Newspapers are alive and kicking

By Tim Wood

More and more these days, so-called media "experts" are writing the obituary of newspapers.

"People don't have time to read them," they say. "Young people aren't reading newspapers, and they are your future," we're told.

Those of us in the newspaper business do take these concerns seriously, but we're not about to pack it in.

Any business that survives 100 years has got to have something going for it.

Here at The Daily Herald, we like to think we have a lot going for us. As in any endeavor, improvement always should be top priority. But this newspaper, and others, are not going the way of dinosaurs.

It was 100 years ago when Herald Editor F.D. Lander took the bold step of converting this newspaper into a daily publication. It had existed for 51 years as a weekly. Back in 1899, there were other weekly newspapers in Maury County, and none of them were doing particularly well. It didn't seem like a good time to be bold.

But Lander took the risk, and the result was a successful first year of daily publication.

Because this week also is National Newspaper Week, it is an opportunity to ponder the future of newspapers.

There's a time capsule buried underneath a downtown Columbia sidewalk. Its contents include a photograph of Daily Herald employees. When it is opened far in the future, will people wonder just what a "newspaper" was?

Or will there be a Daily Herald to put the story on its front page?

There are encouraging signs for newspapers. A World Association of Newspapers Study reported in Editor and Publisher magazine suggests that young people indeed are reading newspapers. "... We found that not only do young people indeed read newspapers in high numbers, but they often read more than do their parents," said WAN President Bengt Braun.

In the United States, WAN's numbers indicated that almost 70 percent of children ages 12 to 17 read a newspaper at least once a week.

In my household, my two sons fight over the newspaper. Their primary interest now is in sports and movies, but I think they'll become interested in other parts of the newspaper in the future.

Personally, I'm more concerned about young adult readers than I am about teen-age readers. I meet many young adults who don't see reading the newspaper as a priority. It appears to be just another entertainment medium that competes with television and movies.

There are many stories in the newspaper that aren't terribly entertaining, but they are important. The workings of city councils, county commissions and school boards are not entertaining, but knowledge of them is essential to function in this world. People would like to know if their tax bill is going up. Perhaps they're wondering why the school day is longer. Just what did happen in that accident that tied up traffic for several hours, they might wonder.

We have an obligation to make those stories relevant and present them in a fashion that draws the reader to the stories.

If newspapers have a weakness, it's that news people tend to be stubborn and tradition bound. When USA Today brought a radical new approach to newspapering, it was criticized roundly by traditional newspaper people. Many of those same people later copied its innovations.

To survive and thrive in the future, newspapers would be well served to take risks and be open to re-thinking what we do. If anybody needs an example of a bold newspaperman, they can go back 100 years in Columbia to F.D. Lander.

Published Oct. 3, 1999 in The Columbia Daily Herald

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