David Giuliani
Three New Mexico journalists recently had a discussion on Heath Haussamen’s Facebook page about the future of media. This week, two of them are sharing their thoughts in guest columns on this site. Here’s the second.
Recently, I got word that the Las Vegas Optic, my employer, would be laying off one of its newsroom employees. That’s out of a grand total of four and a half positions.
This news upset me, but it wasn’t surprising.
After all, just about every newsroom in New Mexico and across the country has seen cuts — some draconian.
I have loved newspapers since I was a boy, and I always will. But in recent months, I have concluded that newspapers won’t survive — at least in their present form. That’s because news consumers can get much of what they want on the Internet for free. Most newspapers throw their content on their Web sites without charging for access.
Some point out that newspaper sites that charge see very little traffic. In other words, the newspaper industry has yet to find a way to make money off the Internet.
If the days of full-time journalists are over, what do we do for news? Even without newspapers, Americans will still thirst for news.
Fortunately, a few in our industry are trying to come up with ideas to save it. Some are pushing for a giant cooperative of all newspapers that would feature an online payment system of micro-charges — pennies on the dollar for each story accessed. It would be something like iTunes, which many credit for saving the music industry.
But would newspapers’ joining forces reduce competition? Absolutely not. Those papers with the most-read stories will come out ahead, as they should. All would be competing for readers. A cooperative would simply strengthen the industry, so news consumers don’t have to suffer the inconvenience of registering for each site.
Still, some would argue that news consumers don‘t want to pay for content anymore. To be sure, we all like free stuff. But if all stories are free, who will do the work? We all must eat.
Society needs full-time journalists who have the time to dig for the big stories. Don’t get me wrong; bloggers and citizen journalists play a role. But newspapers proportionately come up with the most important investigative pieces, even in our reduced form.
These days, we have fewer people covering government and society’s power brokers. Look at the Baltimore Sun, which has axed half of its staff in recent times. Is there a legion of new online journalists in Baltimore who are offsetting the Sun’s cuts? Of course not. When the Optic lays off one of its newsroom employees, will some local full-time news blogger emerge? I highly doubt it.
Just think what those in power can get away with when fewer people are watching. Newspapers need to join forces to save their industry — and help preserve democracy.
Giuliani is the managing editor of the Las Vegas (N.M.) Optic, a thrice-a-week newspaper. He has also been the editor of the Carlsbad Current-Argus and the Deming Headlight.