Dear CNN, stop dancing on my grave

CNN sure thinks it is a lot of fun to celebrate the demise of newspapers. They've devoted several stories to it. More than most sites. But what really bothers me is the tone. There is a smugness there, an arrogance that is really grating.

Here a links to some of the stories. Decide for yourself.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/02/27/roth.econ.stop.the.press.cnn?iref=videosearch

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2007/02/08/lamonica.murdoch.newspapers.cnn.cnn?iref=videosearch

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2007/01/20/money.change.newspaper.biz.cnn?iref=videosearch

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-234926

Me, I've decided to stop reading CNN. Not because they put down the industry that feeds me, no, but because they are promoting their own self interest in celebrating the end of their competitors.

Well, guess what CNN? We're going to be a pain in your butt for a long time to come. Newspapers aren't dead yet. In fact, we're still the best source for local news online.

You may have broody Anderson Cooper, whose recent website ads look like a GQ cover. You may have your pathetic iReporters (which really get on my nerves), but let's face it, aside from covering terrorist attacks and tornadoes, what are they really good for?

Newspapers will always have the best local news, analysis and professionalism. We're not dead yet.

So you can just ruminate on that one for a while CNN. Or maybe you can send a soccer mom iReporter to find out more about it.

McClatchy looking to sell Miami Herald?

That's the word on the net today, at least. Inside, unnamed sources at McClatchy are saying this is a possibility.

Might not be a bad move. Miami has been a bleeding wound for McClatchy for a while, thanks to the dire hits to the real estate market down there.

McClatchy stock price is up by several points on this news.

My question is, are they looking to sell it as one piece or will the cannibalize the building and sell the equipment and paper to someone else who will move it somewhere other than its current prime real estate location. We could be seeing more condos where the Herald building currently stands.

Brits hurting too: Finacial Times announces cost cutting

The FT sent out an email that the Media Guardian got a hold of.

It basically says they're freezing pay for those making over 30,000 pounds a year (wish I made that much). They are also offering employees the chance to reduce their hours (and pay). Staff can also apply for "voluntary redundancy." That's "buyout" to us Americans.

No hiring freeze though.

My paper had several rounds of buyouts this year. We've had wage freezes for everyone for a while now. We've had a virtual hiring freeze for months.

But this hours reduction thing is something I haven't heard of in the newspaper business yet. Anyone heard of other papers doing this?

Ack! Some cities without newspapers by 2010?

This article by Editor and Publisher's Mark Fitzgerald quotes Fitch Ratings, a credit rater. More bad news for the newspaper industry. But we're not the only ones. We're just the most likely to default and get liquidated.

Great.

And my company is specifically listed as one of the most likely to default.

Super.

But we've heard this all before. It seems like every time we turn around, some company or analyst is telling us we'll be out of business by this date or that date. A lot of those dates have come and gone and we're still here.

This is my firm belief: There will always be newspapers. Even if one of these companies goes under, there will be brave souls there to pick up the pieces and buy the paper or start a new one. Cities need their newspapers.

Think about it. What if there were only TV and radio stations in your city. A lot of their news content comes from the paper or the paper's web site. What would news look and sound like without the paper?

Well, you'd loose a lot of the investigative stuff. That takes a lot of time and is difficult to present in a TV or radio format. You'd loose a lot of analysis. You'd get boiled down sound clips about stories, rather than real, in-depth reporting.

In one of my journalism classes in college, the professor talked about a phenomenon called "the Phoenix Effect." No, it's not the thing that happened to Jean Grey in X-Men comics. It's what happens when a newspaper goes under in a reasonably sized city. Someone buys it, cleans house and starts over. Or they start a new one from scratch. It's real and it's happened before.

And if a town or two has to go without a paper until the economy picks up again, then they will get a paper when things turn around.

Mark my words, we're not going anywhere.