While that is a remarkable feat, it came as no surprise. That's what newspapers do. Even when something as horrific as a mass murder takes place that affects people they may have worked next to for years, the thoughts of reporters and editors turn almost immediately to the news, covering every angle of the story and deciding how it will be handled, while upper management handles the logistics.
In an era where newspapers have been devalued and have suffered from dwindling circulation, when tragedy strikes, they meet the challenge.
The same thing happened on May 22, 2011 when the Joplin Globe never missed an issue despite facing many obstacles after a tornado struck this community.
A few months earlier, the same kind of challenge faced newly-named Joplin Globe Publisher Frank Leto.
Leto, a veteran newsman who is coming to Joplin after three years as publisher of The Daily Item in Sunbury and the Danville News, both in Pennsylvania, has spent three decades in newspapers, including a stint as vice president at the Dallas Morning News, but one of his greatest challenges came shortly after he took the reins of the Las Cruces Sun-News in New Mexico.
On January 16, 2011, the building that housed the Sun-News since 1970, burned to the ground. Leto not only was responsible for making sure his newspaper continued to meet deadlines, but he also had to oversee a building project.
In the accompanying video, Leto tells the story and gives a tour of the new Sun-News building in 2013.
The challenges Leto faces as he takes over the Globe are thankfully nowhere near that level, but it is a critical time for the newspaper, nonetheless.
The Globe faces the same economic pressures faced by all newspapers.
The audience for newspapers is rapidly aging and a younger audience is tuning them out. Attempts to reach younger readers have not only been unsuccessful, but have succeeded in driving away some older readers.
Online revenue has increased dramatically over the past few years, but not enough to make newspapers profitable. Display advertising still brings in the lion's share of the money and it has decreased year after year.
Two other long-time staples of newspaper revenue are also fading.
Subscription revenue is down and newspapers have responded by increasing rates for the smaller number who still have home delivery. They can only go to that well so many times.
Classified advertising, once a gold mine for newspapers, has also continued to shrink. Online competitors stole away much of it over the past 20 years and it is not coming back.
Newsprint prices continue to increase.
Like many other newspapers, the Globe has trimmed its editorial staff and retrenched its coverage area. No longer do Globe reporters offer heavy coverage of any area outside Jasper County and much of the county rarely hears from reporters. With less coverage and fewer reporters, it is virtually impossible to increase readership.
And those problems are just the beginning of those facing Frank Leto as he takes command of the area's newspaper of record.
Leto is following a publisher, Michael Beatty, who created an atmosphere in which the Globe kowtowed to powerful local interests, became a megaphone for the Chamber of Commerce and missed out on one critical Joplin story after another.
The Frank Leto era is beginning at the Joplin Globe. The good news for Leto is the bar has been set low.
Previous Post
My fond farewell to Joplin Globe Publisher Michael Beatty
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The only book that offers a detailed look on how Joplin city and school government responded to the Joplin Tornado, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud: Greed, Corruption and the Joplin Tornado, is available at Always Buying Books, Changing Hands Book Shoppe and The Book Guy in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage and can be purchased in paperback or e-book formats at the links below.
From Amazon reviews of Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud
"It is a cautionary tale of what can go wrong after a disaster. Allowing great power in the hands of the few is not always the best way to recovery. After the tornado authorities warned residents to do due diligence when hiring contractors. Too bad the city failed to do that when employing the master developer."
"The story line proves intriguing, interwoven and an eye opener on what fame and fortune hunters attempt to pull over on honest and unsuspecting folks. Sometimes the unraveling story is so strange that it resembles a fiction novel but is a true story covering misdeeds of the superintendent of schools, unscrupulous con men pulling the wool over the eyes of the local paper, and the shocking untimely death of the state auditor who committed "suicide" just prior to providing the results of the city and school audits."
"This book is a very good read. It flows extremely well despite the need to cover a lot of ground and a lot of players/ contributors. I especially appreciated the dedication at the end to those people who worked tirelessly days and months on end to take care of the PEOPLE of Joplin ... never seeking the spotlight and understanding that schools and cities aren't merely buildings. They are people. THEY are-- indeed-- the heroes. Thank you for this book."
"A must read if you live or lived in Joplin."
2 comments:
The reality is, newspapers are the most likely to give the internet what it wants. Written coverage. Get rid of the printing press. Get a cheap subscription model, like 4.99 or 9.99 a year. Throw in some inline ads. The web doesn't really want local news videos unless it is totally compelling, and 95% of stuff isn't. The web wants funny, instructional, and documentary style videos. No need to chase that. Just stick with mostly local with a touch of regional and state issues and hire the staff you need to cover that. It is time to change the business model totally.
Local needs to be what a newsPAPER covers. Here, that can include Carl and Webb.
Tell (the truth) about what is happening in the schools and local government.
Publish special events before they happen.
Bring us information about local businesses.
If you're really all that interested in downtown, feature some of the small businesses.
Keep opinions on the opinion page.
When you run an AP piece, please cut it in a place that makes sense instead of what seems like the middle of the story.
Proofread so there aren't mispellings and grammar mistakes.
Honestly, I dropped the Globe when they wouldn't report what was happening after the tornado truthfully. For a paper that did such a great job reporting about the tornado and writing all those obituaries, they sure hit rock bottom quickly after that. Trying to help cover up crimes and convince everyone that the CART group (or whatever they are now) should make our decisions for us.
I always thought that newspapers were supposed to be watch dogs and were supposed to present news; the facts. That means if there are two sides to something, both should be told equally.
Until those things (bare minimum) are happening, this house won't have a Globe subscription.
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