I went to a conference of business newspapers earlier this month in Detroit and learned a lot.
For example, I learned that if gambling casinos do in fact do a lot to boost a city’s economy, Detroit must represent more the exception than the rule.
There are casinos in and around the city – but there’s not a lot of business going on, otherwise.
I visited the MGM Grand for about an hour-and-a-half. It’s safe to say they won’t be tracking me down to offer complimentary passes for a return engagement. I’m not a real high-roller. Over the course of about two hours, I spent $9 on three Budweisers and $2 on slot machines. For those counting at home, that’s $11. I doubt that kind of track record will attract any attention from Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun either.
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Actually, records at Foxwoods would indicate that my wife and I dropped what we considered to be a bundle one afternoon back in 1998. It was a wild afternoon and we left $30 poorer from all the gambling. We had planned to risk as much as $40, but at the last minute I came to my senses and shoved a $10 bill in my pocket. I surprised my wife on the way out by splurging on lunch from a hot dog cart.
Back to Detroit … There is talk there of laying off hundreds of police and firefighters. Couple that with massive layoffs at GM and you have to wonder how a city like that, even with a waterfront to build upon, can ever prosper.
I also learned other things in Detroit – from editors at publications all around the country and from some professors who study newspapers and the journalism industry in general.
A lot of what I learned, I have been hearing for a while. Even still, it can be alarming. You see, you aren’t reading like you used to – and that is a decidedly bad thing for an industry built on the written word.
For example:
*More and more, you are getting your news from the Internet, not a newspaper. In fact, one study has found that while online news sites are not yet the primary source of news, by 2007, 73 percent of the U.S. population will get their news from an online source.
*You, as a reader, tend to start reading a lot of stories – but don’t often finish them. You don’t like when a story starts on one page and jumps to another.
*You want to read about ordinary people. And you like stories to be focused on a particular issue. You do not want a story to get bogged down in too many details. You want it to be easily understood.
*You also like to read about things like health, home, food, fashion and travel.
*You’re definitely nosey. You like to know what other people make for a living, especially if your tax dollars are contributing to the salary or the person works in a field or industry similar to your own.
I teach a journalism class at a local college. At the start of each semester I ask my students if they read a newspaper every day. Typically, two or three out of 15 students raise a hand.
But here’s the catch. They’re well-read. They are very well-versed in current events and have a real strong sense of the important issues of the day.
So where do they get their news?
A lot of them, clearly, get it through the Internet. And those are our readers of tomorrow.
So here’s the deal.
We’ll work on keeping our stories shorter and, whenever possible, containing them to a page so you don’t have to jump around to follow to its ending. Sometimes, we’ll run a longer story because the subject matter merits it. And hopefully, it will be so compelling that you read it from start to finish.
And by all means, send in letters and call me (273-2201 ext. 215) to comment on stories you read – or with ideas for stories you would like to read.
And don’t give up on newspapers. I’m betting that they are going to be around for quite some time – even with all the technology swirling around us.
And I’m quite the gambler.
