Politics and Print - What is misunderstood or denied out of hand.


A local daily paper, the Springfield Republican, announced layoffs today citing declining economic conditions in the region as the main cause. The reason noted: the fact that advertising has declined due to the loss of large retailers in the area. Apparently, no-one mentioned to the Republican that although Ames Department Stores, Lord and Taylor's and Caldor did leave the area or close entirely, they were replaced by larger forces and greater numbers in retail. Larger chains such as Wal-mart and Target are most prevalent. Higher end boutique and department stores are prolific in the local mall,such as Guess, Gap, Macy's just to name a few.

What is not noted is that the newspaper's subscription rate has also declined. Without subscribers, few print publications can survive.

So, what does politics have to do with it? With the nation polarized into "camps" of left and right, a constant drumbeat of editorials aimed at one particular party and and cause, as in the case of the Republican, disenfranchises loyal readers, who then seek alternate sources for their news, namely community newspapers, the internet, talk radio, cable news.

As finger pointing is quite prevalent in the case of a certain political party, one can easily draw the conclusion that editors who lean towards the left, will ultimately suffer the consequences.

The intense dislike between media, i.e. mainstream versus Fox News, talk radio, is based upon a combination of ideology and jealousy. If one publishing house took a hard look at what really works for Fox and Rupert Murdoch and implemented the same playbook, it is without a doubt that readership would increase. Although the risk would be that the core or base of the papers readership might be affected, the opportunity to woo back the disenfranchised moderates as well as the conservatives in any region would far outweigh the risks. Therefore, the rewards would be realized in increased subscriptions as well as advertising.

In the case of the Republican, a visit to their website quickly gives the reader a feel for the publication and it's editorial point of view. During the Israeli - Hezbollah conflict, a local businessman was caught in Beirut. The paper noted that the reason the man was in this horrid situation was the fact that Israel had started a war with Hezbollah. Did that one sentence go unnoticed? No. This was not an editorial either, this was a front page news article. Other editorial-news favorites: the plight of the Palestinians, the support of the ACLU and support of the gay-marriage amendment.

If the editor wised up, removed the editorials from the front page and presented a pro and con editorial, correctly placed on the editorial pages, it would win back the hearts and minds of those long lost and disenfranchised subscribers.

Leading the list of newspapers that have experienced layoffs, declining stock worth, and more in the past few years is the venerable "The New York Times". They blame the internet and again the ecomomy. However, would the fact that this particular organiation delights in printing classified information that many feel is critical to our nation's well-being have anything to do with their downward turn? Captains of certain Industry should remove the rose colored glasses, do what is best for their business, and take their opinions off the front page.