Wonderful piece about what newspapers are supposed to be -- please read...

[DeepModem Mom]

if you are interested. And "good night, and good luck."


Grade the News: Commentary
Pssst investors! There's no business like news business
What CEO Tony Ridder should have told bidders for America’s second-largest newspaper company
By John McManus
Posted Feb. 2, 2006

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that executives at Knight Ridder Inc. have laid before potential purchasers a rosy scenario for boosting profits another 20% by cutting more journalists and news pages. Here's the talk Tony Ridder should have given his fellow moguls....

***

If your goal is to make as much money as you possibly can, take a pass on news.

Morgan Stanley estimates that Knight Ridder newspapers spend $350 million a year they don't have to. But the consultants don't understand journalism.

That "surplus" spending is what it takes to produce the kind of journalism that has made America strong, and rich. It's the reason Knight Ridder has won 84 Pulitzers over the years and Gannet -- which cuts $350 million worth of corners -- has won 45.

Here's what separates news from other businesses you've run. In every business but journalism, the customer is always right. The firm that best satisfies the customer wins the day.

But journalism's codes of ethics require news media to disappoint their most important customers -- advertisers. You all know that advertisers provide more than 80% of our revenues. You may not know that most retailers want the news tailored to the ad -- to create interest in what's for sale. But news media that take the advertiser's point of view and not the public's violate ethical standards....

(NOTE: The rest of this from-the-heart piece is well worth reading.)

http://www.gradethenews.org/commentaries/riddertalk.htm