"The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper"

The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C., a pioneer in the use of alternative story forms, continues to face the struggles of every major metro. In this column, staff writer Ted Vaden explains some of the changes made recently to the paper. They are the usual suspects: cut stock listings, condense TV book, combining two Sunday sections.

But he tackles head on the impression this leaves with readers. He writes, "It's 'The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper,' and The N&O isn't alone in finding itself in a bad movie." He notes other major dailies making similar cuts. He also quotes Phil Meyer, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill journalism professor and author of "The Vanishing Newspaper." The shrinking newspaper is inevitable, given the changing economics of the business, Meyer said. They are a mass medium in a niche world.

Cutting space/content is hardly a viable long-term strategy, he added. What good newspapers do it re-invest the savings in new products to reach new readers.

Good strategy. Unfortunately, I think the space reductions are more to bail out already troubled operations--such as the Chicago Sun-Times' recent web width reduction. Incidentally, I picked up a copy of the new Sun-Times the day it made its debut without knowing about the new web width. I didn't even notice.

Some more quick hits:

• The Ledger serving suburban Indianapolis also announced changes: "compact" size, shorter stories, no jumps, "chapters" to organize content, more local news and breakouts.
  
• Marcy Burstiner, an assistant journalism professor at Humboldt State University, makes an interesting point in this column. She pleads support for the local press, particularly the Eureka Reporter. She notes, however, the wrongheaded approach the Reporter took in conducting a readership survey. Some good advice here--such as look at why more than what, and reach disgruntled readers (or non-readers) not those who already love what you do.