By Ralph Ciprianofor Philadelphia magazine
Top management at the Philadelphia Inquirer has told newsroom staffers they must radically transform the "newspaper of record" into a "robust digital company," or else Philadelphia may become another "news desert" -- a town without a daily newspaper.
"We have fewer than five years to make fundamental changes in our business, our products, our operations and our culture," the paper's top managers wrote last month in an urgent, eight-page report sent to all newsroom employees, titled, "Unlocking a New Era of Inquirer Journalism."
Citing plummeting ad revenues and circulation figures, the Inky's managers wrote, "At our current trajectory, we know that in five years we will be buried under a debt load that will be next to impossible to overcome."
The rest of the story can be read here.
The DailyMail.com has entered the fray and joined the " circular firing squad" in ridiculing the life and work of a "newspaperman."
ReplyDeleteWhat is missing but ominously revealing from this inglorious testament to the waste of prominence and the opportunity to share the meaningful exchange of thought and ideas, is that truth is our most sacred commandment and has been discounted by the Silicon Valley Digital Divide.
You Ralph, will forever be remembered as a Journalist who sounded the alarm at a once great Newspaper and was counseled by the great Jim Beasley to sue the bastards when they could still pay for their crimes to you and the Public.
You left the Inky standing straight and tall, unlike this sniveling buffoon, Byko.
Facebook has the temerity to change the Media Landscape and now has the gall and effrontery to join with the Criminal Class and overtly seek to overturn World Monetary Policy and our Leaders and Protectors watch helplessly as the Billionaire Anarchists are given traction and support by the powers who are entrusted to protect and serve us.
We have entered the New Age of Criminals Liars and Deceit and the Public needs the Voice of Reason and not the chants of the idiots.
If Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Courts continue on this path of forsaking their Oath of Office, Honest Government and Truth in the Media will be lost for generations.
“The dire management report comes just three years after the late philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest supposedly safeguarded the future of the paper by donating the for-profit Philadelphia Media Network, owner of the Inquirer, Daily News, and the former Philly.com website (now known as Inquirer.com), to the nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media, which is part of a larger nonprofit, the Philadelphia Foundation.”
ReplyDeleteSo... none of these websites or papers pay taxes? They all “non profits”? ???
where is my comment?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear a tax lawyer weigh in on this. Seems a bit of a scam to me, especially with all of the nonprofit's offices and contractors getting six-figure payments annually and the for-profit workers going without raises for more than ten years, losing their pensions, etc.
ReplyDeleteEver hear of University Of Pittsburgh? That’s a “non profit” scam.
Delete"Our current paid audiences tend to be mostly white, mostly male and get their news from a variety of sources other than The Inquirer,” the managers wrote. “Those audiences also tend to perceive a bias or lack of trust in our news report, and also see us as a print organization that is less relevant than our more nimble digital competitors.”
ReplyDeleteWell this hit the nail on the head, audiences tend to perceive bias or lack of trust, do you think? When we are not reading what we know to be the truth, there is a total lack of respect and trust.
The Inky at all times sides with the prosecution and does not accurately report what took place in a courtroom. One might think the journalist was in a different courtroom when reading the account of the day.
We are subjected to the prosecution's versions of facts, not the truth, not what actually took place but a tired dialog of the case of the prosecution.
I would suggest starting with a change of journalists who do not fraternize with prosecutors, who a best have a working knowledge of the law and who do not assume that all defendants are guilty because of a tyrannical prosecutor proclaims a defendant guilty.
Journalists at the Inky knowingly are part of team prosecution,this,in my opinion, is the single most important change that needs to be made moving forward. The Inky does not give hope to any defendant ever accused by the prosecution.
You lost the public when you stopped listening to the public. We want the truth, we want two sides to every case, as well defendants voices being as important as the prosecutions voice.
Stu Bykofsky never screamed ...'man overboard.' when he jumped from the Sinking Good Ship Inky.
ReplyDeleteOn his Blog I have asked him to recall one time that his Editors killed a great story in an attempt to manipulate and misinform the public.
Sad to report that he whines and the sound he makes is one of crickets.
I don’t feel for bad for the Inky at all. Tired of them playing politics. Going down like the Baltimore Sun.
ReplyDeleteSo technically the Philly Inquirer is a non profit, correct?
ReplyDeleteWhy do they get away with endorsing candidates then?
An excellent point!!! It would seem to be with this profit/nonprofit scam of theirs, you are either fish or fowl. You can't have it both ways.
ReplyDeletewere you replying to me Big Trial?
DeleteIf so, I think you should do an editorial about the inky being a “non profit” and citing the actual law and how they endorsed candidates and play politics.