The state of newspapers

Marty Kaiser, pictured at left, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, gave a two-pronged presentation on the state of newspapers Monday morning.

One of the prongs suggested print journalism publications must redefine the way they present news.

"Nobody knows which way journalism is going," he told Reynolds Institute participants of the changes the field is undergoing.

He summarized the changes papers have undergone over the past 60 years, from the 1950s when "papers looked more like a Web page," with blurbs of news featured on page one, to the 1960s, when newspapers reacted to television news expansion through narrative storytelling.

"(Storytelling) is something not done on TV," he said.

The focus now, he said, is on adapting to the changes brought on by the Internet. He discussed how a reporter, in working on a story on an unwanted baby born with birth defects, spent time blogging with readers while working on the story.

The newsroom, he said, needs to define and focus on immediacy, interactivity and being the authority on what is happening.

"We need to see where the story is going," Kaiser said.

The other prong involved The Journal Sentinal's investigative team of reporters, called the Watchdog Team, which conducts in-depth research into topics of importance for readers.

As an example, he explained how team members Suzanne Rusk and Meg Kissinger spent months researching how the chemical BPA is used in plastics, and government inaction on researching the affect it would have on the human body. Eventually legislation resulted from stories on the potential harm it could cause people.

He finished by explaining the cutbacks to the newsroom caused by the economy and the loss of classified advertising revenue, and how impacts could affect news gathering.

Mark Webber
Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts
Laredo, Texas