The original home of the blog known as 802 Online

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Profits and the Pope

This morning, I, like many other Vermonters, woke up and thought, "I wonder if the pope died last night." The first thing I did when I got out of bed was turn on my computer. While it booted up, I went downstairs and plucked my Burlington Free Press off my porch. It said the Pope was still alive. But maybe he died last night, I thought. So I looked online.

Then, convinced that the pope was indeed still breathing, I read the paper. I found a mammoth above-the-fold photo of Catholics crowded into St. Peter's Square beneath klieg lights, praying. The headline reads: "Vatican calls world to pray." The pope package includes a whopping 7 stories — 2 on the front page, and 5 more inside, listed on a menu bar just below the fold.

Why the saturation coverage? I mean, I care about the pope, but frankly, his death won't have much of an impact on my life. Could it be that covering the pope is easier than devoting the energy and effort to understanding the state's Medicaid crisis, or the new pension bill? Anybody can Google the papal election process, or provide an overview of the challenges the next pope will face (two of the inside stories in today's paper). But it takes a really dedicated reporter to get in-depth coverage of government bureaucracies. Of course, of the 7 stories, 5 came from either the A.P or the L.A. Times.

This analysis I read this morning, from Howard Gold's Fighting the Tape at Barron's Online, draws the connection between Gannett's high profits and its lack of hard-hitting investigative journalism. Investigative journalism is simply not profitable — BFP managing editor Geoff Gevalt said as much in a panel last week at Johnson State College. Fewer investigative journalists in the newsroom means more coverage of the pope, and less coverage of issues that really matter to Vermonters.
Comments:
covering the pope is easier

I really think this is true, but I find one of the bigger problems with the Free Press is this...

Of course, of the 7 stories, 5 came from either the A.P or the L.A. Times.

they do so little original reporting it is shameful. since they rely on the big national newspapers for news, whatever they are talking about is what the Free Press will talk about. And since they're not covering the Vermont scene, neither does the Free Press.

Which is why I've cancelled my subscription.
 
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
I scrubbed this comment of its expletives but have returned the rest. From anonymous:

you douchebag, what do you have against reporting on a religous figure that is the leader for over one billion people. A person that had a profound impact on the evolution of our society. I understand the point you are trying to make, but it is an insult to imply he does not deserve this sort of coverage. How about suggesting your local paper include both "hard hitting" news along with saturated coverage the pope deserves?
 
For the record, I have nothing against the pope, despite the fact that he has referred to my civil union as "evil." I respect and admire much about him, and I think he absolutely deserves coverage. It's the extent of the coverage that I question. I had the same problem with last month's Free Press coverage of the UVM basketball team.

There are a lot of big issues here that deserve more attention but won't get it because our state's largest newspaper is owned by a corporation focused on the bottom line.
 
Well, it's certainly nice to read such thoughtful criticism such that anonymous provides. I hope, then, that we see as much coverage when Sistani or another Muslim leader is on his death bed, including the ever-important analysis of his urinary tract health from Dr. Sanjya Gupta.
 
Your comments been scanned for my Weekly BlogScan "(Ding, Dong) The Pope Is Dead"
at , and also at .
 
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Good day! 

Wow, I've found the same to be true too!  How did you find that?  

See you soon! Girly Girl 



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