Saving the American Newspaper (S. T. A. N.)

Most newspapers are in trouble. Some are dying. Why? Can anything be done?

First of all, let’s cut through some of the rhetoric. To listen to the newspapers complain, you might think that the weak economy and the ever-stronger internet are the only bad actors in this drama.

What about the possibility that newspapers are their own worst enemies? My impression is that they’ve forgotten their core mission. They don’t seem to believe that telling the news truthfully and factually is the most important thing in life; and that serving their communities is the reason they exist.

Too many papers push personal political views, and are comfortable with printing propaganda instead of facts. As I watched the New York Times over the last decade, I thought: there goes a perfect recipe for disaster. But many smaller papers insist on imitating the Times. Now the Times and all its imitators are losing readers, revenue, and influence. For good reason.

I think you must also put blame on the haughty schools of journalism. What are J-schools telling young journalists? That their job is to save the world and transform the country--who cares if they lie a little. Great. So they show up in your town, and preach and spin. It’s almost as if journalists think the public exists to read their paper, rather than that journalists exist to create a paper worth reading!

I think there’s another suspect in this story. That would be the Educational Establishment. These people have dumbed down the public schools; they have diminished literacy in this country. But the myopic newspapers, eager to be cozy with other liberals, have encouraged the educators in their worst designs. Public schools have created tens of millions of functional illiterates, people who will never buy a newspaper. The public schools also do a poor job of teaching the background information that people need to take advantage of newspapers. My sense is that newspapers and the Educational Establishment are mortal enemies. Unfortunately, newspapers didn’t get the news.

The plight of newspapers is a fascinating problem. Business, psychology, marketing, carelessness, reckless ideology -- all intersect in this tragedy. I say it’s a tragedy because I believe the country absolutely needs newspapers. They encourage literacy, spread information, and bind a community together. But here we are, surrounded by newspapers with sure instincts for self-destruction. I’ve been thinking about this problem a lot the past year. I believe the cure is obvious. If there is to be any hope at all, newspapers must do what they should have been doing all along. Here is a three-part program that I call S.T.A.N.:

First, newspapers must reject propaganda, politics, and preaching. They must get back in the truth business. All the facts, and nothing but the facts. Finding people who can tell the truth unadorned will be a tremendous step forward. With luck we might get back to the good old days when the New York Times tried to live by its then-motto: “to give the news impartially, without fear or favor.”

Second, newspapers must think of their communities as friends and family. You don’t lecture friends and family. You try to help them. You try to be a good neighbor and a loyal partner. What I’ve seen the past year is that newspapers almost seem to enjoy reporting grim news. This is exactly the wrong attitude. Newspapers should be trying to comfort readers, to explain things in a professional but friendly manner, to raise morale, and restore the country to prosperity.

Third, newspapers have to get into the work that public schools have abandoned--education. Every component of the paper should be examined for its educational possibilities. The goal is to teach what the schools used to teach: the basic knowledge that people must have to read a paper intelligently. Plus, literacy must be promoted in every way possible. Basically, newspapers have to get busy creating a customer base for newspapers!

Saving The American Newspaper (S.T.A.N.) is an urgent matter. Worst case, newspapers can slow their decline. Best case, they build trust for a long-term relationship.