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Update – Talking To Old Media
Here’s a blog from November ‘07. I didn’t think much of the last paragraph. I was being only half-serious. However, it was backed up last Saturday by none other than Maureen Dowd in her weekly New York Times column. I’ve always enjoyed the NY Times, if not always agreed with them. But when one of their legendary columnists writes precisely what I predict—a year later—well, it doesn’t get better. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Also, it’s a bit odd that she calls Mysore, “Mysore City”. That’s certainly an unexpected mistake in a sophisticated newspaper. Imagine someone from India calling Boston, “Boston City”. I guess that’s as good a demonstration that writing clear prose is heading for the older colonies to be outsourced, as I predicted. The reason is simple: they have a better education system. I just hope the Indians retain Maureen and excuse her folk’s pass.
Tuesday November 13th, 2007
“Talking To Old Media“
Poor magazines and newspapers! Circulation plummeting, the internet providing a million times the benefit at a fraction of the cost, unread copies stacked to warehouse ceilings. And jobs on the line. . . .
House and Garden magazine held out for about 10 years, supported by Conde Nast. Good for them. They’ve soldiered on with Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and supported great editors and writers over the years. Dominique Browning is one. Her editorials were truly sparkling. I hope she and her staff land on their feet. However, America isn’t Europe, no matter how hard it tries. Glossy mags filled with fancy imported designer furniture are a dime a dozen. Plus, the “value culture” has trickled up. Sam’s Club is running local holiday gourmet cooking classes, and some are already sold out.
Here in Philadelphia and also nearby New York City, the newspapers’ sports sections are filled with “blog updates”, or what are, I guess, exclusive stories sold to the papers from peoples’ blogs. One can only ponder how folks came up with such a weird scheme. No one is going to subordinate the blog to the newspaper, unless the paper’s columnist is a magician. It is odd to see a “blog” reprinted in a newspaper.
In addition to length of time, the other disadvantage of the print media is ink. In the johns here at work, there used to be jumbled stacks of sports sections, complete with used car ads, left atop the tanks in the stalls. Now, there are neat little 8 ½ X 11 printouts of online sports articles, looking like office memoranda. Not a single newspaper anywhere. Even The Wall Street Journal has disappeared from hotel lobbies.
In the elite horticulture world lately, as the proprietor of Heronswood, I have been the ghost of Christmas future, the shadow of death. Garden writers and lifestyle editors across the nation have either been let go or offered early retirement. Most have gone on the breadline that is euphemistically called “free lance”. Moreover, the pace is accelerating. Last spring, the Seattle newspaper folks sat down to talk to me, a businessman who had to make a difficult decision, and they were understandably apprehensive, not only because I made an unpopular choice, but also because I reminded them of their likely fate. (But I’m sure their bosses haven’t lost as much money as I did.) Here comes the World Wide Web, finally! AOL, Google, Yahoo, Craigslist—not to mention their advertisers’ own websites.
On the east coast, excellent garden writers have been terminated from regular employment at their home base newspapers. Two examples are the award-winning Carol Stocker at The Boston Globe and the fabulous Denise Cowie at The Philadelphia Inquirer. They continue to write occasional articles, but the sunny regularity of their garden columns is a thing of the past.
It is odd that newspaper publishers are so clueless to the deep and abiding interests veteran gardeners—and dedicated readers—have in plants, wildlife and the environment. Almost 150 years have passed since Lincoln exhorted us to display “the better angels of our nature”. Instead, corporate media feeds us—and we eat up—a steady diet of trash, distracting us from the true purposes of life.
No wonder garden writers are nervous. However, they should try to appeal more often to our better angels. Stop hopping on the nearest horse of controversy and conflict in order to gain readership. Jumping on one horse, riding it ragged, and jumping on the next. And since when did “journalists” reprint press releases? Write the elegant and beautiful articles you are capable of. Or else draft articles and send them to India and Pakistan to be finished by graduates of the British-based education system.
Hurry up and evolve, newspapers—the blog barbarians are at the gates.
“Sparkling” is certainly the word for Dominique Browning’s writing-glad to see it appreciated. Her books serve as gentle inspiration to appreciate life, and the garden.
I still buy magazines and newspapers. I always will. There’s nothing like having it in your hands.
I’m a technical writer, currently out of work. I had to check out your reference to Maureen Dowd’s article.
I’m familiar with the idea of outsourcing documentation, but I’m amazed (and appalled) at the idea that newspaper articles could be done on a different continent than the events. Personally, most of the blogs I’ve read are empty wastes of time, at best implying that information might be conveyed. The statement by Maureen’s interviewee that “mistakes don’t matter” also curdled my blood. Perhaps a focus on clarity and accuracy aren’t as important in small town newspapers as in large presses or in technical writing. On the other hand, if newspapers begin to take that view on a large scale, they’ve equated themselves with blogs and the Misinfo-Internet, so why would anyone bother to read them?
Dear Kathleen
Thanks for your reply. Couldn’t agree more. Also, I’m worried that the public square will in fact disappear. Literally. And to back up your point, I think that small towns need their local stuff the most accurately of all, moreso than cities, due to “more bites of the apple”. Cities are inherently diverse; not so small towns. I’ve noticed that the most successful small town and village newspaper publishers are either ex fire or police chiefs. They know the towns best. More likely they could publish Indian newsweeklies. But the reality is no one writes well or clearly anymore. The big newspapers are truly appalling sometimes, and wow, television is a joke. I finally had to throw it out. It wasn’t the content as much as the form. Listening to and watching people make errors in grammar and diction became too much.
Thanks again for your excellent letter.
George
I am an addictive gardener…when I’m not working, or running errands, or tending kids, I either “gardening” or reading about it. And because I, like millions, have spent 35+ years working in front of a computer, I do so cherish those moments that I can cozy-up with a great garden magazine or article, from any source… If in my google quest for specific garden info, I am lucky enough to come across great horticultural material, I print it out for a glorious ride home on the train. Blogging is of no interest to me; My time is too precious to spend it reading without end, the “opinions” of others. I want the books, magazines, and newspaper articles of the “seasoned” gardners who can spend the days in the garden that I can’t, and then can in such descriptive detail, share that rich knowledge with others.
Great catch, George. Thank you and thanks also for the blog – keep it flowing. While at it, I thought you’d like to know this. I came to Heronswood reluctantly and with resentment. That because I was a great fan (and customer) of the old Heronswood. I resented that it was bought up (taken down?) by yet another gorilla (Burpee). That was before I knew the full history of Burpee and before I visited you guys and before I started reading you, of course! So, thanks again.
Another good catch on “Mysore City”! I’m a fan of Dowd too and it’s easy to forgive her. I’ll also forgive her assumption that all Indian/Pakistani writers have to be trained in Britain. It’s bloody rubbish, bollocks! Never been to the olde maid. Me here, swam ashore straight from a small little village in Mother India. And I swear!
I suppose I’m lucky, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll be writing my weekly piece for a small town newspaper (Allied News in Grove City, PA). My editor, who said she worries over her paper like a mother worries over her kids, reminded me recently that the Web site doesn’t bring in one cent in revenue. I was complaining because my articles aren’t on the Web site. You mentioned newspapers “evolving,” into what?
Hello – we have just lost one of our two english language gardening magazines in Canada – Gardening Life published its last issue this month. It is certainly a chilling thing that print is becoming harder to maintain. I enjoy blogs and love the information highway aspect of the internet, but a magazine in the hand is something else altogether, and a good one is wonderful. Marjorie Harris was editor-at-large and did a great job; evidently she was told by phone at the 11th hr that the mag was closing. Poorly done.
One little thing… what is a folk’s pass? Faux pas, perhaps? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_pas
thanks for your thoughtful treatment of a scary issue. Outsourcing is everywhere and the bottom line is governing things that should be more highly valued than they are. The Lincoln quote is terrific!
Hello George,
You said “blog updates”, or what are, I guess, exclusive stories sold to the papers from peoples’ blogs…”
My son, Saul Hansell, a longtime reporter at the New York Times, edits a blog called Bits on the Times’ Web site. On Bits, he and other NY Times business reporters write the very latest technology news and put it in context throughout the day and evening. Such blogs (Saul’s is very popular in the world of bits and bytes,)are newspapers’ way of trying to stay alive in a world where people are reading papers less and less. The Times frequently prints stories from Bits and its many other blogs – all reported by its own reporters according to NY Times standards. Other newspapers and magazines do the same. They enrich the reader’s experience immensely. Try the New Yorker, the New York Times, Philly.com (the Inquirer and Daily News) etc. etc. You can learn an incredible amount about what is happening in the world any time you want.
Try it.
Betsey Hansell
ps We read three newspapers daily in our house.
perfect…
Here’s the deal: It’s only us old gardeners who care about the demise of newspapers and magazines.
Garden writing is a retirement activity for me but I can’t imagine how someone in India can write about their gardening experiences in zone whatever in the U.S.
And,isn’t that what we love about the great garden writers?
Change can suck.
I too am an addicted gardener who has an extensive gardening library to spend my winter idle hours pouring over and I don’t see books fading away. However newspapers are another story. My husband is addicted to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s (sports pages in particular). Especially when we are both addicted to CNN. Personally I do get a chuckle out of an occasional article. However I am the one who has to haul them all to the recycling center and I yern for the day when I can get curb side recycling.
You are so right about the news and what they are feeding us. Or rather, what I am not being fed. I am always on the outlook for an interesting idea, plant, or anything pertaining to gardening. My favorite garden writer just last Sunday went on and on about nothing! Give me substance!
Hello George,
While I’m not a great fan of Ms. Dowd’s a google search for “Mysore City” suggests it is as frequently used as the simpler “Mysore”; just thought you might want to look it up…..
PS: I AM a fan of your periodic messages. Cheers!
Interesting topic. As a retired reporter, the term cut and paste–actually meant cut and paste. As you will notice, editors now have Masters in Business, not in journalism. Their decisions on editorial directly affects the bottom line–not what the audience needs to know. Look at any major paper and see the credentials of most editors. MBAs. That, in my opinion, the increased cost of paper, new technology, and the need for speed at any hour, will kill the business. How much time does anyone spend reading a paper on a daily basis? We Americans have pushed our fast food mentality to every aspect of our daily lives. Also, the sound bite has replaced any real story telling. However, it is more healthy for myself to spend time in the garden than reading about the madness of today’s world.