News is an essential mission of a newspaper. No question it draws a lion’s share of readers. But better, faster, smarter news is not enough to be the center of a rescue plan. Here’s why:
1. Everyone knows papers have news. So if news was enough, there wouldn’t be a problem. TV and radio headlines are even like free publicity, reminding readers of stories you can read more about in tomorrow’s paper.
2. News is already done well. Opportunities for improvement are much greater in other areas.
3. Today, news is everywhere. It’s tough to avoid. It’s crawling across or interrupting all sorts of TV show. It’s teased on your home page or a pop-up for your IM. You’ll hear traffic and weather on the radio, and get celebrity or sports news from friends or coworkers, by word of mouth, email or text message. If you really want news, you know where and when to find it. For free. For news, papers are less and less essential.
4. News can be depressing. It’s who died, who failed, who lied, who stole, who molested kids. Positive news is often downplayed if not dismissed because journalists fear sounding like salespeople or looking stupid if today’s hero is tomorrow’s indictee.
5. Plenty of people are bored by social studies. The public at large is just not as fascinated as journalists are with government, crime and commerce. Far from it. Nationally at night, Nightline gets pummeled by comedy. Locally in the morning, many more people listen to music or verbal high jinks than newsradio. The top news website, CNN.com, ranked only 14th on a recent Alexa list.
6. Too much news lacks lasting value. Why cram your brain with facts that are likely to change? Or not matter a month from now? Remember Harriet Myers? Who? The Supreme Court nominee. Sure was a big deal, day after day for weeks. Then suddenly her name’s withdrawn. No doubt some enjoyed the drama and debate. But others probably felt they wasted that time, should have read a book instead.
7. Local is never local enough. A colleague quoted a friend who said something like, “If it’s happening at my house, I care. Otherwise, I don’t.”Â
8. Other media are more immediate. Last night’s fire victim dies this morning and morning radio has the update. The actor apologizes live on TV for yesterday’s misdeeds. The president changes course in a morning speech, bringing instant saturation analysis long before the paper gets its turn.
9. Repetition becomes redundancy. Yet another murder locally or bombing overseas. Yet another story in which two paragraphs are new, and a dozen more paraphrase the background once again. Yet another cache of official cliches. All news media fight this battle.
10. The news mindset is the old mindset. It represents excellence, tradition, importance, and ethical standards. Yet, for those very reasons, it’s ill-equipped to innnovate.