'Means of Desperation' Should US Newspapers Get State Aid?

Times have never before been this bad for US newspapers. Within six months, they have seen their circulation drop, on average, by 10.6 percent. Now experts are calling for a radical solution: state aid. But protests are already mounting -- even inside the industry itself.
The sole circulation gainer: The Wall Street Journal is the only major US newspaper to have increased its readership in the past six months.

The sole circulation gainer: The Wall Street Journal is the only major US newspaper to have increased its readership in the past six months.

Foto: SCOTT OLSON/ AFP

Every year, the first order of business for new students at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism is to assemble in the "World Room." This historic hall on Broadway Avenue is named after the New York World, the old newspaper published by the school's founder, Joseph Pulitzer. It's the same room where the school announces the annual Pulitzer prizes. Aspiring reporters enter it with awe and dread.

The school's dean then likes to welcome them with a stern, yet encouraging lecture about the future of their profession and their somber legacy -- a pep talk to prepare them for their role as the "Fourth Estate" of American democracy.

One wonders what kind of message dean Nicholas Lemann is giving his students these days, as US media are struggling through their most existential crisis yet. Shouldn't he recommend they look for a different line of work?

Lemann laughs. "What I tell them is that journalism isn't going away but is reconstituting itself in a pretty fundamental way," he tells SPIEGEL ONLINE in an interview. "From the standpoint of a student who wants to be a fulltime, employed reporter and find an entry-level job, things aren't so bad right now."

Aren't they? The most recent circulation figures released for US newspapers are worse than ever. Average daily circulation, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, dropped 10.6 percent in the April-September period from the same six-month span in 2008 -- much faster than the 7.1 percent decline in the October-March period.

Worst off was the struggling San Francisco Chronicle: Its circulation collapsed by more than one quarter, to 251,782. Among the 25 biggest papers, only the Wall Street Journal increased its circulation, albeit a measly 0.6 percent, and bumped the long-term front-runner, USA Today, which dropped by 17 percent, off the top spot.

Buyout Offers for 100 Editors and Reporters

Circulations aren't the only thing shrinking. The New York Times Company, which also owns the bleeding Boston Globe, announced yet another quarterly loss last week ($35.6 million), fueled by the continuing advertising crunch. Though that wasn't quite as bad as expected, the "Gray Lady" sent buyout offers to 100 editors and reporters, trying to cut 150 company jobs altogether.

The Top 25 Newspapers in the US, By Circulation

Name 2009 Circulation* Change from 2008*
1. Wall Street Journal 2.024.269 +0.61%
2. USA Today 1.900.116 -17.15%
3. New York Times 927.851 -7.28%
4. Los Angeles Times 657,467 -11.05%
5. Washington Post 582,844 -6.40%
6. Daily News (NY) 544,167 -13.98%
7. New York Post 508,042 -18.77%
8. Chicago Tribune 465,892 -9.72%
9. Houston Chronicle 384,419 -14.24%
10. Philadelphia Inquirer 361,480 n/a
11. Newsday 357,124 -5.40%
12. Denver Post 340,949 n/a
13. Arizona Republic 316,874 -12.30%
14. Star Tribune (Minneapolis) 304,543 -5.53%
15. Chicago Sun-Times 275,641 -11.98%
16. Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 271,180 -11.24%
17. Detroit Free Press 269,729 -9.56%
18. Boston Globe 264,105 -18.48%
19. Dallas Morning News 263.810 -22.16%
20. Seattle Times 263,588 n/a
21. San Francisco Chronicle 251,782 -25.82%
22. Oregonian 249,163 -12.06%
23. Star-Ledger (Newark) 246,006 -22.22%
24. San Diego Union-Tribune 242,705 -10.05%
25. St. Petersburg Times 240,147 -10.70%
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), October 26, 2009
* April through September

Readers and advertisers are fleeing, and everyone is cutting. Overall, according to various studies, the number of editorial employees at US newspapers has fallen to around 40,000 in 2009, the lowest since 1971. That's not exactly a figure that would encourage a rookie reporter.

Does this spell the end of America's legendary journalism? That's the big question asked -- and partly answered -- by a comprehensive study  published last week by Lemann's School of Journalism. Written by Leonard Downie, formerly managing editor of the Washington Post, and journalism professor Michael Schudson, the 100-page report -- the most comprehensive yet on this issue -- claims that the old business model for newspapers isn't working anymore. Journalism is entering a phase of "chaotic reconstruction," an historic "transformational moment" with a dour ending. "The era of dominant newspapers and influential network news divisions is rapidly giving way to one in which the gathering and distribution of news is more widely dispersed," the authors write.

'Means of Desperation'

The Downie/Schudson Report, as it's widely called, is cautiously optimistic that journalism will survive, but doesn't beat around the bush. It urges a number of fairly radical, controversial suggestions on how to reinvent the news media without killing "accountability journalism," that critical, dirt-digging, power-questioning but expensive journalism America is famous for.

It proposes turning news organizations into nonprofit entities, allowing them to receive tax-deductible donations. It challenges public radio and TV to expand their news coverage and to share it with papers. It calls for "more cooperation" across the board.

The most dramatic -- and instantly contentious -- proposal, however, is government funding.

"We are not recommending a government bailout of newspapers, nor any of the various direct subsidies that governments give newspapers in many European countries," the authors assure, anticipating the potential backlash. "Nor are we recommending direct government financing or control of television networks or stations."

What they do recommend is a national fund, using fees already collected now by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to finance local news reporting. They envision a construct similar to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which is financed by the government but acts independently.

The furor was immediate -- and loudest from within the media sector itself. Most notably the media critic, blogger and journalism professor Jeff Jarvis. During the festive presentation of the report at New York City's public library, he jumped up from his chair in the audience and questioned the results as "means of desperation."

"There is no crisis," Jarvis writes on his blog . For him, the "collective responsibility" the report demands from society to rescue the news media is nothing more than "socialized journalism." And that's a loaded term these days, with President Barack Obama's enemies accusing him of "socialism" daily.

A Firewall against Advertisers

Other critics followed suit. "With states like California in such high deficits already, declaring themselves in a state of national emergency, how much money could there be to spread around to such journalism?" asks  media blogger Drew Grant. Even Howard Kurtz, the media critic of the "Washington Post", sees "the potential taint of political agendas" in government funding.

Dean Lemann doesn't share these concerns. "At universities there are many truth-seeking activities that the government funds that are pretty successful," he says. "It's all about how to build the protection and a firewall. For years that has worked with advertisers, too. We've gotten used to it, and it works well. "

In any case, Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism doesn't seem to be suffering from this crisis, and neither does the enthusiasm of its hopefuls. On the first day of the current semester, Lemann welcomed 207 students into the "World Room" as they entered the university's masters degree program -- 43 more than last year.

You can also read an accompanying interview  with Columbia Journalism School dean Nicholas Lemann.

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