People stop subscribing to newspapers for a lot of reasons. Lifestyles change. People move away or take vacations. Financial hardships cut their budgets. They experience delivery problems or disagree with the way the newspaper reports the news.
A reader from Dixon recently decided to stop subscribing, and then decided to let The Bee know why.
One reason — though not the most significant — was that he has what he described as a “fundamental difference of opinion with the editors” over choices for Page 1 news, and he has some serious concerns about the credibility of media in general.
“I disagree with your interpretation of what is front-page news …. I find it a real put-off to have to dig for national and international news — and even then I don’t always find the story until days later, if at all,” he said.
This reader believes local news should be placed in the Metro section. A handful of American newspapers do that, though most focus their front pages closer to home. He wants world and national news up front. Other readers say they want different things.
This reader’s vision is not The Bee’s current style. The front page usually is dominated by regional and state stories, a reflection of the area’s communities and the status of the city as a political center.
But the Dixon reader’s strongest criticisms were for “the media.” While not pointed directly at The Bee, his letter raised interesting points heard often from Bee readers.
Problems with ‘the media’
“I believe that the heart of the credibility problem lies in what the media report (the content), not as much how they report it (the bias). Most of us can get around whatever viewpoint a story is coming from unless it is an extreme view. The Bee has done a relatively fine job of providing some balance in the issues which it covers.”
But he detects problem areas.
“First, I notice there are too many reports about polls. Polls are not news. Polls are at best a brief snapshot of a trend. Polls are easily manipulated to whatever viewpoint you want to enhance. …
“There are too many reports about reports and incidents,” he said. “Please give us the facts. I am sick of talking heads trying to re-explain what I just heard in a speech. Please! Many of us can think without having someone tell us what to think. We want to see it for ourselves. We are tired of reading who said what about an issue without much detail on the issue itself!” Readers want context, he said, but not instructions or conclusions.
“I believe the media’s primary job is to print the facts. This means devote more space to reprinting speeches, either in part or in whole. This also means devoting less time to telling us what the reporter thinks the speech or the report or the bill means …. Your opinion page does a wonderful job of presenting a variety of opinions. Please leave the opinions there.”
He appreciates the science stories he finds in the paper but says he is “disappointed that there is very little science in the stories.” As an example, he cited an Aug. 11 story that reported on the clean-up of a toxic mine site but left him wondering what else was in the water, how it will be removed, what metals are involved and what is being done with the toxic waste.
He expected The Bee to fill in the details.
The reader also explained his disappointment in the media for failing to explain the sources behind news items, a complaint often heard from Bee readers when stories appear based on what a committee or panel had to say. “Please investigate and tell us who this committee is, what credentials they have and any opposing views or data. That would be news worth reading.”
No time to read
Given his strong feelings, what was it that pushed the Dixon reader to cancel his subscription? “Primarily it is an issue of time,” he said. “I do not have as much leisure time to read and peruse as I once did.” He is going back to school full time.
That issue will sound familiar to newspaper executives around the country who have been watching circulation slowly decline. When they pay researchers to find out why, the primary reason almost always comes back — in pollster jargon — as “no time to read.” Exactly what “no time to read” means has been the subject of millions of dollars of research, and the answer remains unclear. Time is available, actually, but it is being used for something else the former reader considers more important.
The good news for The Bee is revealed in the obvious affection the Dixon reader feels for the newspaper, and that drove him to write down his feelings.
“I have no time at the moment for your paper,” he concluded, “but I hope that some of my comments can be incorporated and used by your editorial staff in making The Bee a better newspaper, one that is respected by all viewpoints and political persuasions as a source of real news, facts and information. Perhaps then, more of us would be willing to make time for such an informative newspaper.” We can hope.
Changes across the nation
In the past 40 years, an era that included the advent of television and the Internet as major communications venues, American newspapers struggled to keep up with the growth of the country’s population. Circulation for all morning and evening newspapers declined from 58.9 million people in 1960 to 55.8 million in 2000. (Sunday circulation is up from 47.7 million to 59.4 million in the same period.) The number of daily newspapers (morning and evening) published in the U.S. went from 1,763 in 1960 to 1,480 in 2000, a number driven by mergers, acquisitions and failures.
In the same era, fueled by a strong local and California economy, The Bee has thrived and grown. But the current economic slump slowed that growth in recent months, despite the fact The Bee is doing a better job of hanging on to readers than most daily newspapers in the state or country.
A few readers have interpreted that slowdown as proof The Bee is out of political touch with the community, and enjoy saying so when prompted by a particularly irritating columnist or editorial cartoon. I don’t find that most readers are very concerned about politics. They seem to worry more about families, accuracy, local events, context, their incomes and government decisions close to home.
Other than the general malaise affecting the economy, a more likely clue is within the census data that indicates larger numbers of foreign-born residents have different language and cultural backgrounds, and different expectations. Finding a way to respond to that increased diversity is a challenge for every California newspaper.
If you spent some time with the statistics of newspapers all around the nation, you might conclude that the better the paper, the worse the situation. Some very good newspapers have suffered larger losses in circulation as belt-tightening works its way across the country. It is a safe bet that the majority of newspapers that won Pulitzer Prizes this year lost many readers, too.
Quality does not provide newspapers a short-term defense against a slumping economy. It is a long-term issue that pays dividends in the long run. (More on that issue at another time.) For now, newspapers all over the country are hanging on for better times and trying to convince readers like the one from Dixon that he really does have the time to read the newspaper.
I suspect someone in circulation will try to make him an offer he can’t refuse.
