Monday, May 11, 2009

The importance of an institutional memory at newspapers

While I haven't seen the print edition of today's Carthage Press, the online version has only the family-furnished obituary of longtime composing room foreman Jennifer Martin.

With only John Hacker remaining from the days when Jennifer was an integral part of the management team at The Press, it probably shouldn't surprise me that no story ran in the news section, but this is one that would have made page one when I was the editor.

When you are the local newspaper of record, how you treat deaths is vitally important. They are big time news in a community. How you treat the death of one of your own, even one who had been out of the fold for nearly a decade, says a great deal about the product you are putting out.

While Jennifer Martin was not the public face of The Carthage Press, she was partially responsible for much of its success over a 30-year period. She was beloved by both those who knew her at the Press and those from the business community who frequented the newspaper office over the years.

Funeral services for Jennifer were held today.

I hope The Carthage Press uses a future page one, hopefully Tuesday's, to provide a remembrance of Jennifer...and an education to those who were not lucky enough to have known her.

1 comment:

Amy Lamb said...

How sad ... and shameful.