Quill - December 2008 - (Page 3) From the President DAVE AEIKENS Dave Aeikens became president of SPJ in September. He served as presidentelect in 2007-08, winning a President’s Award in 2008. He was national secretary-treasurer in 2006-07. He was SPJ’s Legal Defense Fund Chairman from 2005 to 2007. He served as Region 6 director for six years and Minnesota Pro Chapter president and secretary. He has been a reporter and editor at the St. Cloud Times for 15 years. He has covered schools, state government and served as the paper's night city editor for four years. He has worked 17 years in daily journalism in Minnesota. T Our profession is not dying, it’s just changing his summer, as I was about to become There is less foreign and national news, less space president, the staff asked me to travel devoted to science, the arts, features and a range to St. Petersburg, Fla., in November of specialized subjects. Business coverage is either to speak to SPJ’s Reporter’s Institute. packaged in an increasingly thin stand-alone sec“Sounds great, I will be there,” I said cheerfully. tion or collapsed into another part of the paper. Then they told me the topic they would like me The crossword puzzle has shrunk, the TV listings to address: the state of the industry. Oh. and stock tables may have disappeared, but covIt is difficult to be cheery and optimistic about erage of some local issues has strengthened, and the news business at this time, especially newspa- investigative reporting remains highly valued. pers. We are all susceptible to the possibility of That’s right, coverage of local issues is better, layoffs in our newsroom. I work for the Gannett- and investigative reporting, the cornerstone of owned paper in St. Cloud, Minn. The corpora- our business, has “high value.” tion announced in October that 10 percent of the I believe there is reason for hope. The fact is workforce had to go. My paper eliminated 12 po- people’s demand for news is not going away. Peositions during the summer. informa ple are hungry for informaIt was difficult watching tion about what is going on one of my colleagues walk in their town, in their state, “Despite the rough ecoout the door. And it would in their world. The need to nomic news and trends, be really difficult doing that cred get information from credthere is some belief that again. Or I could be the one ex ible sources will always exsaying goodbye. I can empaist. things will settle and the thize with all of those who Newspaper circulation reshaping and restrucviewer are going through it. and network news viewerturing that has shaken Those who survive the reship is sliding, yet millions ductions are left to cover the of people are still watching our faith will pay divisame community with fewer the network news — and dends. The role journalresources. The demands to cable TV news is showing ists play in democracy peo produce a daily or weekly growth. Thousands of peonewspa paper and continually upple are still buying newspais far too important to date the Web site are there pers, and thousands more give up on it.” for all of us. It is legitimate are reading stories online to wonder whether the reor getting them sent to duction in reporters, editors their phones. News sites are and support staff has hampered the ability to do among the most trafficked Web sites in the councoun the job and continue to place a high premium on try. CNN and The New York Times rank in the solid reporting, accuracy and writing. top 25. The most popular Web pages are search To say the state of the business is good right engines and social networking sites. now would probably generate polite chuckles if Despite the rough economic news and trends, not full-throated laughter. The news business there is some belief that things will settle and the continues to struggle with a bleak economy and reshaping and restructuring that has shaken our an industry evolution that is seeing people’s ad- faith will pay dividends. The role journalists play vertising and news consumption habits shift at a in democracy is far too important to give up on pace that has us struggling to keep up. it. And while turmoil surrounds the business opWe chose journalism for a variety of reasons. erations at our workplaces, we the working jour- We like to be in on the action. We like to tell stonalists continue to do our jobs and do it well. We ries, and we like to share with others what is going are covering our communities, our city councils, on and what we have learned. We know that we our schools boards, and national and local elec- are the critical link between what is happening in tions. government and the citizens who need that inA Pew Research study released in July said this formation to make sure it is operating correctly. about American newspapers: That role will never change. It has fewer pages than three years ago, the paHow we share that information, however, has per stock is thinner, and the stories are shorter. changed. And it will likely continue to do so. t DECEMBER 2008 Quill 3
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