What is the goal of newspapers?
I’ve been asking myself this question for the past few days. Frankly I’m not sure I know anymore and that really scares me.
Thursday was Gloria’s funeral. In case you haven’t followed the story, A Prayer for Gloria has been an on-going series we have been doing focusing in on the trials and frustrations of an 11 year-old girl with cancer and her family. What started out as a one-day piece we have developed into a long series-updating our readers on her battle. In addition to the touching images by our photographer, it included an incredible online journal kept regularly by the reporter.
I was a little surprised when I learned on Wednesday evening that Gloria’s funeral, essentially the last piece of the puzzle, was not being pitched for A1. What made everything more surprising was that nothing else was pitched either. So, there were currently no stories for A1 heading into Thursday morning. Which to me says that the editors felt that this story was no longer good enough to even be considered for the front page.
If you knew some of the stories we pitched and ran on A1 my confusion might make more sense. We recently had a story (with pictures) on A1 about the change of ketchup bottles and how they now come in upside-down squeezable versions for better pouring. Seriously, that story ran on A1.
To me, the Gloria piece represented community journalism at its finest. We developed a story, made our readers care and got them involved with the story. Our reporter got hundreds of letters daily about the story. Other publications from across the country were picking it up. Even other local media in Seattle were reporting on her condition. Top editors in our own organization were saying how special this story was. Browsing Craigslist, you could find random posts referring to Gloria and well wishes for her and her family. The community was talking it about. We were engaging our readers. We were making a difference.
For a newspaper, what more can you want in a story?
Having put most of the Gloria stories on A1 it felt strange to me that the funeral wouldn’t be out there, especially knowing that it was not competing against anything else.
So, I brought my concerns to my Managing Editor. I respect his news judgment just as much as I respect his dedication to running good photography.
He too, believed that it shouldn’t be pitched for A1. I explained my side of things. I wasn’t asking that it run on a1---but to not even want to consider it made no sense to me. Something better---something newsy could come along and bump it---but with nothing even to offer at this point. We are saying the story is no longer worthy. I left our meeting questioning whether or not I had good judgment. But when I reflected the reasons behind his and the other top editors decision---they didn’t seem rational to me. They seemed based on a minority of people’s views on the story.
I’m left wondering, what is the goal of the newspaper? Sounds naïve of me, but I became a photojournalist because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help people see things from different perspectives and push peoples thoughts about culture, religion, and humanity.
We shouldn’t be consumed with offending one or two readers when a story resonates with hundreds more. I really think newspapers are becoming panicked and instead of continually focusing on putting out a good product---they are too worried about offending and losing one reader.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard confusing sentiments from top editors and in various meetings. Countless times I have heard phrases like “that’s not good for the A1 mix” or “that won’t sell papers.” There is even a single copy sales meeting that editors go to once a week.
There is a good reason why the editorial side of the newspaper should be kept different from the advertising/sales side. We should be putting stories in the paper that tell un-biased stories and that will engage our community in some fashion. What sells and what doesn't sell shouldn’t affect the content of the newspaper.
I am not a sales person---I am a journalist.
Thursday was Gloria’s funeral. In case you haven’t followed the story, A Prayer for Gloria has been an on-going series we have been doing focusing in on the trials and frustrations of an 11 year-old girl with cancer and her family. What started out as a one-day piece we have developed into a long series-updating our readers on her battle. In addition to the touching images by our photographer, it included an incredible online journal kept regularly by the reporter.
I was a little surprised when I learned on Wednesday evening that Gloria’s funeral, essentially the last piece of the puzzle, was not being pitched for A1. What made everything more surprising was that nothing else was pitched either. So, there were currently no stories for A1 heading into Thursday morning. Which to me says that the editors felt that this story was no longer good enough to even be considered for the front page.
If you knew some of the stories we pitched and ran on A1 my confusion might make more sense. We recently had a story (with pictures) on A1 about the change of ketchup bottles and how they now come in upside-down squeezable versions for better pouring. Seriously, that story ran on A1.
To me, the Gloria piece represented community journalism at its finest. We developed a story, made our readers care and got them involved with the story. Our reporter got hundreds of letters daily about the story. Other publications from across the country were picking it up. Even other local media in Seattle were reporting on her condition. Top editors in our own organization were saying how special this story was. Browsing Craigslist, you could find random posts referring to Gloria and well wishes for her and her family. The community was talking it about. We were engaging our readers. We were making a difference.
For a newspaper, what more can you want in a story?
Having put most of the Gloria stories on A1 it felt strange to me that the funeral wouldn’t be out there, especially knowing that it was not competing against anything else.
So, I brought my concerns to my Managing Editor. I respect his news judgment just as much as I respect his dedication to running good photography.
He too, believed that it shouldn’t be pitched for A1. I explained my side of things. I wasn’t asking that it run on a1---but to not even want to consider it made no sense to me. Something better---something newsy could come along and bump it---but with nothing even to offer at this point. We are saying the story is no longer worthy. I left our meeting questioning whether or not I had good judgment. But when I reflected the reasons behind his and the other top editors decision---they didn’t seem rational to me. They seemed based on a minority of people’s views on the story.
I’m left wondering, what is the goal of the newspaper? Sounds naïve of me, but I became a photojournalist because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help people see things from different perspectives and push peoples thoughts about culture, religion, and humanity.
We shouldn’t be consumed with offending one or two readers when a story resonates with hundreds more. I really think newspapers are becoming panicked and instead of continually focusing on putting out a good product---they are too worried about offending and losing one reader.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard confusing sentiments from top editors and in various meetings. Countless times I have heard phrases like “that’s not good for the A1 mix” or “that won’t sell papers.” There is even a single copy sales meeting that editors go to once a week.
There is a good reason why the editorial side of the newspaper should be kept different from the advertising/sales side. We should be putting stories in the paper that tell un-biased stories and that will engage our community in some fashion. What sells and what doesn't sell shouldn’t affect the content of the newspaper.
I am not a sales person---I am a journalist.
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