Kari Chisholm of the Blue Oregon blog laments this week about the increasingly sad state of Oregon journalism and the stampede of journalists into PR jobs with government and the private sector.
“The Secretary of State’s spokesman is Don Hamilton, who used to be a reporter at the Portland Tribune,” Chisholm writes. “The Attorney General’s spokesman is Tony Green, who was very recently a reporter at The Oregonian.
“And they’re not the only ones. In fact, the reporter-to-spokesman path has become increasingly well-trod.
“Amy Ruiz, formerly of the [Portland] Mercury, is now working for Mayor Sam Adams. Scott Moore, also a former Merc reporter, has been at Our Oregon [a coalition of progressive organizations] for a while now.
“Former Oregonian columnist Jonathan Nicholas is now a spokesman for ODS Health Systems. Former KPAM news director Bill Gallagher is doing public affairs for the state police. And, of course, a few years back, Patty Wentz left Willamette Week for several stops in politics and is now at the Department of Human Services. And before that, longtime KATU political reporter Mark Hass jumped the fence and become a state legislator.”
As previously noted by The Eye, Oregonian columnist David Reinhard has gone to work with a Salem lobbying firm. And closer to home, James Sinks, formerly a fine state government reporter for The Bulletin, is now the spokesman for State Treasurer Ben Westlund.
Can journalism survive as news outlets keep shrinking their staffs and the best and brightest reporters, columnists and editors depart for greener (or at least more secure) pastures? Chisholm is worried – and so is The Eye.
“We bloggers often criticize the traditional media. And it’s true: there’s a lot to complain about,” Chisholm writes.
“But we need them. And it’s not just that blogging is a derivative art (commenting on the news that others generate), it’s that our democracy needs independent watchdogs that have a direct pipeline to the public.
“Can bloggers fill the gap? Not really. Sure, we’ll do some of our own independent reporting now and then. But I can tell you that the money isn’t there to do it in a serious way.”
It’s not just money that bloggers lack – it’s expertise and, in too many cases, a sense of ethics and honesty. Most bloggers (this one included) have their own personal and/or political agenda to push, and some are unscrupulous in pushing it. There’s a lot of information and opinion out there on the Web, but separating the wheat from the chaff is an almost impossible task.
What’s the solution? We don’t know. But at least as far as print journalism goes, it seems increasingly clear that the daily newspaper is a dinosaur.
Huffington Post blogger John McQuaid argues that the dailies need to transform themselves into weeklies (or biweeklies or monthlies) to have any chance of survival. Newspapers “used to occupy a middle ground – well crafted and immediate! – but that ground is falling out from beneath their feet. Now they are neither,” he writes. “The old-fashioned physical newspaper is outdated the moment it’s printed. And (with exceptions, of course) it’s not finely crafted. It’s worth waiting for this week’s New Yorker. Not so the morning paper, anymore. … The ‘daily’ part of newspaper journalism has become a trap. It’s too slow for today’s readers, not slow enough for good in-depth journalism.”
This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2009.
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Uh, if they were the best and the brightest, it would be one thing. But of those you named, only Tony Green is even well-regarded within the biz…others are nice folks, but haven’t contributed anything of substance.
In Willamette Week (http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=19077) we see that the Bend Bulletin’s James Sinks is leaving to flak for Ben Westlund. It took him a few years to mature, but his stuff got to be pretty decent the last few years.
Oops. I overlooked the fact The Eye already noticed the Sinks departure in the paragraph led with Reinhard — says a lot about the effect on readers of even mentioning the ultra-odious Reinhard.
We stopped reading from the biased-more liberal journalists that make up Oregon’s media long ago. maybe it is time to clean house and do some REAL reporting that does not serve as a personal agenda.
I spoke with one of my friends at the Bulletin over the weekend who said that all the staffers are required to take one un-paid day per month. I also noticed that they are padding their Sunday biz section with a new column from the section editor, John Stearns. With that kind of newsroom environment, I can’t imagine that they will be attracting any top tier talent any time soon. The flip side is that, other than political consulting, there ain’t a whole lot out there…
“I also noticed that they are padding their Sunday biz section with a new column from the section editor, John Stearns.”
If they didn’t have the column there they might have to fill the space with actual business news, and since the business news is all bad they want to avoid reporting it at all costs and give us fluff and “positive” analysis (aka spin) instead.
“Uh, if they were the best and the brightest, it would be one thing.”
Well, maybe they were the best and brightest at their respective papers. I know The Bulletin doesn’t have much (if any) high-quality talent left. Of course the Black-Costa team began driving away talented reporters and writers as soon as it took over. I don’t think they want anybody on staff who can write better than Costa (and that covers a LOT of ground).
Since The Bull replaced its Monday Biz Section with a Pets Section I’ve been trying to think of substitutes for the Biz Section on other days of the week. For example, how about a Crocheting Section on Tuesday? And a Woodworking Section on Wednesday?
Other suggestions would be welcome.
Most newspapers shot themselves in the foot by becoming politicized liberal commentaries instead of balanced sources of news. AP became a bunch of biased op-ed liberal commentators. These people have alienated half of the state and have ended up as official supporters and validators of liberal thought while demonizing, scolding and preaching repentence to their more conservative readers. They’ll either go back to the basics of less biased and factual reporting or go broke. The “old” Oregonian and Oregon Journal of the 1950’s were well worth reading, even out here in eastern Oregon.
“maybe it is time to clean house and do some REAL reporting that does not serve as a personal agenda.”
“Fair and balanced” like Fox, right?
JonBoy, the Oregon of today is not the Oregon of the 1950s and conservative Republicans do not make up half of the state. If you don’t believe me look at the election returns.
HBM’s correct that The Bulletin’s been driving away great reporters for years. Unfortunately I don’t think most readers of the paper really notice – or care. It’s simply the place where new journalism grads go to get their name in print a few times each week before realizing there’s got to be a better place to practice writing and reporting.