It seems useless and to the point of surrender, with respect to urging The Miami Herald to be a better paper for its readers. It's true: eyeonmiami takes seriously what most people just shrug at-- the inexorable slide of the city's only daily newspaper.
Looking through last week's posts-- of all the important stories and issues that The Herald has missed, and picked up by other local regional papers (check, below), or not picked up at all; the decline of The Herald seems every bit as depressing as the Baltimore Sun, the fictional newspaper catalogued in the HBO series, "The Wire".
I imagine that one of the critiques of this blog by the newspapers' editors and managers is that the stories we highlight are too negative and too downbeat to hold readers' attention.
If that is true, then how to justify the horrible placement of the following story on the front page?, of a bride who died in her groom's arms in their post-wedding celebration. ("Bride dies during couple's first dance")
Yes, the story is newsworthy. Under no conceivable circumstance does it belong on the first page except the circumstance under which journalism has lost its way chasing Fox News.
Oh I understand: everyone can read this story and heave a collective sigh, "How tragic." "What a bolt from the blue." "How God's ways are indecipherable to mortals."
But aren't the stories how our representative democracy has shattered under the weight of special interests more particular to the afflictions of society and Herald readers.
These stories--like Florida Hometown Democracy's bludgeoning by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, land speculators, and Associated Industries--are heart rending in a way that affects all of our lives: why aren't these stories on the front page every day?
"Democracy dies under distortion of election law" isn't sexy as bride who collapses in groom's arms?
Lots of people I know have abandoned The Herald. I keep up my subscription and write about The Herald critically, because I mourn what the newspaper could be.
On days like today, I'm right on edge of giving up on The Herald.
13 comments:
It's funny that you write about giving up the Herald as I was considering the same thing. If enough of us all canceled the Herald they would have to start writing the paper for the public and not for the advertisers. As it is the Herald is only interested in it's bottom line. I remember when a newspaper was to ferret out all the important stories and present them for the public. Of course if many people stopped buying the Herald the advertisers would have to pay less. At some point it would no longer pay for the paper to cater to its advertisers and it would have to give the public all the news so that it would get the people reading it again. I sure would like to know what all you smart people out there think about this. Is there a chance we could really get people to drop the advertisers rag?
Genius of Despair said...
I agree with Gimleteye and Mensa.
We are their loyal readership, but we demand more. They are getting worse and worse. I always said it should become leaner and meaner. Instead it is becoming softer and fluffier. We read it every Huckin' Day. The bride story, sad yes, but what about the Nancy Simon story? What about the dirty tricks used to derail a petition drive? How about looking at the campaign finances of the County Commission Candidates -- already shaping up to be very interesting. The public is under attack by monied interests and no one cares and the Herald doesn't shine a light on this. Why are we printing lobbyists pictures over and over and over? They should.
They write over and over again about the Marlin stadium. I haven't heard one person say they want public money to go for this. But the herald reports on it over and over and over as if writing about it enough will make it happen. We know you support it Herald. It is quite obvious.
I am disheartened by the paper's incomplete reporting. Why haven't they focused on Souto's mental problems...or other very bad politicians. They should be shining lights on the abuses. They should be the 4th Estate but that role is in ashes.
Frankly, I am tired of playing that role here. And speaking of Rolle, there is plenty up with him, where is the Herald? I am sitting on stories about him.
I think if all our readers stopped getting the Herald delivered, it would make a statement. Maybe we can get an article in the Sunpost of Miami New Times about it.
Good question.
Where is the Herald?
I actually felt sad that the article was on the front page about the Bride. It was a personal tragedy for her husband, her family, friends and students, but not a tragedy I needed to share in. I have enough tragedies of my own to deal with.
What happened to a reader knowing and trusting that the paper would provide the facts? (The information you and I needed to be safe and smart in life.) Hah.
Have you ever looked at each page in the paper? Have you ever looked to see article content vs. ad content? Tell you what, it isn’t unusual to find only one or two articles wedged into a whole page of ads.
I am amazed at the stupidity that would cause a newspaper would drive itself into the ground. It almost seems like the owners (or whoever) is doing it on purpose. Why else would they disregard the historical institution of the media?
And why would they disregard their reader base in favor of their ad sponsors? If they don't have a reader base, they certainly will not have any ad sponsors. Sounds like very bad business to me.
It has become a tabloid, sad for a former good paper. And the color ads! enough! I want to cancel, but it is such a tradition to pick up a paper every day for breakfast reading.
The Baltimore Sun is not a fictonal newpaper. Like the Herald, it is a once proud and spunky newspaper that has fallen on hard times and lost its balls to the bottom line, but it remains a going concern.
Interesting how they use it on The Wire. Probably helps the bottom line, so they let them use the name...
we are all in deep doodoo when the fourth estate abdicates it's obligation to inform and educate the public on substantive issues, when the paper is appropriated by corporate special interest and devolves into what it is today, fish wrap. Be it print, radio or tv the cacophony of mindless commercial-dribble is calculated and alarmingly numbing.
Save a tree, cancel the herald, not worth the paper it's printed on.
Swampthing is right.
Heck, we are all right. It is sad.
I gave up subscribing to the Herald years ago, when it still was a Knight Ridder paper.
Read it online if there is something of interest. No ads.
It seems to have gone downhill since they tracked Gary Hart on the Monkey Business.
About 3 years ago or so, they did a market study... I think it got worse when they started applying what they learned in the study...
They started using smaller fonts.. Because they found their main readers were younger than seniors and babyboomers... They jazzed up the ads... added color...
The Herald did all sorts of things to appeal to the 25-30 year old someones.
Well, now that I can't see the print to read it, I suppose I am not missing much, since they apparently dumbed it down too.
And now they are outsourcing the editors too? How come that didn't make the paper?
Sunday’s Herald did have a front page story on the Spice-Jones saga, but I report something annoying and curious: having slept late (8:00) Sunday I had to search high and low for a New York Times (I buy both papers Sunday and read NYTimes on line week days) Bagel Emporium: out, CVS: none, Starbucks: none, only 5 last week…finally, yes Publix had it, but what was odd was that all the people in the other places saying “oh, that’s all they sent us, ” “that’s all we got…” Retailers don’t order? Distributors determine? Hmmm.
S
Being someone with a bit of experience in the media, I can tell you that the powers-that-be regard hard news as difficult for the average reader to fathom. Thus, they run stories like that. Granted, it was a heartwrenching read and probably needed to be told, but not on the front page.
I for one have had enough of the Herald's Latin American coverage. Its like reading the Cuban Exile Times.
uh, except that so much space in this blog--often rightly so--is devoted to trashing the Herald, which you obviously need to read in order to do.
it's ludicrous to say you intend on giving up your subscription. in fact, where would you be without the Herald? in a weird way, this blog depends on the Herald for its survival as a counterpoint, so stop being so silly
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