tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post807244064338631423..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: Saturday Morning Musings - more on the mediaJim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-76700838778010843962008-12-27T23:08:00.000+11:002008-12-27T23:08:00.000+11:00Thanks for the comment, Michael. I have extended t...Thanks for the comment, Michael. I have extended the post a little in response.<BR/><BR/>I agree very strongly with you points re quality and local news. I want to write about this because I feel that the papers are not tackling this at all well.<BR/><BR/>At a corporate level, Rural is miles in front of APN in captuting some of the benefits of the on-line world. At a local newspaper level, neither is very good.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-42068030971253443672008-12-27T18:07:00.000+11:002008-12-27T18:07:00.000+11:00Jim, I think you've tackled the issue of campaign ...Jim, I think you've tackled the issue of campaign journalism more thoroughly than I did in one sentence, and I agree with what you wrote.<BR/><BR/>Papers will adopt a cause from time to time and that's appropriate. Through their reporting they have an advocacy role on behalf of their communities.<BR/><BR/>This is a significant responsibility and I wonder how 25-year-old editors with three years experience in the industry (as occurs frequently in country areas) deal with it.<BR/><BR/>In Western Australia there's hardly a single reporter in country areas over the age of 30.<BR/><BR/>What I object to is journalists writing opinion pieces and allowing unattributed opinion to appear in news reports.<BR/><BR/>Like you say, start a blog if that's what they want to do.<BR/><BR/>As for infotainment, I'm not keen on the celebrity stuff that seems to be so popular on newspaper websites and appears in weekend papers, generally syndicated.<BR/><BR/>There's nothing wrong with lifestyle content. At The Border Watch I run daily lifestyle features on EGN pages, eg recipe, music, career, etc. The reporters have a roster and they enjoy writing them.<BR/><BR/>The generic lift-outs have little appeal to me and I wonder how many people bother to read them.<BR/><BR/>Fairfax faces a huge challenge in the recession. There's nothing left to cut (at most regional papers), so costs can't be reined in more than they have been already.<BR/><BR/>The Australian Press Council's state of the media report talks about a flight to quality. Country papers have a niche with local news and they need to invest in their products to exploit that niche.<BR/><BR/>Interesting times ahead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com