The survival of real newspapers
Posted by Dean Siemon on Thursday, December 23, 2010
Our editorial staff wrote a piece on how the Shelton-Mason County Journal has had one of it's best years in more than 100 years of existance, which is almost unheard of for a newspaper in the age of the internet.
At a weekly newspaper in county of maybe 30,000 people (close to 10,000 in circulation), we are providing more news to our local readers than any daily would in their communities. That is because, as the editorial said, they try to appease the international audience through the internet for a pot of gold that was never there - a wild goose chase.
Some of the local papers that I read offer some local high school coverage, with some local D-1 schools making a bowl game or in the playoffs. But I think that most local daily publications probably should think twice about placing an AP story on the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team losing to Oakland.
A local reader expects to open up the sports pages to read about how their local schools or teams are doing, not about what Rex Ryan said about the New England Patriots. I know that I would be getting a few complaints if I wrote a story about the Chicago Bears next to how the one of the high school basketball teams is doing.
In the sports section, I make sure I cover sports that are only involved with the local high school teams. Granted, I do break that rule when it comes to a column - I have written my opinion on college football, the professional ranks and, recently, a holiday wish list for myself (which was published in today's issue of the Journal).
When a reader picks up their newspaper, they look to see the local stories. I haven't found the point of the Seattle Times or The Olympian writing AP stories on their front page when they should focus more or their politicians.
That's one of the things I have heard from Mason County locals - that the sports section has provided more local coverage than area daily publications. Definitely something I will continue.
At a weekly newspaper in county of maybe 30,000 people (close to 10,000 in circulation), we are providing more news to our local readers than any daily would in their communities. That is because, as the editorial said, they try to appease the international audience through the internet for a pot of gold that was never there - a wild goose chase.
Some of the local papers that I read offer some local high school coverage, with some local D-1 schools making a bowl game or in the playoffs. But I think that most local daily publications probably should think twice about placing an AP story on the Tennessee Volunteers basketball team losing to Oakland.
A local reader expects to open up the sports pages to read about how their local schools or teams are doing, not about what Rex Ryan said about the New England Patriots. I know that I would be getting a few complaints if I wrote a story about the Chicago Bears next to how the one of the high school basketball teams is doing.
In the sports section, I make sure I cover sports that are only involved with the local high school teams. Granted, I do break that rule when it comes to a column - I have written my opinion on college football, the professional ranks and, recently, a holiday wish list for myself (which was published in today's issue of the Journal).
When a reader picks up their newspaper, they look to see the local stories. I haven't found the point of the Seattle Times or The Olympian writing AP stories on their front page when they should focus more or their politicians.
That's one of the things I have heard from Mason County locals - that the sports section has provided more local coverage than area daily publications. Definitely something I will continue.