I wrote last week about local newspaper demographics, positing that “local readership of these publications [Gazette, Daily Union] is probably similar to that of Fox News. Nationally, newspaper readership skews to older Americans: half of newspaper readers in 2015 were over 65 years old. For Fox News, it’s a similar, if even older, demographic: half of Fox…
Newspapers
Newspapers, Politics
Local Newspaper Demographics
by JOHN ADAMS •
One of the interesting – but hard to answer – questions about local news is the composition of its readership. Of local news publications, this question implicates professional publications like the Daily Union and Gazette (and even a longtime politician’s website like the Banner). One could guess – but only guess – that local readership…
Newspapers, Politics, Trump
‘So soft I want to put them in a pillowcase’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Dave Weigel (@daveweigel), on Twitter, describes nicely the kind of questions that Trump gets from Fox & Friends: “The questions from the Fox and Friends exclusive with Trump are so soft I want to put them in a pillowcase.” I’ve added Weigel’s transcription of questions, below. Residents of Whitewater would be familiar with a local…
Culture, Newspapers, Politics, Press
Media Dependency
by JOHN ADAMS •
Concerning national publications, Eliana Johnson describes How Trump Blew Up the Conservative Media. Her observation on this point has local relevancy (both about and apart from Trump). Here’s Johnson’s key observation: “For the 89 percent of Republican voters who cast ballots for Trump, their backing represented a departure from many of the principles that have…
Newspapers, Politics
Gazette Editorial Begs Paul Ryan: Call Me Maybe?
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an editorial at the Janesville Gazette, hometown of Paul Ryan, complaining that Ryan won’t hold a town hall: Paul Ryan, your constituents have waited long enough. It’s time for a town hall, even if it’s only the telephone kind. Something. Anything to show your constituents that you—not only your staff—are hearing their…
Babbittry, Conflicts of Interest, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, Politics
Margaret Sullivan on Great Local Reporting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Margaret Sullivan, the Washington Post’s media columnist observes that Great local reporting stands between you and wrongdoing. (Sullivan was formerly The New York Times public editor, and the chief editor of her hometown paper, The Buffalo News.) Sullivan explains what great local reporting means: “In only 15 years, American newspaper companies slashed their workforces by…
City, Kakistocracy, Newspapers, Trump
That Which Paved the Way
by JOHN ADAMS •
Adam Khan, writing at @Khanoisseur, has an answer for why Trump was able to prevail, despite myriad political & personal failings. Khan’s answer explains part of Trump’s success (and on the national front, I think he’s chiefly right): Investigative journalism was gutted at news rooms during the recession–partly why Trump was possible @fredericg https://t.co/SIPiRjLB62 — Adam…
Liberty, Newspapers, Press
Sunshine Week in Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
The USA Today Network of Gannett papers in Wisconsin (including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) asks How open is your government? Tell us: They’re entrusted with important responsibilities to keep people safe, educate kids, maintain roads and enforce rules fairly. Taxpayers fund their salaries. But just how public are public officials? That’s what we want to know. As…
Newspapers, Press
Yes, It Is
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Newspapers, Politics, Press
‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Newspapers
Tales from Mid-Sized Newspapers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Digiday, Lucia Moses relates a young reporter’s experiences at a mid-sized Gannett newspaper in ‘I’m doing three beats right now’: Confessions of a millennial newspaper reporter. (Moses is describing someone else’s work life, not her own.) It’s not an encouraging tale: Give a specific. We have, like, one copy editor looking at more than…
Newspapers, Trump
Tumulty Finds Sycophancy’s Hard to Shake
by JOHN ADAMS •
Trump Press Sec. Spicer gave a dishonest statement about crowd size on Saturday (“White House press secretary attacks media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds“), and spent a bit over an hour in a dishonest and maudlin press conference on Monday (“This time Sean Spicer smiles, spins, pledges not to lie“). It was a first conventional…
America, Local Government, Newspapers, Press, Trump
Trump Will Force Choices the Local Press is Too Weak to Make
by JOHN ADAMS •
A sound critique of the national print press says that it has a limited time left. See, concerning the work of Clay Shirky, A Prediction of Print’s ‘Fast, Slow, Fast’ Decline. Market forces will also take their toll on the local print press, and even now local papers are useful only for The Last Inside Accounts (rather than…
Newspapers
What About the Local Press?
by JOHN ADAMS •
A reader wrote to ask what I thought of the outlook for the local press in 2017. I’d say that there will be no big changes in the year ahead: slowly declining last year, slowly declining this year. I’m supportive of media analyst Clay Shirky’s perspective. Although he writes about the national print press, his assessment of…