The late Bob Reid: Are modern management techniques killing newspapers?



SEARCH GIRAFFE PROSPECTS | MISSION | AUDIO/VIDEO RESOURCES | >MGP-FORUM | KEY QUOTES | HOME PAGE | ABOUT US | COLLABORATORS | BLOG RESOURCE SITE | BLOG NEWS SITE | MGP2006 ALUMNI NEWS | SUMMIT WIKI | CONTACT US | SUPPORT US | SPONSORS | REPORT A SIGHTING | Google News Search
Last Updated: Oct 12th, 2007 - 21:58:21 


Newshare.net
NEWS/RESEARCH TOPICS 
 
 A-About MGP
 
 A-CONFERENCE
 
 A-AUDIO/VIDEO resources
 
 A-Blogs
 
 A-Business Models
 
 A-Citizen journalism
 
 A-Democracy Futures
 
 A-Education & Training
 
 A-Ethics and Standards
 
 A-First Amendment / Free Speech / Press
 
 A-Giraffes at Work?
 
 A-Ideas-Trends-Innovation
 
 A-Journalism Futures
 
 A-KEY ESSAYS
 
 A-KEY QUOTATIONS
 
 A-Multimedia & Video Innovation
 
 A-Ownership, governance & management
 
 A-Podcasting & Audio
 
 A-VERBATIM-Interview Q&As
 
 Broadcasting/ Low Power FM
 
 Cable Local Access (PEG)
 
 Community wireless
 
 Conferences / Events
 
 Entertainment Industry
 
 Internet-Advertising
 
 Internet-Privacy-Online
 
 Internet-Technology
 
 Music-Future
 
 Online News Services
 
 Regulation: FCC and the courts
 
 Research / Demographics
 
 Resources
 
 Trackbacks/MGP in the news



Newshare.net
A-KEY ESSAYS
Newshare.net
The late Bob Reid: Are modern management techniques killing newspapers?
By MGP Staff
Feb 15, 2005, 22:04

Email this article
 Printer friendly page

A year after retiring from 20 years teaching journalism at the University of Illinois, Bob Reid died Dec. 14, 2004 of a heart attack at his Champaign-Urbana home. One thing which survives him is a Jan. 2000 essay he wrote for the student-edited online journal, "Spike". 

The piece reccounted his years as an editor at small Illlinois dailies, with an admiring description of the late John Gardner, editor-publisher of the Carbondale, Ill., Southern Illinoisan.

Reid also wrote that during the previous 20 years, American newspapers had joined other profit-minded businesses in adopting a laundry list of moneysaving management techniques. The results, while indeed profitable, have undercut the credibility of newspapers and jeopardized First Amendment rights.

For example, he wrote, serious (read: "expensive") reporting had become less frequent, and cheaper fluff and sensationalism more prevalent. And cost-cutting has led to more than a few ethical lapses. The result, Reid predicted, was that powerful politicians and business leaders would seek to reduce press freedoms for their own benefit.

"Unfortunately," Reid wrote, "That has been the fate of freedom of
the press in other areas, historically and currently, and it could happen
in the United States." He added: "It's time for newspaper publishers to rethink the prudence of using these thoroughly modern management practices so single-mindedly." There are alternatives, he wrote, that have proven successful in both reasonable profits and credible, high-quality journalism.

The entire essay remains posted at: http://www.comm.uiuc.edu/spike/index.pl?story=reid-column

Newshare.net


© Copyright 2006/2007. All rights reserved by original source.

This page may contain copyrighted material, the use of which may not have specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The material is made available in the The Media Giraffe Project's efforts to advance understanding of political, economic, democracy, First Amendment, technology, journalism, community and justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' as provided by Section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Chapter 1, Section 107, the material above is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Media Giraffe Project has no affiliation with the originator of this article, nor is the project endorsed or sponsored by the article's originator. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

"The Media Giraffe Project was launched with the collaboration of The Giraffe Heroes Project, a separate organization that since 1982 has been moving people to stick their necks out for the common good." Top of Page


A-KEY ESSAYS
Latest Postings
Oreskes urges journalists not to commit professional suicide out of fear of dying
ESSAY: "Fortune" editor nails dilemma for media: Will the public pay for what's good for it?
John Nichols on Edna Mescher -- the ultimate teacher of journalistic principles
Al Gore challenges media to take on the task of saving democracy and constitution in the face of alleged Bush threats
Civics test should be a high-school requirement
The late Bob Reid: Are modern management techniques killing newspapers?
Newshare.net