Last night I went to Comedy Works to see my friend Ian do some stand up. During the show, one of the comedians had a joke involving newspapers and to start it off he said,
“Ok, ok, who in here reads newspapers?”
I of course hooted from the corner, but out of a packed house (couple hundred people) it was literally me and about two other people who hollered back. I laughed it off later with my friends who openly admitted that they don’t read newspapers either, but it still hit me.
As journalists it seems that it’s sometimes hard to keep perspective on our business. It’s depressing, yes, but newspapers are dying. Those of us who work for newspapers or who know people that do like to turn a blind eye to that fact more often than not. As photographers especially, it’s hard because the people we photograph are still excited by the idea that their photo might be in the paper always asking feverishly when it will run. It doesn’t cross our minds that many of these people are going to go out of their way to buy a paper just to see if their photo got in or not. Many of them will toss it away after they see their photo did not make the cut and they won’t think twice about it. Many of them don’t normally go out of their way to buy newspapers.
This is a rant that I’ve been holding off from my blog for a while. But for some reason, that smattering of applause proving the demise of (what seems like) the backbone of my field really hit me last night.
I don’t think that all newspapers will die but I do think that most major daily papers will tank with the rest unless they make some drastic changes. We need to take a look around us and assess the situation. Craigslist was a big blow, so facebook, myspace and twitter have also caused issues. The online business model for most newspapers is flawed. Other than the fact that most of them are free, the basic design is awful. Why would you make your online newspaper look exactly like your print one? The internet is a great resource and it’s changed our whole world in a very fundamental way, but while the world was changing, we stayed stagnant. Nobody wants to sift through lists of links, columns and vertical articles broken up with random flashing advertisements that cause us to lose our place, and thus our interest in the article. I believe that the higher-ups are so attached to the old way of doing things they can’t let go. They can’t believe that people will still go to their site for news even if it looks very different from their printed paper. Our own daily here in Denver won’t give up their wire stories. It’s a big leap, I know, to let them go. I understand the financial implications, I understand that it’s cheaper and more comfortable, easier even, to continue to fill almost the entirety of the first section with wire stories.
But let’s get real here. If your friend died of lung cancer because they smoked too much, would you quit smoking? Or would you say, “well, they were weak, I’m better, I’ll survive for a bit longer than they did.” Why can’t we set our sights higher than clinging to the sinking ship? Why can’t we build our own raft? I know it’s terrifying. Who knows anything about building a boat that floats, that will support us all, keep us alive, give us a future? So at what point does our survival become a priority and do we take a leap of faith?
Our daily has some very talented, smart, wonderful, hardworking people at its disposal. I don’t want to see it go down. The thought of Denver without a major daily paper to me is like one of those bad dreams where you’re walking down the halls on the first day of school and you realize you forgot to dress yourself. You’re standing there completely naked and helpless in the middle of everything.
So let’s put our great photographers, writers reporters, editors, designers… let’s put them to work being journalists again. Twitter has pretty much ruined breaking news. If something is big enough, like an apartment or a wild fire, or whatever, we’ll report it. But let’s do it in a way so that people are getting the story again. Why did the apartment light on fire? Who was injured, and where are they now? How did this effect their lives, and what are the broader implications on the community? I think that people who suffer these losses deserve more than a quick paragraph summarizing their tragedy like a movie review. What happened to in-depth reporting? Don’t tell me we can’t afford it. Don’t tell me you’re understaffed. If we’re going to continue to gloss over everything just so we can give the public instant gratification, something we think they want, then we deserve this collapse. Out of the ashes will rise concise, in-depth, thoughtful, provocative journalism that doesn’t feed into this ADD hysteria that has hit the country-the invisible disease of impatience. We complain that people aren’t reading the papers anymore, but are we giving them a reason to pick them up in the first place?
We’ve gotten too comfortable. And let me tell you, there’s nothing comfortable about spending the majority of your days on your knees, holding your breath, waiting for the perfect moment to happen in front of you so you can capture it forever. If I’m going to spend my days bruising my knees, I think I better make the most out of it. Enough with the stupid 30-second videos that are slapped together by writers and photographers who have no idea what they are doing. What’s the point?
We don’t give people enough credit; we’re not giving them the chance to prove that they can stand something longer, more thoughtful. The assumption is that something is better than nothing. When did it come to this?
Our world is changing. Our planet is changing, and so we must follow suit. If we do not, we will not survive the night. Who’s going to step forward? Who’s going to say that they’ve had enough of this? I want respect again. I want respect. But respect must be earned, so what will you do to get it back? What will I do?
It’s not about the money. There is no money. So let’s make a choice. Let’s choose to strive not for survival but for life. We must listen to those that have been beaten down and fired because they used to do it the “old fashioned way” which was taking more time to get it right the first time. Listen, learn and follow.
We don’t have to go down with the ship. We can build a raft. And we can do it together.
I hate to end it with a god quote but it makes sense, whether you’re religious or not,
“Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.”
-Lenny Bruce
This is from a story I did for RH in Loveland about a group of Ukrainian orphans that were putting on a traditional dinner with a silent auction to raise money for the program they came in with. I was supposed to get photos of them cooking (which I did) but I decided to follow one of them outside when she went to feed the chickens and caught her right after she took off her shoes to go back in the house.
Sarah Hofkamp, 17, left, and Marilyn Immeke, right, examine Max before the Horse Showmanship class.
My best friend and her dad on her birthday in March.
Nancy Schindler vacuums the new carpet in the hall Friday outside of the sanctuary of the Loveland Bible Church. Schindler has found solace after the passing of her husband a few years ago in helping to restore the building which will be 100 years old on August 9. Schindler says she found herself coming back to Loveland Bible after trying other churches and has recieved a lot of support through the community commenting, "it really feels like a family."
Denise Moberg, 18, shares a moment with her dog Dakota before competing in the 4-H Dog Agility Show Friday in the Ranchway Feeds Indoor Arena at The Ranch in Loveland. Moberg, who has been competing for five years, says she does it for Dakota, "he'd be pretty bored if I didn't do 4-H."
