It's tough for the AP AND its members

I wonder whether AP members (newspapers, broadcasters and the like) and the AP brass communicate very well with each other these days. This Editor & Publisher article suggests they don't.

Doug Fisher, whose blog I would want to read even if he weren't a former boss, wonders whether more of this is coming. (A feed from Doug's blog is how I found out about this story)

Probably. Putting myself in the shoes I used to fill, as a reporter covering state government and politics, I have to wonder whether I would see what I saw more than a decade ago: a decreasing interest among member papers in anything original that I wrote, and more interest in me doing the "filler" work (basic reports on committee meetings and process-oriented stories that would be cut down to briefs) so their few reporters could provide their readers local and/or original copy.

It was fun being an AP reporter. I still miss it from time to time. But I bet right now I would be really concerned that what I loved to write about was not loved nor wanted by any of the papers who could take my copy.

Up to speed in the digital age

Catching up on some blog reading after NewsGator let me down for several days, I run across a fascinating post from Doug Fisher.

Emedded in the post is one key comment: "I’ve heard from more than one fellow executive the tale of promising young reporters taking jobs in PR because that somehow seemed more palatable doing this online stuff."

The attitude seems silly and self-defeating, especially considering the latest news on newspaper circulation.

But as for public relations and journalism, "this online stuff" is important in both. Doug's students will fare better in either world, because they are learning how to communicate with an audience in ways that audience wants to receive information. Being a reporter is difficult enough as it is, so it's hard to understand why a young person would want to tie his or her hands down because they had some romantic view of "The Front Page" days.

For those who end up going into PR, or migrating there as I did, good public relations today also requires a knowledge of how people receive information, and where they get it, and how to effectively use the online world to communicate with them.

I will add that I think it's not surprising to run across intransigence among some young people. I was much more sure of what I knew then than what I know now. And I think that's a country song title, somewhere.

Public (Taxpayer-Paid) Radio

I share Doug Fisher's lament about the death of radio news, but I'm not inclined to agree with him that a government-run radio network should pick up the slack. I feel badly for Adam Hochberg that he has to try and cover big news in South Carolina from the state to the north, but not badly enough to say more tax money should go to SCETV. In the end, are there any news consumers in South Carolina who didn't get plenty of coverage of the tragedy in Charleston?

Doug notes that SCETV's radio folks once got in a dustup with the Legislature, which turned around and gutted the radio staff's budget. Doesn't that prove my point? If you have a government-run radio station doing news, at some point it is in danger of being beholden to the political interests of the day. And don't get me started on the "we're-going-to-take-Big-Bird-off the-air-if-you-cut-our-budget" ploys that public television agencies are known to execute.

Doug's a top-notch editor and more journalism big-wigs should listen to what he has to say about the evolving newsroom. And he's a radio guy at heart, I think, so that's the spirit in which I take his lament. And my guess is SCETV disagrees with me more than they disagree with him!

Herald-Examiner to be demolished

Kevin Roderick highlights reports that the old Herald-Examiner building in downtown Los Angeles is going to be demolished. It's been nearly two decades since the paper closed, but what a shame. I worked there as an intern in the fall of 1984. The newsroom was straight out of "Front Page," clacking typewriters and all. It was dingy and romantic at the same time. Earlier reports had the site slated for condos, which would have at least preserved the building's exterior. Kevin's post includes a nice photo of the building.

UPDATE -- Doug Fisher -- always a better editor than I was -- notes in the comment that the building that houses the newsroom apparently will survive. I re-read Kevin's caption and the story, and Doug appears to be correct. I think the word "demo" caught my eye, and running the picture made me think that it was the main building that was coming down. I recall there was some move to make it a landmark, which would probably prohibit its destruction.

Experts in subtraction

The latest numbers on newspaper circulation among the top dailies here. I love newspapers and for the most part I learned to read by scanning the sports section with my father in the morning. That habit is dead, and these numbers prove it. Information moves too fast for the morning newspaper, trust in the "objectivity" of reporters is largely gone and the demand for helpful analysis and insight is small. People want to make sense of their world now, but not necessarily the world.

New Media, Journalism School

Ted Leonsis's blog, "Ted's Take," rambles on about a variety of the AOL and sports magnate's passions: media, the Washington Capitals, films. I think he's one of the most engaging sports owners around, and I wouldn't trade him for eight Mark Cubans (though I might take the Cubans instead of the Jagr debacle). Anyway, Leonsis may be right to point out that the lack of interest among young people in newspapers is a sign of the newspaper industry's pending demise, but he shouldn't have selected his alma mater as a place to illustrate it. Georgetown has no journalism school and few journalism offerings. A great university it is, but if you are a high school student with a passion for journalism, Georgetown is probably not your place. Instead, look here, or ring up my old boss and friend Doug Fisher, who is helping students at the "other" USC become the new media leaders of tomorrow.