Media: Traditional journalism is too dull for GateHouse

December 17, 2007
By Billy Dennis

liberty_logogif.jpgWho said this?

As for me, I think one of the reasons quality journalism is in retreat these days is because we haven’t spent enough time and effort truly covering our communities. We spend way too much time on he-said, she-said local political scandals and deadly dull town council meetings and not enough time really showing what people in our communities are doing.

The answer: Howard Owens, the man who heads up GateHouse Media’s Internet operations.

There’s a reason newspapers are full of boring “he-said, she-said local political scandals and deadly dull town council meetings” is because doing so is a vital service that we have come to expect from a community’s newspaper of record. Papers like the Journal Star used to be able to adequately report on the deadly dull stuff and still have time for interesting features. Of course this as back before companies like GateHouse started buying up every single newspaper within a region, then firing staff left and right. There was a time when the Journal Star Sunday edition was filled with locally written enterprise pieces. These days, the thing if filled with, well, filler. Much of it seems to have run first in other GateHouse Media, publications. Occasionally, someone at the Journal Star cranks out a localized version quoting someone from the community.

Also, take note of the post in which this article appears. Owens is defending a GateHouse newspaper that posted a YouTube video of a bunch of drunk college students and their annual streaking event. Owens says this is good community journalism because it’s about young people and what they are doing. Seriously.

Tags: , , ,

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

3 Responses to “ Media: Traditional journalism is too dull for GateHouse ”

  1. PeoriaIllinoisan on December 18, 2007 at 9:09 am

    So in essence he wants to lighten up on the news and have more fluffy human interest stories. Nice.

  2. Flying Hellfish on December 18, 2007 at 12:00 pm

    I think you have your Owens’ mixed up. Howard is GateHouse; Jim is Caterpillar.

  3. Billy Dennis on December 18, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    Correct. I am over medicated today.