HOT PURSUIT
Whenever I go on a road trip, I usually make a few stops along the way to pick up newspapers at convivence stores. It’s my way of seeing what other newspapers offer local communities for news coverage and to maybe get a few ideas for myself and our newspaper. Or at least in the case of one that I found last weekend what they don’t offer.
On Sunday, I grabbed the St. Cloud Times once a highly regarded newspaper in Minnesota packed with tons of local news, sports and feature stories. I remember not so many years ago when it was a robust, award-winning daily publication with about 50 newsroom employees working hard to cover the St. Cloud greater area of about 200,000 residents.
But sadly, it’s no longer the case. It’s now a hollowed out “ghost paper” that has endured massive cuts from its corporate owner, Gannett. This scenario has played out so many times in recent years as hundreds of papers have either ceased printing or significantly reduced operations.
What I found quite honestly shocked me. Their weekend edition printed on Sunday contained three sections totaling 30 pages (excluding the comics section). A deeper dive into those 30 pages revealed not a single story produced by one of their staff members. I’m not even sure they have a local reporter on staff any longer. There was one local story in the entire paper written by a freelance writer. All the rest of the news copy came mostly from USA Today, which is also owned by Gannett, and other wire content from across the country.
Wait a minute, isn’t St. Cloud in the name of the newspaper? After all, it’s the St. Cloud Times. Apparently to greedy owners like Gannett that means absolutely nothing.
As a newspaper publisher, I would be horrified and ashamed to put out a newspaper like St. Cloud did on Sunday. My fear is Sunday’s was not out of the ordinary and has become pretty much the standard operating procedure for the daily newspaper (six days, not published on Saturday). I just shake my head in disbelief and can’t comprehend why corporate giants fail to get a better handle on saving journalism.
In contrast, the Steele County Times serving an area of about 45,000 residents contained 26 pages last week, which I actually consider an “off week” for us. However, within those pages, there were 21 local news stories produced by local reporters, along with a local editorial and several local columns. There were also 30 photos of local events or people of local interest. While last week may have been a slower week in the summer for us, I have begun to think there really is never a slow week anymore. Maybe the week after Christmas, if we’re lucky.
Which brings me to my point of sharing all of this with you. I hope you truly appreciate what my staff offers every week. Please don’t take it for granted. We are passionate about local news and covering the communities within Steele County and the surrounding area.
The St. Cloud Times is a textbook example of the decline of local print journalism. In St. Cloud, the Times has largely vanished as a premier independent civic institution. But rest assured we here at the Steele County Times are committed to not allowing that to happen to the greater community that you all so affectionately call home.
While we’re always in hot pursuit of local news, I can promise you that there is no room for a “ghost paper” on the local level, at least in Steele County.