Volume 32, No. 7 November 2007 QUOTE OF THE MONTH “I am not the editor of a newspaper and shall always try to do right and be good so that God will not make me one.” — Mark Twain Visit the ISWNE’s Web site: www.iswne.org Published by the Institute of International Studies, Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO The New York Times — Community be Damned By Bill Reader The New York Times enjoys a place of high that without its Community Journalism Interest Group privilege in the United States and, indeed, readers, the Times the rest of the free world. So the small parcel was nothing. There has been very little coverage of the of space it has committed to letters from the There have been New York Times’ decision to cut the space it public is perhaps the most coveted virtual other changes to allots for printed letters in its paper edition. meeting space in all of literate society. the Times’ letters That’s a shame. The move further exempli- Here are some important milestones in the page since then — fies the disdain the “mainstream” media history of the small parcel of intellectual real the decline and has for their audiences, and, by extension, estate: end of publishing the communities they serve. • Just five days after it began publishing in letters with pseu- I have long believed — and now, even more the late summer of 1851, the New York donyms in the so — that the NYT and other so-called Times published its first letter to the editor, 1940s, the intro- “elite” news organizations, simply don’t get an innocuous tribute to the fine city by duction of a print- Bill Reader what it means to HAVE a community to somebody who signed the letter, simply, ed “letters policy” serve, let alone what it means to SERVE “Visitor.” in 1973 — but perhaps none will be as infa- those communities. We shouldn’t be sur- mous as the notice it published on August 6, • The Times’ own Kalman Seigel, who in 2007, when the editors announced that the prised, then, that the media elites pay little 1972 published a collection of notable Times attention to the massive growth of commu- Times would provide less space for letters in letters, reported that in 1896, when Adolph the print edition, shoveling them off instead nity media in the online age, nor do the Ochs bought the newspaper, he wrote that print media understand the power they to the cheap ghetto of the company’s Web he was committed to provide “a forum for servers. could tap in the communities that support, the consideration of all questions of public and pay for, their products, print or other- importance, and to that end to invite intelli- Traditionalists of journalism are bemoaning wise. gent discussion from all shades of opinion.” the change as an affront to tradition and of Below is an op-ed I submitted to the NYT It was an affirmation from the new owner times gone by. I would argue that the Times’ upon its announcement that it would be that letters were not only to be continued, reduction of letters space in the printed cutting space for printed letters. Of course, but cherished as the very soul of the newspa- newspaper is an ill-conceived dismissal of and hardly surprising, I never heard a peep per. the current and future needs of its readers and the broader public. back from the Times other than an auto- • In the 1930s, the Times published letters in mated response. Following my submission is the usual place on the editorial page, but Over 10 years of studying the social roles of the Times’ response. also published a full page of letters every letters to the editor, I have become con- Sunday in the space now occupied by its vinced that the wild popularity of online dis- The Times does a disservice to “Visitor” high-profile columnists and op-eds from the cussion groups, blogs, and do-it-yourself citi and all of its readers cultural and intellectual elite. It was a sign continued on page 3 The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors President’sresident’s By Jeremy Waltner Freeman Courier Reporteport Freeman, S.D. Slow response to newswire disappointing, a concern In the August newsletter, ISWNE member and either people’s lack of understanding, their in New Mexico this coming summer, we will West Valley View (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) man- forgetfulness, or perhaps they are still not instead be in Detroit. aging editor Jim Painter wrote a piece about aware that the newswire is out there, for For a much more detailed synopsis of how the ISWNE newswire, a service of the organi- them and ultimately for their readers. this came to be, check out the full report on zation, for the organization, OK’d by the Painter, with support from the West Valley page 4. board at the summer conference in the Black View, has done a fantastic job of getting the Hills of South Dakota. What I want to say about it, however, doesn’t newswire up and running. It’s an easy-to- have as much to do with how it happened as The newswire was a brainchild of Painter, read, easy-to-use site that requires very little it does why it happened. and the idea was to allow members of the time and energy. In short, it happened because the ISWNE is ISWNE to post stories and opinion pieces that But it needs content to function at its best. might be of interest to the general member- stacked deep with people who care about the ship — and therefore its readers. The contents Please, if you’ve written something or have a organization, its well-being, and will do what of the newswire could be viewed and down- staff member who has written something, or it takes to make sure the ride goes as smooth- loaded for nothing, and used for the same have taken a great photo or ripped a movie ly as possible. price. It was a proposition the ISWNE Board to bits and pieces, send it to Painter at That certainly happened in this case. [email protected]. of Directors jumped on, and ultimately gave Dick’s news about the College of Santa Fe was Painter its blessing to run with it. If you haven’t checked out the newswire, do disappointing, and his recommendation to Painter did, and in his August introduction to so. It’s at www.iswne.org; you’ll find the link find an alternate venue for the 2008 confer- the newswire, wrote: “This is an exciting to the left of the page. ence was taken seriously. If Dick says it would experiment...it can succeed if people con- Response to the newswire will surely be dis- be difficult to make it work, it would be diffi- tribute as well as use stories submitted by cussed when the ISWNE Board of Directors cult to make it work. other members.” meets in January. It would be a shame if lack I would stop short of calling the development Well, ISWNE, get to it. of interest and participation put the kibosh a crisis, but it was close. Had others not on this terrific idea before it really got going. In its first three months in operation, re- stepped in and been willing to do their part, sponse to the newswire has been slow at best. * * * * it would have become that. In August there were four editorials submitted The email message from Chad was not iden- And there wasn’t just one other, either. There — all by Shelton-Mason County Journal pub- tified as “urgent,” but it very well could have were several. And had there been a greater lisher and editor Charles Gay. been. need, there would have been even more. September was better and included editorials Perhaps it should have been, because the That’s my point. and comments from the Freeman Courier news was not good. It didn’t take long for this young ISWNE and a number of movie reviews (great idea) Dick McCord, longtime ISWNE member, past member to learn that his colleagues who are from members of the West Valley View staff. president and two-time conference host, had part of the organization look out for each The October showing was sad, and included notified Chad that his plans to host the 2008 other and are waiting in the wings when a just two postings — one from the Journal and summer conference in Santa Fe had suffered need arises. the other from the Courier. a serious setback. Word was the residence When Dick learned of the hiccup at the halls on the campus of the College of Santa So what’s the deal, ISWNE? College of Santa Fe, he took it upon himself Fe were to undergo a renovation and we to call ISWNE board member Paul MacNeill, Considering the ISWNE membership numbers would be unable to use the rooms as slated to host the conference in Prince Edward nearly 250, it’s disappointing only a handful planned. Island in 2009. have taken part. Anybody who pays attention to the happen- Paul said he would see about moving his I suspect the sluggish start is primarily due to ings of the organization has likely heard this plans ahead a year so he could host in 2008. story, and knows that instead of conferencing continued on page 20 2 November 2007 The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors The New York Times — Community be Damned from page 1 zen journalism is a direct response to profes- up more and more barriers to their readers, and onto the Web site (where many of us sional journalists providing less of their they have gone elsewhere to have their say.