To paraphrase what Mark Twain once famously said upon reading the news of his demise: the news of newspapers’ death has been greatly exaggerated.
In fact, Mississippi’s newspapers are generally doing quite well, thank you. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with several folks who are in the know about Mississippi newspapers. Layne Bruce is the executive director of the Mississippi Press Association; Joel McNeece is President of the MPA and publisher of the Calhoun County Journal; and Will Norton is dean of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi.
The Mississippi Press Association counts 110 members in 81 counties in Mississippi, so my first question for this group was: are newspapers in Mississippi generally healthy?
Considering the whole impact of the “digital revolution”, I asked whether print and digital media can co-exist in effective ways.
In some important ways, he group agreed that especially in the smaller communities, newspapers are the original and continuing “social media”, covering the small and large happenings, serving as the conduit between citizens and government, and providing a voice for all types of issues and concerns.
What would happen if suddenly, newspapers disappeared from the scene?
They pointed out a number of instances in which Mississippi newspapers have been integral in getting laws changed that were not beneficial to their communities, and Layne pointed out that the MPA carefully follows and interacts with the state Legislature.
“It’s important to us that government be transparent, and we have aggressively fought to protect open records laws,” Joel said.
I asked Will about the Meek School of Journalism and how he views his mission.
All agreed that it’s undoubtedly true to say that a great deal of what gets passed off as “reporting” these days really isn’t reporting at all, but simply someone’s opinion as expressed in a blog, on social media, and so on. In the newspaper arena, at least, publishers and editors continue to vet their reporters and staff writers, and obviously, that isn’t true of the “blogosphere”.
Previous: SUMESH ARORA — Is innovation contagious?
I stopped taking the Clarion Ledger years ago after subscribing for decades. They couldn’t get an truthful, correct story to save their lives, and further, couldn’t hit my 26-acre yard with a paper. I now get my local and state news from other sources.