Editor & Publisher's Demise Another Nail in Print Journalism's Coffin

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Iam not surprised reading the death of Editor and publisher and Kirkus Review.That one is natural.It is ringing bell for other priented newspaper also.Those who did not undersatand the present they suffer same way.

Why not priented newspaper understand that in today people have no time to read newwspaper paying money when all news that get instently free on their mobile.Speedy lifeof today people have no time,to read a mumojumo material and weste their time.

I think this is natural.

Ramesh Raghuvanshi 10:48AM January 04, 2010

Iam not surprised reading the death of Editor and publisher and Kirkus Review.That one is natural.It is ringing bell for other priented newspaper also.Those who did not undersatand the present they suffer same way.

Why not priented newspaper understand that in today people have no time to read newwspaper paying money when all news that get instently free on their mobile.Speedy lifeof today people have no time,to read a mumojumo material and weste their time.

I think this is natural.

Ramesh Raghuvanshi 10:48AM January 04, 2010

I hear and even feel your every comment on this topic. There HAS to be good reporting done to keep democracy working. On the other side, is it possible that some of that is being made up from the expanse of the Internet? Sure, some stories are just surface, and others of poor quality, but resources that are doing a good job get the vote of people (and commerce) through readership.

Is it also possible, that now is a time for more good journalists to learn better online skills so they can create articles and websites that still serve the people and support themselves at the same time?

leavethejobbehind.com

Tim of MO 11:03AM December 20, 2009

Hey, Jamie.

Hope you are well. Thanks for the compliment about my police reporting. Very gracious thing to say about a lot of clips going yellow in the Sun morgue files.

As to me quitting after not getting a raise -- that's a version of events so crude and reductive as to be inaccurate. I don't think I've ever made a decision based on money in my life, honestly.

In fact, I took a buyout after I wrote a private note to John Carroll with concern about the newspaper's priorities, the newsroom dynamic and other issues. Although the letter, which I saved, was encouraging, polite in its criticism and carefully worded, it got no response whatsoever. Instead, John angrily spiked my next article without explanation and then told me, with a buyout on the table, that perhaps it would be best if I left the paper. My editor, Rebecca Corbett, thought that John had reacted emotionally and on impulse and that he actually valued the work I did. I replied that it was increasingly clear that what I valued in journalism was not valued by management and what they valued, I held in low regard. As a litmus test, I then asked for the first raise in my career at The Sun. I did so not because the money mattered -- my newspaper salary was a small minority, and the proposed raise a tiny fraction, of my income at that point -- but to demonstrate to Rebecca, a good soul still trying to rescue the situation, that John had been blunt truthful about his desires and that it was time to go.

To see this dynamic reduced to an argument over money in your column is just a little disappointing. Money was never the issue and those in the newsroom who were privy to the actual discussions know this -- John and Bill included. I realize this as all who-slapped-john at this point, but hey, you brought it up, not me.

And while I respect the sincerity of your opinions about Sun management at that time, I can't join in your admiration. I loved print journalism for things that were not valued in that newsroom, and that which was exalted as a newspaper's highest ambitions were, from my point of view, a kind of small-trick, prize-hungry cunning.

I do agree that The Sun is in a tragic state. I just date its decline from an earlier point, I suppose.

Best regards,

David Simon

David Simon of MD 8:04PM December 16, 2009

I believe that a new model of charitably paid journalism like endowed professorships should be developed. There may for example be sponsored city hall journalists, state house, business etc. The assignment may go for 5 years or until retirement. They would likely be directed by existing news organizations or pubic media but there may be more public rights to the writings. The idea is that they are independent of their sponsors who can not dismiss them for the term. I believe that individuals and foundations will support this.

Eriemaster of OH 3:16PM December 16, 2009

I enjoyed the straight forward commentary in the above story. Ms. Stiehm I am in my mid 50s, I read and listen to everything. I have always enjoyed the print media of the 60s 70s and 80s. I noticed that as my generation got older and the younger croud came into "journalism" something remarkable began to take form. Journalism began to age as well, at first it was competition, then aggressiveness all the way to sensationalism.

The greats, and I think you might be included in that group in my opinion have been replaced by radicals. And the masses, those of us who actually have educations and those who do not but still the masses...will NOT read radical articles, reports, or stories that some editor decides to sensationalize to grab a readers eye.

Simply stated, honest reporting has been a lost art for 25 years. The proof is the demise of the print media. That media that was high brow and stuffy, and is now "gone"...

Good luck to you as you grow and continue your work. Please re-define journalism back to its glory days. We, the public readership, no longer want propaganda, we simply want honest and well written truths...

Tom in San Diego of CA 12:57PM December 16, 2009

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Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm is a weekly Creators Syndicate columnist. Her op-eds on politics, culture, and history have appeared in newspapers across the nation, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. She previously worked as a reporter at the Baltimore Sun and The Hill. Jamie's first journalism job was as an assignment editor at the CBS News bureau in London.

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