Because technology has dramatically influenced the ways in which news is gathered and distributed, many—especially young adults—have proclaimed that they get their news online—not from traditional newspapers.
Undoubtedly, online news consumption has mushroomed, with no signs of diminishing. However, according to the recent findings of two researchers, Paul Steinle, a former United Press International president and broadcast journalist, and his wife, reporter Sara Brown, Ph.D., the hard-copy newspaper is far from yesterday’s news.
Cross-country Travel in the Name of Newspaper Research
In June 2010, Steinle and Brown, unable to find a funding source to explore who actually still needs hard-copy newspapers, embarked on what would become a 13-month study that covered some 31,000 miles and took the researchers to 48 states via a 31-foot Cougar fifth-wheel travel trailer and a Chevrolet Silverado 2500 diesel pickup, both of which they purchased for the specific purpose of hitting the road in the name of journalism research.
Steinle, who also served as a journalism educator at the college level prior to his retirement in 2010, said he and Brown, in their quest to visit newsrooms and newspapers in all 50 states, traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, and Kauai, Hawaii, by air, taking only one three-week break during the course of their newspaper study.
Media Scholars’ Interest in the Role of Newspapers Fuels Study
Regarding the impetus for what came to be known as the Who Needs Newspapers, or WNN, project, Steinle said he’s long had an interest in the role of newspapers and their role in gathering and reporting the news.
“During my tenure at UPI (1988-1990), I interacted with many newspaper executives and visited many newspapers,” he said in a Nov. 14, 2011, personal communication. “I was impressed by the depth of the commitment to gathering and reporting the news in newspaper companies.
“In broadcasting companies, gathering and delivering news is about 10-15 percent of what the business does, but at newspapers the entire organizations seemed more committed and involved in newsgathering and news delivery. So, I found newspaper companies more news-driven than broadcasters (who also offer a lot of entertainment programming).”
Newspaper Owners Demonstrate Commitment to Community, Says Paul Steinle
Moreover, Steinle added, “I was also impressed by the values of the people who owned newspapers, by their involvement with their communities, and by their dedication to professional ethically driven journalism.”
As a journalism educator, first at the University of Miami beginning in 1991 and later at Southern Oregon University, Steinle said he frequently heard the proclamation that “newspapers are dying,” yet they endured, year after year. Thus, when the veteran journalist and university administrator retired from SOU in 2010, he and Brown opted to investigate the “newspapers are dying” claims first-hand.
“The … growth of the Internet and the financial problems of the newspaper industry,” never mind the 2008 recession that “was clobbering all media that survived on advertising dollars”—both periodicals and many newspapers—only served to intensify the rumors that traditional newspapers were limping along at best, he observed.
Researchers Create Nonprofit Valid Sources Organization
Subsequently, the husband-and-wife researchers said they called on friends “with a similar curiosity about the future of newspapers to help us,” and ultimately created Valid Sources, a nonprofit organization, and began the work necessary to design and publish a report on the current-day status of newspapers.
The pair’s research results have been posted on a website—WhoNeedsNewspapers.org—and those interested, including journalism educators—can access the site that posted its final report on Oct. 10, 2011. There, those who visit the WNN website can eye fresh reports about a number of U.S. newspapers; namely, 50 reports from 50 newspapers, as well as what the researchers have dubbed “J-Epiphanies” from 100 newspaper people and nine bonus interviews, the latter of which are interviews with industry experts.
Who Needs Newspapers Findings Shared at 2011 Journalism Conference
In September 2011, Steinle and Brown reported some of their findings at the Excellence in Journalism event in New Orleans, La., a joint conference between the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association, in a session titled “Transformational Newspapers: Newspapers in 2011.”
Not surprisingly, while the research findings vary from one newspaper to the next because the industry is one that is both “complex” and “dynamic,” none of the newspapers Steinle and Brown encountered were facing demise.
“Newspapers vary greatly in their approach to the challenges facing them,” Steinle explained. “Each newspaper’s size, its market, its financial resources, the values of its ownership and the skill of its leadership determine its status and direction. We visited newspapers that have been distinguished either for their general excellence or for their innovation. So, we did not encounter dying newspapers ensconced in hospice.”
Today’s Newspapers Transforming to Survive in the Digital Age
The newspapers included in the WNN research, in fact, are alive and well in large part because their leadership is “thinking beyond the limits of their newsprint, presses and delivery routes, the researchers contend.
“Most still call themselves newspapers or media companies, but are re-conceptualizing themselves as multi-media, multi-platform news and information companies that deliver content through newsprint and new electronic Internet-connected channels,” Steinle noted.
For the veteran journalists who undertook the WWN project, one of the most surprising findings, they shared, is that “so many people who write about these companies are not reporting on the aggressive steps many newspapers are taking to rethink and perpetuate the unique information services they deliver to their communities.”
Per Steinle and Brown, among the 150-plus newspaper people they interviewed, the commitment to newsgathering, not to mention the intelligence of those engaged in reporting news, is high.
“Our nation is fortunate that so many bright people, who are interested in observing their communities and reporting truthfully about their observations, are engaged in this field,” Steinle said.
Few Newspaper People Predicting the Death of Newspapers, Study Finds
“Only a handful of our 50 newspapers' newspaper people expect the death of newspapers in the near future. Most of them expect newspapers to persist ‘at least for the rest of my career.’ However, nearly all of them also recognize that news is also being distributed electronically, and that these new media channels also need to be employed with skill.”
Moreover, he added, “(T)here is still a significant portion of most communities who want their news delivered in the traditional newsprint package, with its unique characteristics of portability and random-access, and with the benefits of the contemplative nature of its presentation.”
Thus, it’s a safe bet—at least per the WNN findings—that newspapers will endure for at least another couple of decades, if not longer, provided “their unique qualities are valued in an otherwise Twittering future,” Steinle reported.
To learn more about the WNN research findings, including reports from each of the 50 states, please visit whoneedsnewspapers.org.
Source
P. Steinle, personal communication, Nov. 14, 2011.
Lisa L. Rollins - Texas native Lisa L. Rollins, Ph.D., is an award-winning feature writer, interviewer and journalism educator.
