So, it has happened.
Our community newspaper in Kamloops, one that was born in 1988 as a weekly and grew to a thrice-weekly publication in 1991, is taking a step back.
As of June 14, 2009, Kamloops This Week will become a twice-weekly publication as the Sunday edition is jettisoned.
This is not a surprise, as I have been awaiting this decision for months.
No, I did not have inside information. Heck, I was on vacation when I got the word.
But, when a number of other papers have done likewise and, so far, avoided massive revenue loss, it was, in my opinion, only a matter of time until the powers-that-be decided to add Kamloops This Week to the roster of papers that are now twice-weekly entities.
These include the largest community paper in the chain, the Surrey Leader, along with the Peace Arch (White Rock) News, Chilliwack Progress, Tri-City (Coquitlam) News and Penticton Western News.
It has been stated in our paper this decision will better position KTW as the newspaper industry continues its path through a very tumultuous time.
Maybe so, but the decision saddens me nonetheless.
To be clear, there are wiser minds than mine who make the big decisions in Black Press, and they obviously see this move as being necessary.
The cost of newsprint has essentially doubled in the past year, while the remaining costs of getting the newspaper to 30,000 homes in Kamloops is expensive.
But I grew up with ink on my hands.
Newspapers are in my marrow.
As a 14-year-old, I couldn't sleep on the night of Aug. 1, 1983, as I was anticipating with glee the arrival the next morning of the very first tabloid Province newspaper.
I would rush home twice a week to grab my local Abbotsford News, just to devour the headlines and stories and smell the newspaper ink, which to this day still offers my nose a waft reminiscent of potato chips.
I could recite, word for word, Jim Taylor's hilarious prose from his sports columns in the Vancouver Province and would pray to the almighty to spare me one-tenth of the talent that flowed from Denny Boyd's brain.
I was fortunate enough to land a job with that Abbotsford paper upon my graduation from journalism school in Edmonton.
And I was there when the paper jumped to three times a week from its twice-weekly mandate.
So, when your very passion is contracted, regardless of the reasons given, it is not, in my opinion, a positive.
It may be necessary, and it's a damn sight preferable to shutting down the entire operation, but it's still disappointing on so many levels.
This is simply common sense.
When the Rocky Mountain News closed, it was horrible news. When Heart could not find a buyer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and killed the print edition, leaving an online news presence with very few journalists, it was horrible news.
As it has been when the two Detroit daily papers decided to cut back home delivery to three times a week, and when the National Post announced a summer stint without its Monday edition, and when the venerable Victoria Times-Colonist decided to axe its Monday product for good.
Not healthy signs, for certain.
Cutting back on publishing dates while newspaper owners and managers the world over try to find a way to make an online newspaper profitable and hope the recession fades away and brings about more advertising revenue?
Well, maybe a step back here and there is necessary if the spawn of Gutenberg's invention is to resume galloping among those who crave a good lede, a great photo, pertinent information from city council, a recap of a sports team's triumph and a column that will stir all sorts of emotions within.
As usual, our staff will focus on turning out the best papers we can twice a week, along with continued constant stories, photos and video posted to our website at kamloopsthisweek.com.
We live in interesting times.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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9 comments:
Well said. Sad, but well said.
Ditto. I too remember making a pressman's newspaper hat on a tour of the now defunct, The Columbian. Change is sometimes tough to swallow.
I remember the days when Sunday was KTW's premiere edition.
Of course, my former teammate Ed Mehrer - one hell of a reporter - reminded me there was at one time talk of boosting us to five editions.
I speak out against the death of print journalism often on Twitter. Sometimes I don't know whether I'm just yelling into a vacuum, sometimes I get re-Tweeted, sometimes I get replies bemoaning whatever link I posted.
I wish there was more I could do.
Like you, Chris, journalism is a part of me. It takes a lot out of me to shut down my soul every morning and turn into a PR Pro for 7.5 hours a day.
But what worries me most is not that newspapers are dying. If we can find a way to transition them onto online in a financially successful manner, then 'newspapers' will still exist.
What worries me most is without newspapers - whether in a tangible format or on a screen - we lose strong, investigative reporting. We lose the kind of reporting that exposes the seedier side of our cities and we lose the kind of reporting that celebrates the wonderful side of our cities.
That's something 'bloggers' will never be able to replace because they don't have the abilities to ask the right questions, they don't have the access to the right sources, and they don't have the resources afforded to them by a strong editorial team.
And after all that - so much more than what I sat down to write - I'm sad with you.
I gave six years of my blood, sweat and tears to KTW. I gave that paper the best I could and, as some or all of your staff may feel, I feel betrayed and let down by the bean counters who don't understand the value a newspaper like KTW brings to its community.
The only constant is change, but change is constantly hard. I say that from the perspective of having built, then lost (with much hardship and heartache), a company that employed a significant number of skilled and well paid workers here in Kamloops and across the province.
Too many Canadians today, in too many industries, are experiencing change that impacts both their livelihoods and their passions. In most cases, a staggeringly complex combination of market forces are at play.
Unfortunately, those who are affected by change often feel the need to cast the righteousness of their plight in opposition to a single, responsible culprit.
Anyone with half a brain can tell the difference between journalism and blogging, Angela. But if journalists continue to focus on the myth of the culprit blogger instead of anticipating and overcoming the real causes of their predicament, the future of their profession will hold much more hard change.
Hi Barry,
I agree with you on the difference between bloggers and journalists. Unfortunately, the myth of 'citizen journalism' is pervasive and dangerous to the theory of 'journalism.'
The waters are muddied in many respects but you are quite correct that they are not the focal point.
The business model for transition into online success has yet to be found. I have ideas but if I had all the answers, I might just be a millionaire with a 40-foot ketch.
Cheers,
Angela
Blogging and journalism will increasingly go hand in hand. I think the best, most marketable sweet spot is when content providers have both skill sets. I have a huge respect for good journalism, and a real desire to understand how to provide important, useful information in an effective manner.
The media has done this to themselves, and that's why it really hurts.
Karma is a bitch, lol.
Newsrooms across the country must be among the most demoralizing places right now. I know of no happy newsroom - if there ever was such a thing.
It's ironic that Angela is lamenting the gradual demise on print journalism on Twitter.
Markus
I have a good fresh joke for you! How many letters are in the alphabet? Nineteen. Because ET went home on a UFO and the FBI went after him.
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