The world is changing, and the newspaper world is changing too. Gone are the days when a newsroom was only concerned about going out and covering the news; instead, reporters now have to think in a more complex, three-dimensional way of transmitting the story, including putting out information on social media, of getting video footage and updating websites constantly as the story develops.
Here at the St. Paul Journal, we, like other news outlets, are doing our best to change our practices to reflect this new world. However, our physical newspaper is still our main product. We sometimes get requests from people to email them our photos and articles, with some even saying they’d rather do this than have to pick up a paper, a request which we of course must deny. We also often get requests to put classifieds and obituaries online, but again, it is difficult to do this when our physical newspaper is still our main product.
Occasionally, we hear in public forums, people asking politicians why they weren’t personally notified about certain issues. If the response from the politician is to say an ad was in the paper, people sometimes come back saying, “We don’t all get the St. Paul Journal.” That might be true, but if you want to be an informed citizen and want to know what’s happening in your own backyard, reading the local news might be a good place to start.
Recently, a family requested an old Journal article about a family member who had passed away, an article about her love and care of her flowers and garden. The article evoked something of this person’s life and personality – and we, as reporters, are glad we can provide this kind of memento to people. The Beautiful Babies section we offer each year gives people the same opportunity to have a moment, a year, a life captured on paper and ink.
If people choose not to buy or support their local paper, it has the same effect of people not choosing to shop locally – it forces the business to close down doors. If newspapers go the way of the dinosaur, one wonders if a digital file of a website page will fill the hole, and offer the same memento in a scrapbook?
However, in the day of social media, it is a good question to ask – what makes journalism relevant? In the wake of the tragic shooting in Connecticut, lots of false information was spread via Facebook and Twitter – and unfortunately, via mainstream media as well. These news outlets were in a fierce competition with one another and with social media to get information to people with a voracious demand to know more. However, journalists have to put their credibility above speediness, and only report information that has been cross-checked and verified as accurate. Otherwise, they lose their relevance and become about as trusted as a post from Joe Shmoe on Facebook.
Our responsibility to you, our readers, is to strive to ensure our reporting is as fair and accurate as possible. We are always happy to get calls to come out to events, or suggestions on topics we should look into, or feedback on our coverage, and we appreciate it when our public is engaged in the process as readers. We look forward to being a credible and respected local news source for you in the year ahead and for many years after.
