism, is able to teach this elective course once again next quarter.

Reader has spent his entire professional career involved in community journalism. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Reader got his start in the journalism field with various positions at daily papers around the State College, Pa. area.

“Community journalism is where journalists gain their early experience, but most often it turns into how they make their living,” Reader said. “This class is a reality check. ‘Big league’ jobs are in finite numbers.”

The course will cover the whole aspect of community journalism: print, online and radio. Reader said that it will be more about theory and discussions than hands-on work. Discussions about newspaper and radio will be prevalent in the class because they are very community-based, rather than television-based, which is more regional.

Since students can expect the class to be more discussion-based, reading and conversing about current issues in community journalism will be another aspect of the class. An assignment Reader raves about is an analysis of the students’ hometown media.

“The students usually gain a new appreciation for their hometown paper because they understand what they really do. However, they could find out it is worse than they thought, as well,” Reader said.

The final project will be a prototype of community journalism. Chelsea Toy, a former journalism major in the Honors Tutorial College, and a top graduating senior of 2010 from the School of Journalism, began a blog about barrel-racing for her final project. Toy still continues this blog today.

The course covers issues journalists are currently facing. It is a three credit hour class and will be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 – 2:30 p.m. with only 17 seats available in the class.