I hate to keep harping on this point, but death is a major story in a small town, and the way the community newspaper handles it can be a key ingredient success.
I wrote a few days ago about The Carthage Press' failure to treat the death of longtime composing room foreman Jennifer Martin as a page-one story.
Now, Eunice Hallowell, a longtime power in Carthage politics, including a lengthy tenure as head of the Lincoln Ladies Republican Women's Club has died, and once again there is no page one story (at least not on the internet, I haven't seen the print edition yet), just an obituary.
This kind of coverage needs to be done immediately, and writing a makeup column a couple of days later as The Press did in the case of Jennifer Martin, while it is a nice gesture, simply doesn't get it.
Again, this goes back to the lack of an institutional memory at The Carthage Press. The Press has been struggling with the community aspect of the operation since the GateHouse Media powers-that-be fired Ron Graber. Now, the only person who has been with the newspaper prior to the turn of the century is reporter John Hacker and Hacker spent only a few months there as a full-time reporter and several writing sports while he was attending Missouri Southern.
I was fortunate enough to have people like Marvin VanGilder, Jack Harshaw, Neil Campbell, Stewart Johnson, Jennifer Martin, and Jack Davis at The Press during my nine-plus years at the newspaper. Now, though VanGilder is still available for consultation, the others are no longer here or are no longer connected with the newspaper. And while the newspaper has been inching its way back to respectability and has the best staff it has had in the past few years, that sense of community cannot be replaced and it cannot be faked.
6 comments:
When Gatehouse guts a newspaper they abnegate all local history and emotion to improve the company bottom line. When a community newspaper loses its local flavor it is no longer a community newspaper.
Different paper, same kind of problem....the Monett Times internet edition failed to include any mention of last weeks storms and resulting damage. I don't know if the print edition included anything or not.
I just have to wonder why Rick Rogers isn't addressing any of the problems at the Press. I'm beginning to think he's regional publisher in name only.
As all the local newspaper experts know, the solution to all of newspapers problems is a timely blog
http://ndnpublisher.blogspot.com/
http://dhoovey.blogspot.com/
http://newsroomonmyback.wordpress.com/
Randy Turner makes it look easy. Evidently it isn't.
Rick Rogers is too busy with his head burried in Gloria's lap. Rogers and Buzz Ball also cover each other's tails when something goes wrong. I know employees have voiced their opinions about what needs to be done, but Rogers considers it whining.
As employee of 18 years, and the only one with any local ties or institutional memory of a current gatehouse property, I can tell you that noone in power listens or cares. Local my rosy red behind.
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