Newspapers

1
Newspapers
2
First Amendment

• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom
  of speech, or of the press or the right of the
  people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
  government for a redress of grievances.

3
Thomas Jefferson

• Were it left to me to decide whether we should
  have a government without newspapers, or
  newspapers without a government, I should not
  hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
• - 1787

4
In Decline?

• Newspapers have degenerated. They may now be
  absolutely relied upon.
• - Oscar Wilde

5
RIP Rocky Mountain News

• Colorados oldest newspaper ended publication in
  February
• Published in Denver
• Victim of terrible economy
• and upheaval in the
• newspaper industry

6
Almost Dead Seattle Post-Intelligencer

• Ended publication earlier in March
• 146-year history owned by Hearst Corp couldnt
  find a buyer
• Continues on line

7
Sensationalism

• If the headline is big enough, it makes the news
  big enough.
• - Orson Welles in the film Citizen Kane

8
Watch Dog

• Newspapers that are truly independent, like The
  Washington Post, can still aggressively
  investigate anyone or anything with no holds
  barred.
• - Bob Woodward

9
Newspapers Influence

• Newspapers still serve an agenda-setting
  function.
• They are read by leaders, opinion shapers, and
  journalists in other types of media.
• Newspapers offer more depth than other broadcast
  journalism.
• Newspapers are still profitable.
• Newspapers are an Active Media.
• Most newspapers have an on-line component.
• Weekly newspapers provide community news.

10
Waning Influence

• Newspaper circulation is down and some are going
  out of business.
• Only 13 of 18-24 year olds read a newspaper
  every day.
• Newspaper revenues are declining.
• Newspapers are becoming more generic as a result
  of chain ownership.
• Newspapers cannot deliver stories as fast as
  radio and television.

11
College Newspapers

• 76 of the nations 6 million college students,
  read their college newspaper.
• As many as 90 of high school students may read
  their high school newspapers.

12
(No Transcript)
13
Not always Objective

• Early newspapers were often funded by political
  parties, and made no pretense of objectivity.

14
Yellow Journalism

• Yellow Journalism (AKA Tabloid Journalism)news
  that emphasizes crime, sex, and violence.

15
Newspaper Reporters Have Beats

• Beats Reporters often are assigned a specific
  area, or topic, to cover, called a beat.
• Higher Education Reporters at local newspapers
• The Press of Atlantic City Thomas Barlas
• The Philadelphia Inquirer Patrick Kerkstra
• Cape May County Herald Lauren Huggins

16
USA Today

• Circulation 2.25 Million
• Founded in 1982
• Colorful and bold, with many large diagrams,
  charts, and photographs.
• An alternative to the relatively colorless,
  wordy, gray papers of the time such as The Wall
  Street Journal and The New York Times.
• Also well-known for its national polls on public
  sentiment.

17
Christian Science Monitor

• First national newspaper to abandon print edition
• Will begins printing online only beginning in
  April 2009
• Will have a weekly print edition
• Cost cutting move
• Circulation has declined from
• 220,000 in 1970 to 55,000 in 2008

18
Daily Newspaper Circulation

• 1985 63 Million
• 2006 52 Million

19
Top Daily Newspapers (2008)

• 1. USA Today 2,293,310
• 2. The Wall Street Journal 2,011,999.
• 3. The New York Times 1,000,665
• 4. Los Angeles Times 739,147
• 5. Daily News of New York 632,595
• 6. New York Post _ 625,421
• 7. The Washington Post 622,714
• 8. Chicago Tribune 516,032
• 9. Houston Chronicle 448,271
• 10. Newsday of Long Island, N.Y. 377,517

20
Small is on the Rise

• WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL 97,012 10.61
• TRENTON (N.J.) TIMES 53,303 5.34
• DESERET NEWS, SALT LAKE CITY 71,133 2.09
• ERIE (PA.) TIMES-NEWS 56,124 1.81
• THE QUAD-CITY TIMES, DAVENPORT, IOWA 50,820
  1.66

21
Weekly Newspapers

• 1996 45 Million
• 2005 49 Million
• of weekly newspapers 6,659

22
Catamaran Media

• Ocean City-based company
• Current and Gazette Newspapers
• 12 newspapers and 2 magazines
• 119,500
• 17 weekly newspaper in US

23
Ad Revenue

• Daily Newspapers Advertising Revenue
• Display 47 Billion
• Classifieds 17 Billion

24
Newspaper Revenue
25
Top 10 Newspaper Chains

• Newspaper chains accounted for 68 of the daily
  newspaper circulation in the United States.
• Gannett 8 million
• 94 newspapers

26
Newspapers Make Their Money from Advertising

• Display and Classified Ads

27
Circulation v. Readership

• Circulation number of newspapers printed and
  distributed.
• Readership number of people that actually read
  the paper usually a larger number than
  circulation.

28
Wire Services and Syndicates

• Syndicatesnews agencies that sell articles for
  publication to a number of newspapers
  simultaneously.
• Wire Servicesnews organization established to
  supply news reports to organizations in the news
  trade newspapers, magazines, and radio and
  television broadcasters.

29
Sale of The Philadelphia InquirerJune 29, 2006
30
History of the Inquirer and Daily News
31
Circulations of Philadelphia Area Newspapers
32
Bankruptcy Filing

• The Philadelphia Inquirer filed for Chapter 11
  bankruptcy protection on February 21, 2009.
• Restructuring 390 Million in debt

33
You Decide

• You are the editors and reporters at the Press of
  Atlantic city.
• You will meet to decide which stories will appear
  in which parts of the paper.
• What is your criteria?
• What questions would you ask about each story?

34
The Stories

• 2-Car Crash on the Parkway kills 3 and shuts down
  ½ mile stretch near Exit 38 for 45 minutes.
• Rio Grande (Cape May County) teen wins national
  spelling bee.
• Fudge Kitchen sold to Nabisco for 45 million.
• Borgota Casino to be fined 500,000 by the SEC
  for accounting irregularities.
• Brush fire scorches 7 acres near Batsto Village.
• Thief steals milkshake machine from Ocean City
  Wawa.
• 5 teens scuffle on Wildwood Boardwalk in dispute
  over tram car 2 are hospitalized.
• Britney Spears enters convent.
• Atlantic City High School math scores are 3rd
  worst in NJ.
• Alabama bride brandishing machine gun locks 20
  wedding guests in meat locker she is in custody.

35
Building the Next Generation of Readers?

• How do you lure younger readers to read the
  newspaper?
• High school and college newspapers.
• As many as 95 of students may read the college
  newspaper.

36
New Media and Newspapers

• In the future, newspapers may be delivered to
  readers in a very different way.
• Already, most major newspapers have a web
  component.
• Some also have webcasts.
• Some newspapers have partnered with other media.