Newsworthy and Relevant: Why Newspapers Aren’t Going Anywhere

(Talk given to Minnesota Christian Writers Guild, January 2010.)

I. NEWSPAPERS

Many of you might wonder why someone would take a job in the newspaper industry when the news of its demise has been so loudly proclaimed. I’m sure you are all familiar with the dire statistics, but here are a few just to get us on track:

Since March of 2007, roughly three years ago, here is a list of metropolitan dailies that have ceased operation:

• Tucson Citizen
• Rocky Mountain News
• Baltimore Examiner
• Kentucky Post
• Cincinnati Post
• King County Journal
• Union City Register-Tribune
• South Idaho Press
• San Juan Star

In addition, here is a list of dailies that have become hybrids—combining some form of print and online collaboration:

• Seattle-Post Intelligencer
• Capital Times
• Detroit News/Detroit Free Press
• Christian Science Monitor
• East Valley Tribune
• Ann Arbor News
• Flint Journal; Bay City Times; Saginaw News
• Catskill Daily Mail/Hudson Register-Star

These lists, however, don’t include the dozens of smaller papers that have ceased publication, too. And, the ones that have continued publishing have faced, in many cases, substantial declines in readership and advertising revenue.

The Sunday paper, once a boom for newspapers across the country, has now become a skeleton of its former self. And the advertising crisis, only made worse by the recent economic downturn, has given many newspapers a peak into what many consider their not-so-bright futures.

The newspaper industry currently faces a crisis unlike any it has seen in the last century. The Internet has radically re-shaped how we receive and digest our news. Add into the mix cable TV news programs that feature media stars like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Keith Olbermann, and you further muddy the waters.

II. WHY NEWSPAPERS ARE IMPORTANT AND SHOULD SURVIVE

Yet amidst all this bad news, there is something unique and permanent about a newspaper, something that I believe will help stem the tide against the complete collapse of the industry.

There is a quote I have up on my white board behind my desk. It’s from poet W. H. Auden, who said, “How can I know what I think until I see what I say?”

Now this was written more to the individual writer than to newspapers in general, but I think the quote also applies to the collective voice or conscience of a community that newspapers can help shape. How can we interpret or think about an event unless and until we understand it completely? And that understanding takes place through the coverage of various issues of importance—published in a newspaper.

For centuries in this country, that “collective voice” or “conscience” regarding various issues was dramatically formed through newspapers. Newspapers, sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly, told us what issues to care about, why we should care about them and oftentimes what specific proposals we should support to address those issues.

In many respects, that influence is no longer there—but it hasn’t completely disappeared.

Amid all the bad news about newspapers and their decline, there are some bright spots, however. And as someone immersed in the industry, we certainly need them.

On a slightly positive note, some reports and surveys have found that smaller, more community-based newspapers are doing OK. Certainly not all, as we have witnessed several closings of community newspapers in the metro area. But some are doing OK.

Why? I think there are several reasons, and these tie into the Minnesota Christian Chronicle, I believe.

First, as I just mentioned, newspapers can help provide a community’s conscience when it comes to important issues. By “community,” I’m specifically talking about the readership—whether that is general Minnesotans, when it comes to the readerships of the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press, or mainly Christians of a conservative or evangelical bent when it comes to the Minnesota Christian Chronicle.

For example, take the pro-life issue and similar life issues like stem cell research. Religiously-oriented newspapers, especially those from a Catholic perspective, have helped their readers over the years understand this important issue and give them additional information from an advocacy standpoint that only a newspaper can provide. It’s an important relationship that mutually benefits both groups.

Newspapers in this case, can become “essential guides” to readers on difficult and often-changing cultural issues like stem cell research, abortion, traditional marriage and a host of other issues.

If a community loses this ability to form a “collective conscience,” it will lose something of great value—and the results, I believe, will be detrimental. This applies directly to papers like the Minnesota Christian Chronicle, where papers with a community focus provide something unique and compelling that can only be found within its pages.

The second reason why I believe some community newspapers are doing OK revolves around the specific content they provide.

For example, I live in Falcon Heights, and we are served by two community newspapers (the Roseville Review and the Park Bugle). While I don’t specifically look for international or national news from these papers, they do provide community information that I can’t find anywhere else—news of community gatherings, local police reports, news about someone from the community who has recently written a book or appeared on a television program, or who has won a national competition that the dailies aren’t interested in covering, etc.

As with the Chronicle, we hopefully provide information from a Christian perspective that can only be found in our pages. This information, we hope and believe, is important and helpful for community members, i.e. our readers.

Take our most recent issue—the January 2010 issue: We covered a controversy at Bethel University over an interreligious forum they hosted. Now you might be able to find information on this controversy on a blog or an e-mail newsletter written by someone from one of the interested parties, but you might not be able to find an article about it written from an objective standpoint in a publication that has a broad and diverse readership.

In our article, we were able to interview one of the speakers involved in the controversy, two alumni who were upset over the interreligious forum and the president of Bethel University, Jay Barnes.

I would argue that for an issue like this—something of news value and interest to many Christians in the Twin Cities and outstate Minnesota, The Chronicle is the only place where this issue would be adequately covered.

Also, referring to our most recent issue, the Chronicle has for decades profiled numerous ministries across the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. Many of these ministries are small, work on a limited budget but are doing extraordinary work—God’s work in our communities.

I would argue that outside of these ministries’ own publications (be it annual appeals, monthly e-mail newsletters or a Facebook page), there is no other broad format where these ministries can become known to the general public.

That’s another service community newspapers provide that I think—I hope—will ensure their health and continued presence. Readers of a particular community (either of a geographical area or a religiously-oriented demographic) will only be able to find news of a particular sort—news they are specifically interested in—via the pages of a community newspaper.

The final reason why I think the future doesn’t have to be bleak for all newspapers is that they provide information for their readers that oftentimes cannot be found elsewhere—similar to the previous points but with a little different nuance.

Newspapers are uniquely equipped to report on issues that others often can’t and often won’t.

The one story that jumps out to me as an example of this is the investigation into the University of Minnesota basketball team under Clem Haskins in the mid-1990s. The Pioneer Press developed an investigative report that looked at accusations of academic fraud by the basketball team and one of its advisors.

The story, once published, led to an investigation by the NCAA and also led head coach Clem Haskins to resign for his role in the academic fraud. As a side note, the writers for this story received a Pulitzer Prize for their reporting.

I would argue that only a newspaper could investigate and report on an issue this large and complex. A newspaper also generally has the resources to procure an investigation of this magnitude, whereas other media sources oftentimes do not.

When it comes to the Chronicle, we obviously don’t have the resources and stature of large metro dailies. However, we aim to provide content that is unique to the reader and content the reader cannot usually find anywhere else.

III. FINDING NEWS IN A MONTHLY PUBLICATION

Now, let’s move on to finding news in a monthly publication and what we’re specifically looking for when it comes to queries from writers, like yourselves.

First and foremost for a newspaper called the Minnesota Christian Chronicle, each of our stories—be they news, opinion or profiles—have to in some respect be of interest to Christians or to relate to Christianity in some way. This isn’t always a clear-cut designation, but it’s the standard we try to adhere to.

As a monthly publication, we rarely advance “breaking” news stories—and that is by nature of our publishing schedule. However, since we strive to publish stories of interest to Christians and news that they generally cannot find elsewhere, some of our news stories can appear to be “breaking” news.

With this scenario in mind, here are three things we look for in the Minnesota Christian Chronicle—news stories that specifically address something important and of value to our readers.

As an aside, we pay .10/word for news articles in the paper. So, for an article of 800 words, that’s $80.00. I know that’s not a lot, but it’s the best we can do at the moment. Also, we do not pay for our op-eds, which I will talk about in a minute.

First of all, a news story has to be local.

The article or idea has to have some local angle. By local, that doesn’t always mean that the subject of the article or its dateline or location has to take place in the Twin Cities or Minnesota. However, there does have to be a local angle.

An example would be something like the National Association of Evangelicals making a statement on environmental care or health care reform. Now, the NAE is a national organization located in Washington, D.C., and has members around the country—so by nature they are not local.

But, to make this a local story would involve putting a local twist on it: interviewing area pastors, church leaders, laypeople, etc. on their response to the announcement by the NAE. Get their thoughts—positive and negative—on the statement by the NAE.

Then, in addition to this angle, determine if this announcement would have any local impact. Would the statement have an impact or effect on a local organization, church or ministry? Was the proposal or statement advanced by the NAE because of something that happened in Minnesota—or is in some way tied to Minnesota? Is there a player in the NAE from Minnesota who had a lot of influence over the decision? For example, in this case many of you know that Leith Anderson, pastor at Wooddale Church is the head of the NAE. So that could be the local angle in this example.

Things of this nature help give the story its local flavor and make it of importance to our readership.

So when querying this type of news story, make sure that it has this local flavor.

The second thing a news story has to have in order for us to consider it for publication is relevance. By relevance, I mean the story has to serve some sort of immediate importance to our readers. Is it something your average Christian reader in the Twin Cities would find interesting, informative or entertaining?

Assuming that our readership is fairly broad, each story we include will not appeal to all readers. A news story on a local Christian singer who won several music awards will not be of interest to some who aren’t fans of that type of music. However, at least a considerable portion of our readership has to find the story of interest.

In general, a story can be relevant for a variety of reasons. Briefly, relevance can refer to something that will enhance the reader’s knowledge of a person, event or issue—something that is of significance to a person’s faith walk and relationship with God. Or relevance can be an issue that is being discussed or debated among the readership of the publication.

On this last point—an issue that is being discussed or debated among the readership of the publication—an issue that comes to mind is health care reform. With all of the discussion last year about health care reform, we thought we would do an article about what Christian leaders in the community thought about it. Most people were obviously already aware of the health care reform issue, and it was being debated among large segments of the readership.

So we took a national issue and made it local and applied an additional layer of relevancy to it by talking with local Christian leaders who readers know and respect.

The third component we look for in our news articles is writing style. As with any publication, we’re looking for articles that are well-written: meaning clear, concise, and to the point—thus not needing a lot of editing.

As a general rule, it’s nice if a writer has years and years of writing experience with dozens of published articles to his or her name. That usually means the article is written well, and I don’t have to do much editing when it gets turned in.

However, I also don’t mind if a writer has very few, if any, clips to his or her name. The important component is good copy—compiled in an honest and ethical manner. More on this in a second.

Just a few words on narrative. Articles that are well written have good narrative flow. By narrative flow, we are talking about moving from one point to the next seamlessly. This is probably one of the more difficult aspects of news writing, since you often have numerous quotes from people and statistics you want to throw in to make a point.

But good narrative flow is something the average reader picks up on immediately. Like I said, this is a difficult aspect of news writing—more so than op-eds—and I struggle with it regularly. How do you keep good movement to an article that has several different tangents and angles?

Just because something is a news story doesn’t mean it can’t tell a story. I think this is where I have sometimes run into disagreement with people on news writing. I tend to like more conversational writing that tells a story as opposed to an article that just includes facts and quotes. Readers want to hear a story that encompasses essentials of an issue.

So, all that to say: Tell me a story with your news article.

Backing up a bit, I wanted to say a few words about writers with few if any published articles. I take a strong view that the Chronicle can serve as a starting point for Christian writers in Minnesota—writers who are looking to get a start to their careers or who want to gain some experience writing for a monthly publication.

As I’m sure you are all aware, opportunities for writers are broad and competitive. Many publications steer away from giving new writers an opportunity to develop their craft. We’re certainly not The New York Times or Newsweek, but we can give local Christian writers an opportunity to develop and hone their craft by contributing news articles to the paper.

I was in the same position as many unpublished writers when I started out, so I completely understand the challenges of getting those first few articles published. I’m always looking for new and fresh voices to fill the paper, so please don’t hesitate to contact me with queries, ideas or suggestions—even if you don’t have any writing credits yet to your name.

So when you solicit the Chronicle with news stories, we follow a pretty simple format as some of you who have done so can attest. First, I really prefer things be sent by e-mail. Phone calls are OK sometimes, but I find that ideas and specific points can get lost.

So, send me a simple e-mail that states your idea—who you plan to talk to, why this story is important and relevant, when you can have it done, etc. Then, if you are a new writer to me, give me a little background on your writing experience—this will include a few clips if you have been published before.

As some of you know, I’m always happy to work with a writer on an idea. So, feel free to send me some ideas, and together we can tweak them to fit with what we’re looking for. I see the editor-writer relationship as two members of the same team.

Now, just a few words about op-eds and commentaries. Many people think op-eds are the easiest pieces to write for a newspaper. You just write a piece stating your opinion and you’re good to go.

However, I’ve come to a different conclusion. I think op-eds are one of the most difficult pieces to write for any publication—newspapers, magazines or journals. And here’s why: They need to be relevant, communicate a clear opinion, be possibly edgy and almost always controversial.

Here’s what I mean. Take Greg Boyd for example. Many of you know Dr. Boyd, and the opinions of him are as diverse as our readership. He has been writing for the paper (every other month) for several years, dating back to the previous editor.

Every month when he writes, almost without fail, Dr. Boyd’s op-eds receive the largest amount of letters to the editor and other feedback (some of which includes pulling me aside at events and asking me why he is in the paper).

Why? It’s not because he’s a good writer, which he is. It’s because his writing is edgy, he takes an opinion and his opinions are almost always controversial—some more than others.

Do I agree with all of Dr. Boyd’s opinions? No. As I don’t agree with all of the opinions that we print in the paper. Yet, his op-eds get read each time they are in the paper—even by those who almost always disagree with him.

They get read because he almost always writes about something that’s relevant—something that’s in the news that people are currently discussing at the water cooler.

Second, because the reader always comes away from his articles knowing where Boyd stands on the issue and also knowing where he or she—the reader—stands on the issue.

And finally, his articles sometimes stay with a person long after they are read—as is evidenced by the response I get to them in the letters to the editor section, as well as the frequent conversations I have about him with readers.

So, when it comes to op-eds, what we’re looking for is the writer to demonstrate a clear opinion (I’m for this; I’m against that; this is bad; this is good). Nothing too wishy washy, as they used to say.

A writer also needs to demonstrate a certain degree of edginess or controversy. This is somewhat subjective, but readers know it when they read it.

This, I believe, is the most difficult writing for any newspaper—and for the writer. Clear, persuasive, opinionated, controversial, edgy. Those are the words I would use to describe what we’re looking for. Do we always achieve that? Definitely not. But that’s what we’re looking for.

IV. CONCLUSION

The Minnesota Christian Chronicle has been around since 1978. Terry White, who some of you know, founded the paper. I had the opportunity to meet Terry last week and had coffee with him. He now lives in Indiana and leads a publishing house.

As Terry and I were talking, he mentioned that there were three large youth conferences coming to the Twin Cities around the time when he was considering forming the newspaper. These were three separate conferences—different organizers, different groups, etc. Yet he saw there was no central place for Twin Cities Christians to hear about the conferences—no publication where news of these conferences and possibly follow-up would occur.

That’s where the Chronicle—or Twin Cities Christian as it was originally known—came in. And now 30-some odd years later, hopefully the Chronicle remains as a central “meeting ground,” so to speak, for Christians all across the metro area—and outstate Minnesota.