A number of daily newspapers around the country are considering the unthinkable. A daily newspaper that does not come out daily.
In the furious effort to stem losses the bosses of many newspapers, and you can probably include the Flint Journal in on this, are considering eliminating editions on unprofitable advertising days, specifically, Saturday and Tuesday.
Saturdays and Tuesdays have always been light on advertising, even in the glory days, but they were tolerated because, hey we're a daily newspaper.
Just a few years ago, a former Flint Journal publisher made the unconscionable decision not to publish because it snowed too much. No self-respecting daily news reporter would ever believe that could happen, but it did.
Many of us got up early, fought our way to work through a variety of means only to learn that a wimpy publisher decided not to publish and the editor apparently didn't argue or wasn't persuasive enough to convince the publisher to reconsider.
When the story hit CNN many of us hung our heads in shame. Not publishing for any reason is akin to wanting to hide your head under a grocery bag. Friends in the business called in disbelief when they heard the news.
"It's true," I told them. "Are you hiring?"
But now, it won't be snow that apparently shuts down the newspaper, but a lack of profit. As an old friend of mine used to say: "It can always get worse."
2 comments:
Roger Samuel made a very dumb decision on that wintry day.
As I recall:
• Samuel came around with free mugs for everyone who turned up to work that day, but didn't put out a paper. Talk about a morale booster!
• Samuel was the first publisher to call reporters "content providers" in a stand-up staff meeting.
• Word was, TFJ almost lost its ancient, cheap postal rates because we didn't ship out a paper that day. TFJ wound up "making up" an edition, just so it could continue to claim the postal rate.
• That day changed the dedication some reporters felt for the paper — and the willingness to disobey authorities (there was a snow emergency non-travel order out that day) to do their job.
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