A letter to Wahl-Jorgensen

We've been asked, in the spirit of reading a book about the culture of letters-to-the-editor, to compose a letter to the author of Journalists and the Public: Newsroom Culture, Letters to the Editor, and Democracy, by Karin Wahl-Jorgensen. Though forcing myself into the format of a "letter" to an academic scholar about the content of their work makes me cringe, I'll take my marching orders with only the slightest protest (which I am now done with, thanks for listening).


This book serves as an excellent primer for students just entering the field of democratic theory of media studies -- particularly by highlighting the connections between the two. The format was brilliant -- by placing letters to the editor in the context of democratic theory before launching into an enthnographic study of the newsroom culture that curates and publishes them, you gave readers an opportunity to place the high fluent (albeit well intentioned) theory of letters pages as public sphere for debate and representation of popular opinion against the juxtaposition of the workload reality that commercial newsrooms are faced with on a day-to-day basis.


I suppose there are a number of things to walk away from this book with, but the biggest takeaway for me was the impact that the commercial industry has on the newsroom. The letters editors featured extensively at the Bay Herald, as well as those interviewed throughout, believed one thing about the role of letters in the public sphere while juggling with the reality of increased demand on their time. Although the consolidation of newspapers with other media outlets is not the sole thing impacting the letters pages and their ability to mirror the public debate surrounding the issues of the day, it is at least one that could be impacted through public policy changes. The other problems cited -- the "idiom of insanity," the extensive submissions from racists or other prejudiced individuals with an axe to grind -- could be alleviated if the editors had time to reach out in the community and cultivate relationships with their readership and authors.


I wonder what you would write today, as newspapers across the country are folding and the journalism industry is desperately seeking solutions. How do suppose a non-profit paper's letters pages might differ? Or do you believe that as online readership has increased that letters still play the same role -- in your mind and in the minds of those you interviewed?


Always more questions than answers, huh?

Cheers.

Bill Keller and the future of news(papers)

(Photo courtesy of Just.Luc via Creative Commons/Flickr)

New York Times executive editor, Bill Keller, made a lengthy "column" out of responding to readers comments and questions on their website last week. The first series of questions delved into some of the big issues facing journalism today -- including what will happen to newspapers in the near future with so much media consumption moving online.

I can see two threads that must be identified here when discussing the "newspaper crisis." One deals with the user's choice of format. Dramatic shifts in media consumption from the printed to the web page can be identified, but they are only part of the story. People still consume traditional (print, broadcast) media at a rapid pace and the websites visited for news online are predominantly the same established brands. And with millions of people in America living without access to affordable high-speed Internet, these trends shouldn't come as too big a surprise.

The second is paying for content and journalists. Commercial media is starting to collapse under the weight of its behemoth holdings. The rampant consolidation that escalated dramatically in the mid 1990s -- allowing companies to continue buying more outlets across mediums and in the same markets -- have bared the brunt of such cost-cutting measures as slashing reporters' jobs in order to maintain the bottom line. It is far cheaper to produce weather, sports, or entertainment pieces than it is to pay journalists to do investigative reporting. The foreign bureaus began to close. Reporters were asked to fill the roles of news anchors instead of writers.

It is possible that the commercial model can't continue to service the public need for reporting in this country. But this could signal tremendous opportunity. The ideas and concepts can be seen throughout the myriad of proposals popping up across the field itself. From establishing a National Endowment for Journalism, to micro-payments for content by the user, to the television tax model used by the BBC across the pond, the discussion about driving a wedge between the co-dependent relationship of advertising and reporting is getting louder.

And if all else fails, we could always go for the flavored ink model.