What is the primary responsibility of newspapers?

[Birdsfan]

Look up the definitions and tell me what you think.

Well, to be honest, it wouldn't matter. If you see "honorable" as beng synonymous with "ethical," then thou contradictith thineself.

[theguru]

Well, to be honest, it wouldn't matter. If you see "honorable" as beng synonymous with "ethical," then thou contradictith thineself.

 

At least I am in good company.

[cshs81]

Circulation may be increasing for some but how about the bottom line. A few years ago we decided to get the Sunday Enquirer. About 2 years ago we get a call from an Enquirer rep and she asks me if we would like to recieve the paper on a daily basis. When I informed her we were happy with the Sunday edition but wasn't really interested in anything else, she asks me if I would like to recieve the daily paper free. I said no, thinking this was nothing more than a ploy to get it free for a little while and then an extra charge would come in. She then tells me that is not the case, that just paying for the Sunday paper now gets you the paper all week, no charge. I accepted, and to this day have not paid anymore to get daily papers. Guess what circulation just went up.

 

What point are you trying to make?

[malachicrunch]

What point are you trying to make?

 

The person I responded to stated some papers have increased circulation including the home town paper. Just wanted to give insight as to how that was accomplished. Really nothing more than that. I do believe that newspaper and all media are both economically and politically driven.

[clipper]

The big problem with the courier journal and many other of the large papers is their political agenda which colors much much more than the editorial page. I have tried without success to type a sentence with the name of the above mentioned paper and the words accurate and ethical.

All I get is an "error message" - This computer is smarter than I thought.

[Ram]

Well, to be honest, it wouldn't matter. If you see "honorable" as beng synonymous with "ethical," then thou contradictith thineself.

Look up the definitions and tell me what you think.

 

Actually, Ethics are a group of morals established by people in a given profession. Honorable is more of a group of ethics for the entire population if you will. So, you may be ethical (to your peers), but me unhonorable to the general population. Or, you may be unethical to the people in your profession, but the general population may see nothing wrong with it.

 

Like in Guru's profession, while making a felony stop he gives an absurdly large amount of commands to a suspect - while at gun point, which any police officer would see as necessary and ethical, but a joe smoe citizen may see this as petty, unnecessary, and unhonorable of a person in his profession.

[Ram]

As for the news media, when I take in the news, whether it is print or electronic, I want the news not the opinion of the writer or the talking head. I am intelligent enough to form my own opinion from what is reported. I hate to see a reporter purposely install his opinion or will in a new story, that is what editorials are for.

[Birdsfan]

Like in Guru's profession, while making a felony stop he gives an absurdly large amount of commands to a suspect - while at gun point, which any police officer would see as necessary and ethical, but a joe smoe citizen may see this as petty, unnecessary, and unhonorable of a person in his profession.

I know what you mean, and I don't want to sidetrack the thread. I was just pointing out the contradiction in that one sentence.

[Ram]

I know what you mean, and I don't want to sidetrack the thread. I was just pointing out the contradiction in that one sentence.

 

:thumb:Gotcha.

[cshs81]

The person I responded to stated some papers have increased circulation including the home town paper. Just wanted to give insight as to how that was accomplished. Really nothing more than that. I do believe that newspaper and all media are both economically and politically driven.

 

Is it good or bad that the circulation is increasing?

[theguru]

I know what you mean, and I don't want to sidetrack the thread. I was just pointing out the contradiction in that one sentence.

 

Next time I am going to Birdsfan.com and not dictionary.com for my definitions and synonyms.

[The Scribe]

The responsibility of a newspaper is to inform the public. Write stories of news that affects them. Give both sides. Don't give us "public relations" news because you don't want to step on toes. On the other hand, don't carry a vendetta and seek to destroy an entity because you don't share the same views.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to serve as the voice of the people in some cases. When entities violate the Freedom of Information Act or the Sunshine Laws, the newspaper's role is to challenge that in an ethical way.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is keep the public thinking and generate discussion about a variety of topics through various means such as stories, features, questions, editorials, and letters to the editor.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to be fair. The newspaper is not the sounding board for a bitter editor because his/her paper is being questioned in the public or because he/she doesn't agree with a decision that has been made. You can state your opinion without hitting below the belt. Fewer newspapers are adhering to this one.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to be thorough. Don't do a halfway job. Give us all the facts. Tell us what's important and if need be, follow up.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to cater to as many people in society as they can. Different races, genders, religions, etc.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to encourage people to participate in the civics of our community, whether it's council meetings, school board meetings, elections, etc. by presenting the public with the facts and how it can affect them.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to be customer friendly as much as possible. I know of several weekly newspapers that no longer allow thank you letters, even for non-profit events, instead making them purchase an ad.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to give back to the community that supplies the news.

 

The MAIN responsibility of a newspaper is accuracy and fairness. Newspapers serve as the pages of history spanning many generations. 125 years from now, people won't know that the editor of the local newspaper was once arrested for DUI and made his life's ambition to smear local government in any way possible. They will read it as fact and form an opinion that the local government was indeed corrupt. Accuracy and fairness assures future generations that they will be able to read a story and form their own opinion of the issue without being swayed by the writer's own opinion or bias.

 

I fewer and fewer newspapers doing this because of a.) the bottom line and b.) allowing too many rogue cowboys the opportunity to oversee and manage newspapers for the sole reason of giving them a sounding board as a way to drum up business.

 

It's why print newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur and dodo bird.

[Birdsfan]

Next time I am going to Birdsfan.com and not dictionary.com for my definitions and synonyms.

I think that would be very helpful. :banana:

[Ram]

The responsibility of a newspaper is to inform the public. Write stories of news that affects them. Give both sides. Don't give us "public relations" news because you don't want to step on toes. On the other hand, don't carry a vendetta and seek to destroy an entity because you don't share the same views.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to serve as the voice of the people in some cases. When entities violate the Freedom of Information Act or the Sunshine Laws, the newspaper's role is to challenge that in an ethical way.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is keep the public thinking and generate discussion about a variety of topics through various means such as stories, features, questions, editorials, and letters to the editor.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to be fair. The newspaper is not the sounding board for a bitter editor because his/her paper is being questioned in the public or because he/she doesn't agree with a decision that has been made. You can state your opinion without hitting below the belt. Fewer newspapers are adhering to this one.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to be thorough. Don't do a halfway job. Give us all the facts. Tell us what's important and if need be, follow up.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to cater to as many people in society as they can. Different races, genders, religions, etc.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to encourage people to participate in the civics of our community, whether it's council meetings, school board meetings, elections, etc. by presenting the public with the facts and how it can affect them.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to be customer friendly as much as possible. I know of several weekly newspapers that no longer allow thank you letters, even for non-profit events, instead making them purchase an ad.

 

The responsibility of a newspaper is to give back to the community that supplies the news.

 

The MAIN responsibility of a newspaper is accuracy and fairness. Newspapers serve as the pages of history spanning many generations. 125 years from now, people won't know that the editor of the local newspaper was once arrested for DUI and made his life's ambition to smear local government in any way possible. They will read it as fact and form an opinion that the local government was indeed corrupt. Accuracy and fairness assures future generations that they will be able to read a story and form their own opinion of the issue without being swayed by the writer's own opinion or bias.

 

I fewer and fewer newspapers doing this because of a.) the bottom line and b.) allowing too many rogue cowboys the opportunity to oversee and manage newspapers for the sole reason of giving them a sounding board as a way to drum up business.

 

It's why print newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur and dodo bird.

 

:thumb:What he said, I couldn't agree more. Excellent job scribe.

[TomSportsHack]

… which, unfortunately, sometimes forces otherwise ethical and accurate people to have to suppress those good traits so that some bean-counter in an office far away makes their quarterly bonus.

 

Bitter, party of one ...

 

Oh, wait. (Looks in mirror.)

 

Bitter, party of two ... :lol:

 

The goal of most reporters is accuracy and good ethical reporting. Unfortunately, 99 percent of the time the people making the business decisions are people with no journalism background, which is the primary part of the problem. Put more reporters in decision-making positions, rather than executives with MBAs of dubious origin, and things would be different. Unfortunately, that era is long past. We "don't understand modern business," you see; we also "don't know how to connect with modern readers." (Never mind that in a typical day back then I saw more modern readers than my bosses and the home-office executives saw in a week.)

 

I fewer and fewer newspapers doing this because of a.) the bottom line and b.) allowing too many rogue cowboys the opportunity to oversee and manage newspapers for the sole reason of giving them a sounding board as a way to drum up business.

 

It's why print newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur and dodo bird.

 

Entirely untrue. The problems newspapers face stem directly from the aforementioned executives' failure to predict the rise of the Internet 15 years ago and their associated failure to figure out how to take advantage of the Internet and stay ahead of the trend.

 

Most newspaper execs, when faced with the reality of modern readers' preferences for getting their news, don't even have the basic brainpower to figure out how to adjust their presentation and advertising revenue stream to those preferences. Rather than trying to figure out how to co-opt the Internet, up until a few years ago they were still trying to figure out how to beat the Internet. (Some of them in smaller towns still are.) Most newspaper executives were more interested in shoring up their traditional paper-based business, mainly by laying off employees (critical editorial employees, in many places) and chopping the content in their newspapers. A sound business strategy back then, but it undermined the things that are successful in the Information Age: standing, reputation and influence.

 

As Warren Buffett has noted, the problem is shortsighted thinking. He said in his most recent annual letter to shareholders of his company that most newspaper executives were "either blind or indifferent to what was going on under their noses."

 

OK, I'm done ranting now. :jump: