Monday, August 4, 2014

Guest blogger Susan Smiley - "The Death of Journalism"

It is 11:22 pm

    I am glad to welcome back guest blogger Susan Smiley who has graced my blog with stories about running,owning the best dog ever and sharing her life with an amazing cat who brought our worlds together.
She is also the pro who guided me through my interview with Karen Dumas...






                                                     The Death of Journalism



   I was one of those kids who spent the summer between junior high and high school glued to the television watching the Watergate hearings unfold. I read the related stories every day in the newspaper and Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein became the people I most wanted to emulate. It was that summer that I knew I wanted to be a journalist.
   I learned to read at a very young age and always liked to write. I was constantly crawling into the chair by my mom’s typewriter and penning stories about my cats, my pet ducks and chickens and our family dog. Following the stories of Woodward and Bernstein sparked my interest in a different kind of writing; journalism. I could break important stories. I could investigate things and write about them to increase public awareness about various situations. I could even write about people and become a great interviewer who could unearth information that had not yet been revealed to anyone else. I could help my readers feel as if they really KNEW the subject of my profiles.
   I did become a journalist after earning my Bachelor’s Degree from Wayne State University. I had internships at a now-defunct Detroit magazine and did a fair amount of freelance writing for the Metro Times. I worked in radio – first in the newsroom of a music station and then as a producer at a news radio station. While at the music station I produced a public affairs program, covered Detroit City Council when Coleman Young was the mayor of Detroit, and – because the other two people in the newsroom had zero interest – covered all sports-related stories. Although I had no experience in radio, I snared the internship because the news director was looking for a writer.
    “We can teach you the technical stuff,” she said. “But we can’t teach the passion for writing.”
Many interns had worked in that newsroom who really aspired to be on-air talent spinning tunes and talking about music. I was the first whose number one interest was writing and reporting.

My first print job was with C&G Publishing. At the time the company had 13 weekly and bi-weekly newspapers in various suburbs of Detroit. I started covering city council and schools as well as writing
 ideas would be chosen and sent to the event with a photographer. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m proud of the work I did as a journalist for that event.
     After eight years, I went to a small daily paper as a sports writer. While it wasn't like busting open the Watergate affair, there were so many great stories to tell. For the most part I covered prep sports and I became an expert in wrestling. I loved what I did and felt like I was, in some cases, really impacting the lives of the people I wrote about as well as my readers. Although sports writing tends to be upbeat most of the time, there were also serious topics to tackle. One of my state champion wrestlers died of a heroin overdose some 18 months after graduation and I wrote a column about it. It won an award and the wrestler’s parents told me they displayed the story at their son’s funeral because the story gave them some sense of peace.
    In 2000 I moved to Boston and wrote for the Boston Globe for two years before getting laid off and moving back to Detroit. Since them I have not been able to find a full-time job as a journalist. Papers are cutting back and whey they DO hire people, they prefer to hire younger writers who do not command such a high salary. I did a good amount of freelance work for the Detroit Free Press for awhile until budget cuts eliminated most freelancers from the Freep’s regular assignment list. I did continue to string for my old paper, The Royal Oak Daily Tribune, because after all this time I still loved to write and tell a good story.
    What I didn't understand until recently is that no one cares about good writing anymore. That’s not what journalism is about these days. It’s about Twitter and Facebook and how many clicks your story gets on the newspaper’s web site. Photos are important. The photos do not necessarily have to be good photos, there just have to be a lot of photos to entice readers to click through the entire slide show.
    Today’s “journalism” is less concerned with accuracy and more focused on being first and being sensational. Stories that even 10 years ago might not have been considered newsworthy are now touted as “breaking news.” features.
    After I had been there a couple of years, the sports editor approached me about coming to work in his department. He liked my writing and thought I could add something to the sports section that readers would like.
  Although small papers like the Warren Weekly, the Troy Times, the Fraser-Clinton Chronicle and all the rest of C&G’s papers don’t have the cache of The Washington Post, this was a great atmosphere for a young journalist to blossom. I wrote a lot. I learned how to ask the right questions, how to make interview subjects feel comfortable, and how to write with an edge when the situation called for it.
 
   I had the opportunity to interview Jim Bouton, former pitcher for the New York Yankees and the author of "Ball Four, the book that gave readers a glimpse into the then-secret world of professional baseball. Bouton had just written his first fictional book and was touring the country. We talked about baseball, of course, but I also asked him about the differences between writing an autobiographical piece of non-fiction and a novel. Bouton told me that he battled writers block by going into his yard and building a stone wall. He confessed that at the time he probably watched more hockey than baseball because he felt like at the time, hockey was like baseball was when he played – a lot of down-home players who were gritty and playing for the love of the game. I wrote the story and was shocked when a couple of weeks later Bouton called my office at C&G to tell me that mine was, he thought, the best interview he had done.
  “You were the only person who asked me about anything other than baseball,” Bouton said. “I loved that you asked me about the craft of writing. And your story made me sound so interesting!
  Also while at C&G I was able to go to Washington D.C. to cover Bill Clinton’s first inauguration ideas would be chosen and two writers were to be sent to the event with a photographer. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m proud of the work I did as a journalist for that event.
After eight years, I went to a small daily paper as a sports writer. While it wasn’t like busting open the Watergate affair, there were so many great stories to tell. For the most part I covered prep sports and then a  couple of months ago, freelancers at The Daily Tribune were informed that instead of being paid $50 per story – which is very low by industry standards – we were going to be paid $20 per story. If we wanted to make additional money for a story, we would be required to take and submit photos – at least 50 of them. When I talked to one of the editors about the new decree he said: “Honestly, the writing is just not important.”
   After agonizing for several days, I made the decision to stop writing for the paper. Despite being passionate about writing, I just felt that I had to put my foot down and say, “My work is worth more than that.”
   It disturbs me greatly that people don’t read newspapers anymore. It also disturbs me that important news stories are often ignored by editors and reporters in favor of sensationalism. The latest antics of Ray Rice take precedent over investigative pieces or even an in-depth profile of Rice that is more than a couple of paragraphs that really say nothing. Print reporters are stretched thin as papers cut budgets and demand more work from fewer employees. It is not enough anymore to write a good story, cultivate reliable sources and localize important national issues. Print reporters now must take video, take photos, tweet and post to Facebook. While Twitter and Facebook can be great communication tools, they don’t replace the bona fide newspaper story that gives readers background information, input and response from various sources and detailed information they otherwise might not know.
   If Woodward and Bernstein had been covering Watergate today, I wonder if they would have been able to cover the story the way they did back in the 1970s or if they would be required to also produce a slideshow and quiz: who is the hottest member of Nixon’s staff – Vote here! 


If you are Twitter,you can follow Susan @leglace19 and myself @Jinzo_2400

Thank for reading and feel free to drop a comment!





41 comments:

  1. Being a blogger that puts photos on his blogs, I hate them fucking slide shows. Every news media website uses them. Because of the layout, you have to click through every photo to see what's next. I agree. Journalism sucks nowadays. Nice writing.

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    1. Have you visited the NBC news Web site lately? It is a wall of photos. You can't even see what the stories are. Very annoying.

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  2. I agree with the author. Journalism is different from reporters. I hope Journalist will see this post.

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  3. journalism has to improve. they should not get lost in the wave of social media

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    1. Agree. Social media can be a great tool but it shouldn't be the only source of information. I feel there is still a need for in depth stories. My friend Peg McNichol writes for the Holland Sentinel and I think she does a great job using Twitter to lead people to the newspaper site and the longer story. She is actually tweeting about city council meetings and things that matter for folks in Holland.

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  4. Great info - and it would be nice to have journalism report real and accurate news - :)

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    1. There is so much pressure to be first that accuracy goes by the wayside. Plus, print journalists are spread very thin these days as papers have had cutbacks and are so short staffed. Print reporters now have to take video, photos, post to Twitter and Facebook; no wonder the story gets lost in the shuffle.

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  5. A close family member has been in the newspaper business (major newspaper chain) for some 30 years. I've seen the death of journalism from the glimpses this person has given me into the industry. Someone I went to high school with quit CNN some years back because he was so disgusted. Maybe one day I will blog about why I don't read the local newspaper any more even though I still subscribe (for now). My son, in his 20's, may never have read a newspaper for all I know. I've posted on Facebook and tweeted this, and I am following you on Twitter. Alana visiting from UBC.

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    1. I can totally understand your friend who quit CNN. I had a friend in television news quit because she just could not agree to do some of the things her editor asked her to do -- all in the name of sensationalism.

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  6. It's a real shame that things have done down hill in journalism; it's a fine art and should be remembered as that. Good article.

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    1. In the book The Shipping News, the reporter gets a job at this local paper and is told that they publish a picture of a car crash every week. The reporter asks what happens if there is no crash and is told by the editor that the paper keeps a file of crash photos to use. The reporter tries to protest that this is not NEWS and is told that people love crashes so that is why they publish the pictures every week. I feel like this is a lot of what journalism has become in today's world!

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  7. Hi, there - visiting from the UBC. Two points: First, thank you so much for sharing your story. So sad that journalism has become a popularity game. When I visit the library, the only people I see reading the paper are the older generation. I have to admit, I've slowly become one of them, and it's really sad.
    Cool information.
    Dorit Sasson
    Giving a Voice to YOur Story
    www.GivingaVoicetotheVoicelessBook.com

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    1. To be someone who truly wants to be informed is getting to be a tough gig in today's society. I'm glad to hear that you still visit a library!

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  8. This is so true. Journalism isn't what it used to be

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  9. Absolutely great post! I totally agree. Journalism has pretty much died. It's not about facts anymore. It's about political agendas and shock value. When I turn on the World News, and I see some ridiculous story about Kim Kardashian or a fuzzy animal (don't get me wrong, I love fuzzy animals), I just shudder. I want to be informed. I don't want to watch infotainment thinly veiled and news.

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    1. On a slow news day, I can understand the occasional fuzzy animal story. But you are correct; there is a lot of infotainment disguised as news. Even in sports this is true. Do we really need two weeks of "news" stories leading up to the Super Bowl? No we do not! And I feel for the sports journalists that are out there trying to create stories out of nothing just to satisfy the powers that be.

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  10. It's a shame that sensationalism and scooping a story are paramount these days. It's hard to know what's factual when it's all compiled in haste and broadcast to the masses.

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  11. I agree that is is not the same. It's amazing the things that do get popular that don't even matter like a celebrity going shopping.

    Michelle F.

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  12. Great write up! I totally agree with you!

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  13. Those slide shows are the most annoying things to happen to the internet. Almost every news site has them. They drive me nuts!

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    1. The photographers hate it too. One of my photog friends has been told by her newspaper that she must shoot no less than 50 photos at each assignment because everything from the junior varsity basketball game to the house fire is going to be a slide show. It is all about how many "clicks" the web site gets thus we are all subjected to the very annoying slideshow.

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  14. Unfortunately its catching on globally. I used to turn to French newspapers for a wider perspective and find that they're becoming nearly as sensationalist as our own here in the states

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  15. So many news stories are pushed out to social media before they are even a few sentences long. It's like they need to be the first to report so they don't care what is published, as long as it's an attention grabbing headline, it's good to publish and they'll update later. The news doesn't even seem credible anymore until days later when they've updated a story.

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  16. Great post. It definitely is a shame that no one seems to read the newspaper anymore.

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  17. Writing has always been my passion so even if I didn't turn out to be a professional journalist as I once dreamed of, I became a blogger anyway. I just want my voice be heard somewhere and share to people anything that's worth to know. Yup, I certainly agree that social media don’t replace newspaper stories (seen as more legit still).

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  18. I think journalism can be so one sided at times especially when it comes to politics. This is why I stopped watching the news on t.v.

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  19. Must have been a tough decision to leave your job. I hope you'll find some solace in your blog

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  20. I absolutely agree. I've been wondering what happened to investigative journalism. Everything is a question and nothing is an answer and there is never even an attempt to get an answer because it's all about shock factor and exposure, not truth or facts.

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  21. Wow, what a career Susan has had! That sure was some amazing writing!

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  22. That is too bad about being laid off and unable to find a job since. I feel like this is common in many industries. I know that young college grads willing to work for pennies to the dollar what the more experienced people work for makes it hard. What a great interview.

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  23. It's nice to see a career path of a journalist. Being a journalist was one of my first choices before but I ended up taking up accountancy so when I established myself in my field, I wen back to writing in my blog and I still enjoy it.

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  24. Journalism has really changed over the years. It sounds like you had a great career over the years.

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  25. I am guilty of reading the electronic version of the newspapers. I have heard some people that in 10 years the newspaper will be obsolete but I don't buy that too because not everyone is into technology so there will always be a market for it.

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  26. I don't buy newspapers either, I strictly read online. However, it seems to me that the attention spans of the average reader have declined to only click on a photo and move on. Words seem too much to absorb. It actually is sad.

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  27. What an interesting career indeed. I am one who enjoys reading a real newspaper and at times a magazine article or two. I think there is more out there like myself. Thanks for sharing.

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  28. My husband would so love to write for a sports journal. He'd be really good at it too. The only thing he's done was a local contest that ran eight weeks, and got reader votes. He came in second...losing in large part, I'm sure, because his obscure reference in the last write-up challenge (head on head challenges) went over most people's heads (he's a sports nut). Live and learn, I guess. :) Your article here is interesting!!!

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  29. I love reading the actual newspaper on the weekends, not social media blast about current events. It is probably the only time I get to myself. Interesting article, thank you for sharing!

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  30. The only news I watch is PBS news hour. All the rest is crap.

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  31. I love this article- it's so interesting! As someone who's interested in journalism and writing, I really enjoyed reading this!

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  32. I completely agree with you. Sensationalism sells and real "news" is not the main scoop anymore. I'm so sick of seeing nothing but garbage in the papers or on the news AND they're cutting budgets here in Canada (CBC) for the truly journalistic programs! It's so sad.
    A disappointing commentary on today's society and my generation, really :/

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