Metro Times - News+Views: The newspaper scam

8/5/2009

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Media > Politics & Prejudices

The newspaper scam
It's more than an online paper: It's a pile of illiterate crap.

By Jack Lessenberry

SEE ALSO

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Last month The Ann Arbor News closed for good. But not to worry, we were told by the publisher, a chipper corporate creature with the improbable name of Laurel Champion. Yes, we were losing a newspaper, and 272 employees would join the vast reserve army of the unemployed.

But we were gaining Ann Arbor.com, a combination "local news service and social networking site." Why, even before the paper closed, the dot-com had hired "more than a dozen" former Ann Arbor News employees, meaning no more than 96 percent of the staff had been destroyed. How could anyone complain about that? (Would the old staffers have their same or better salaries? Bet you can guess!)

Not only would this wonderful new thing be on the Web anytime you approached your local coffee shop for a double cap mocha-bismol, it would be printed twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. I couldn't wait. I zipped over to Dexter and eagerly bought the Thursday product.

Now I like to think of myself as a fairly sophisticated newspaper critic. I've worked for a lot of them, have had bylines in The Washington Post and New York Times, am a newspaper ombudsman, have been on the graduate faculty at the University of Michigan, and have taught journalism full time for years. So I wanted to find just the right way of expressing the quality of Ann Arbor.com in words both the layman and the experienced journalist could understand and relate to.

So here goes: Ann Arbor.com is an appalling pile of crap. And an insult to the intelligence of any functioning adult.

Essentially, it is written for children who are at about the fourth-grade level, possibly, slightly below-average ones. Here's what the top story on Ann Arbor.com was Sunday afternoon: DEXTER PHARMACY DAMAGED IN MINOR FIRE. ("A damage estimate is not yet available. No information was available on when the pharmacy will re-open.")

Not that there isn't a place for that kind of news. However, the real work of journalism is, say, examining how the city council works, spends money, gives out contracts. I would be astonished to see anything like that, ever, on Ann Arbor.com. What makes the website a swindle is that they promise occasional "special reports." (Eat your heart out, Sam Donaldson.) For example, there was one last week.

We learned that — get ready for this — those who fancy child pornography tend "to keep it very hidden" and that most child molesters have child pornography on their computers. They are, a professor at Eastern Michigan University tells us, "looking for things that excite them." Who knew?

What, however, about the printed version that comes out twice a week? The one I examined (July 30) could have been written by a properly programmed computer. We learned, in a hard-hitting lead story, that old people want to hang on to their senior center.

Elsewhere, we are told that there is to be a city council election, find out that a poll shows that stress affects children, and are told how to host a block party ("Get a list of all the neighbors you have on the block …").

Back in the 1980s, I used to teach a beginning journalism workshop at the University of Michigan. I would take the students to Caro, and have them put out a special supplement to the Tuscola County Advertiser. Their work was largely better than Ann Arbor.com.

However, the main purpose of the printed paper doesn't have anything at all to do with journalism. The paper exists as a vehicle for what they used to call the "reds" — the trashy advertising sections that fall out when you pick it up; the company makes money delivering those.

Journalism may be essential to democracy, but not to the Laurel Champions of this earth, who care only about making money for their bosses. If you want to see the immediate future of journalism, it lies in an ad a laid-off Free Presser found on the Internet: "I'm looking for high school/college students to write articles between 500 and 600 words."

Whoever this is wants "well researched and original content on various subjects … I'm willing to pay between $7.50 and $10 an article, depending on quality."

Bet he gets some Pulitzer winners for that. Meanwhile, think of what might have happened had Monica and Kwame been elected to office in Ann Arbor. If it were up to what passes for journalism there these days, they could probably have stolen the pavement before anyone noticed.

Never forget: Can you imagine anything more terrible than dropping nuclear weapons on unsuspecting civilians? So it is worth remembering that exactly one nation in the history of the world has done that. Not Nazi Germany, not the Soviet Union, not the murderous Khmer Rouge. No, it was us — the United States of America.

We incinerated, or condemned to death by radiation sickness, cancers, etc., something like a quarter of a million human beings. That came at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945.

Even if you think that at least the first bomb was necessary to end World War II, any sane person would have to agree that this should never happen again. Al Fishman, a veteran now in his 80s, has spent his life fighting for peace and against nuclear war, and he isn't about to stop now.

Back in 1950, at the beginning of the Korean War, he was arrested outside what was then Briggs Stadium, trying to get signatures for the Stockholm Appeal calling for an absolute ban on nuclear weapons.

The ever-tolerant Detroit cops arrested him for "disturbing the peace," and tossed him in the slam, where he spent the Fourth of July weekend. (The charge was later deemed to be improper and dropped.)

"Fifty-nine years later, and I'm still working for nuclear abolition," he said with a chuckle last week. Except now, there is a difference.

He feels with President Obama, "for the first time, there is a real chance." He is trying to make that possible. This Thursday, the Hiroshima anniversary, Peace Action of Michigan is presenting a program at First Baptist Church at 300 Willits St. in Birmingham, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Paul Gunter, a specialist on nuclear energy, security and radiation, is to present a candid program, "Proliferation and Pollution: Nuclear Costs and Consequences." Afterward, Peace Action will lead a silent outdoor procession, carrying images of Hiroshima and messages of peace.

Does that sound tacky? Overdramatic? Some sort of retro-1960s performance? If you think that, you are sadly ignorant. By the way, this columnist has been to Hiroshima. The museum has a large section devoted to the tumors caused by the bomb. As Edward R. Murrow said after visiting a concentration camp, I saw it, but I won't try to describe it.

There are fools who think the nuclear threat essentially vanished when the Soviet Union did. Smarter people know better. Forty years ago, the big powers had a nuclear monopoly, and a vested interest in not blowing each other up. Now, there are nukes everywhere. Pakistan has them; Israel has them; North Korea probably does.

It is likely only a matter of time till someone sets another one off.

Al Fishman and his wife, Marge, have been doing their best for decades to save us from ourselves. By the way, after Coleman Young became mayor, he appointed Al to a high-ranking position with the police department. They promptly gave him a tour, including the ninth floor, where he'd been locked up. "Looked a little familiar," he muttered. As the Prophet Leroy used to say about life, "You just can't make this stuff up."

Jack Lessenberry opines weekly for Metro Times. Contact him at letters@metrotimes.com.

Comments

On 8/5/2009 9:01:53 AM, JLCGULL said:

Never read the AA News. But given their location they were probably editorially to the left of Pravda. Moving right along, we would have to put the attempted extermination of Europe's Jewry right up there with the big bangs in Japan. Also, no mention of Iran's ongoing effort to burn Israel off the map. Wonder what Mr. Fishman has to say about mullahs with nukes. Probably doesn't have a position. Too busy protecting ourselves from ourselves.

On 8/5/2009 9:03:12 AM, Thrasher said:

Ann Arbor.Com=Detroit Metro Times...A weekly free rag full of T&A advertisements, chezzy want ads, 2nd rate journalism and reporting..empty content about boring white hipsters and shallow chatter class rants....makes you wanna holla and throw up both your hands...

On 8/5/2009 9:10:38 AM, Thrasher said:

BTW I will be attending the Peace Action of Michigan event..I have to gather more proof that the most dangerous and lethal people in our country were never Black Harvard professors or young Black folks from the city....

On 8/5/2009 10:44:36 AM, tomgantert said:

Jack, Let me start by saying I'm a former reporter for The Ann Arbor News. After reading this critique (and really learning more about you than AnnArbor.com, do you always insert your resume in every analysis?) I have to say that this appears to be beyond unfair. You talk of being a reporter. But my guess is that beyond your academic experience, you've never really BEEN one. Or else you'd know that the first week on the job, no one is breaking the type of stories that you say are vital to journalism. Go talk to the people who broke the Kwame Kilpatrick texting story you opine about. Ask them if they could have done that on their first week on the job. AnnArbor.com's contribution to journalism should be judged after a year, not on the first day or the day you drove to Dexter to grab one. That's pretty obvious to anyone who has been a reporter for any length of time. Anybody who gives such a scathing attack on a start-up one week old must have alterior motives. As for the bosses at AnnArbor.com "who only care about making money for their bosses" ... are you from this planet? That's called capitalism. Get a job that isn't subsidized by taxpayers and you may be a bigger fan of the concept. Making money is what newspapers have been about since their inception and you may not have been a business better at "making money for their bosses" than the newspaper business up until 2002 or so. Except, now those days are over. And AnnArbor.com is trying to be a pioneer in a new business model as well as a new approach. The Ann Arbor News closed because it's business model no longer worked. It's the same business model that had the New York Times lose $74.5 million in the first quarter of 2009. Personally, I am reserving judgment on AnnArbor.com. I know a lot of the people who went over there and they are fine journalists. I worked with them. Most of them also have new beats. They need time to cultivate sources and understand their new beat and just spend time learning about what they are writing about. That doesn't happen in the first week. You should know that. If not, maybe you should sign up for one of your own courses you teach. Academia. Gotta love you guys. If you can't do ....

On 8/5/2009 11:18:17 AM, Any Salyer said:

I had to look... It (http://www.annarbor.com/) may be a crap online newspaper but if they worked diligently at editing, it might eventually become tolerable Twitter reading.

On 8/5/2009 11:34:43 AM, mitten said:

It's not unfair to hold AnnArbor.com to a standard of competence. They've paraded around the community for the past several months, telling us how great they were going to be, and frankly, they’re not. And their reporters aren't green or ignorant of their beats or lacking in contacts - many of them were with The Ann Arbor News for years. And if they managed to be reporters at The News and not develop those things during their time there, then AnnArbor.com should never have hired them. It might be their first week with AnnArbor.com, but it's definitely not their first week covering Ann Arbor news as professional journalists.

On 8/5/2009 12:47:56 PM, Shope said:

I agree the new paper is shit. I bought the Sunday edition out of curiosity and found it to be nothing more than a printed version of a sloppy blog. Also to save money they have hired new staff (I'm sure at lower wages) to replace some of that 96%.

On 8/5/2009 12:47:59 PM, Thrasher said:

What is the standard for Ann Arbor.com?? Slate,Salon, Crain's, Freep, News, Metro Times?..really do any of this enterprises really provide cutting edge reporting and commentary?? The reporters who broke the KK story were spoon fed by informants and insiders, those folks were the real heroes not the 2 Freep guys who as best were clerks recording notes..It was amusing observing these clowns run around solicting atta-boys and posing as heroes seeking stainhood from empty has beens like Jack and company.. The media in this region has failed so many for so long online and off line..I would love a great news outlet in this region but how is this possible given the suspects and losers who roled played as journalists and reporters for so long now want to be the NEW MEDIA"..yeah right..

On 8/5/2009 8:36:54 PM, JRN101 said:

Jack is a blowhard. You're a "critic"? Try using basic grammar and sentence structures in your own stories. It's Eng 101 that you don't start sentences with conjunctions so why do journalists do it - including yourself? You're not even using AP style - it's Web site; not website. Before you judge others, make sure your own work is perfect. Until then, keep your mouth shut.

On 8/5/2009 11:10:13 PM, howardowens said:

Jack, after reading this, I really have only one response: You're a dinosaur and an idiot. I'd offer a more intelligent and useful critique, but you have nothing useful or intelligent to say. Please do us a favor and actually learn something about journalism and its history before subjecting the public to your opinions. Howard Owens, publisher, The Batavian

On 8/6/2009 11:00:31 AM, DanSyzlak said:

Newspapers aren't dying because of the Internet; they're dying because they offer the kind of tripe that's found on annarbor.com and batavia.com and assume people will lap up boring, poorly written reporting. Newspapers are dying because publishers and editors will issue knee-jerk, ad hominem defenses of such mediocrity instead of providing readers with something halfway interesting to read. But by all means, go after the messenger instead of doing something readers would be interested in or designing a news Web site with post-2001 technology and skills.

On 8/6/2009 11:33:46 AM, Barneymiller said:

Jeezus, if the illiterate doof who posted as tomgantert is an example of the quality of AnnArbor.com, God help us all. Ex.: "alterior" (You do mean ulterior, right?) Ex.: "it's business model" (You do mean Its, right?) I'm with Jack on this one. AnnArbor.com is crap. But, hey, it's free crap!

On 8/6/2009 1:36:54 PM, talbotsmom said:

Thank you, Mr. Lessenberry, for the first apt criticism I've seen of annarbor.com. I, too, have been terribly disappointed by the quality of the new site; aside from a couple of columnists (Geoff Larcom and Martin Bandyke, in particular), there is little on the site that has ever inspired me to click on a story. To those who have criticized the article and its author: I implore you to go to annarbor.com and find, say, three stories with any genuine news or entertainment value. Please, give it a try. And to JRN101, not all publications use AP Style; indeed, many publications have adopted a modified version of AP Style in which they have made adaptations. Web site has gone out of favor with numerous magazines and newspapers, with website taking its place.

On 8/7/2009 12:21:21 AM, danduchene said:

Both AP and Webster prefer "Web site."

On 8/7/2009 2:34:41 AM, ypsidixit said:

On 8/7/2009 2:36:30 AM, ypsidixit said:

Mr. L., you're the closest thing the Detroit area has to H. L. Mencken, and as such your voice is sorely needed and much appreciated. Thank you.

On 8/7/2009 12:22:15 PM, Thrasher said:

Jack is a 2nd rate hack who should have retired decades ago...He is an angry bitter hasbeen and underachiever..A classic white liberal whose contempt for Black folks often leaks out .. Jack's bitter and sout wit add little to his reporting or the reader's sense of enlightenment.. This entire region would benefit is tired, obsolete hacks like Jack can no longer contaminate the media arena..Really his attack on ANN ARBOR.com serves what objective?? Of course his backward white liberal i/q prevents him from doing anything else but trash and burn..

On 8/7/2009 3:41:21 PM, Barneymiller said:

Man, who's this Thrasher dude?? His poorly articulated rants about white folks pop up on forums all over town. Talk about no-talent hacks. At least Jack L. remembers to take his meds. Chill, angry black dude, before you pop a vein.

On 8/7/2009 6:53:23 PM, harlem.bates said:

Thrasher is a white racist posing as some stereotype of an autistic or retarded African-American dude. He's a troll pretending that someone this stupid and ridiculous really exists. Whoever it is has no dayjob and so they have all day to post fake-retard posts all over town. Ignore them, otherwise you confirm the racist perception that this kind of minstrel show really exists.

On 8/7/2009 6:53:43 PM, samesk8r said:

AnnArbor.com has no true vision. It is literally the internet equivalent of Old Country Buffet. Gather up all the buzzer items of the internet, do them just well enough that people will choose convenience over quality.

On 8/8/2009 12:28:54 PM, Piney Woods Guy said:

AnnArbor.com does not tolerate Fair Comment About a Public Figure on its chatboards. Such posts are quickly deleted (I think they have a bot in East Syracuse, New York that does this anti-First Amendment work). I agree with Jack, why should ANYONE bother to read the Vanilla Pablum that has, thus far, been spread upon the website? Thinking Minds should like to ken. I used to read the entire Detroit News, Freep and A2 News, every day, 7 days a week, cover-to-cover (omitting only the sports and classifieds). So you would think a little drive-by reading of their website wouldn’t be too onerous. But it IS onerous. Well, like talk radio, I’m not forced to listen, I don’t have to click-on their web ady. I say this to yins hooners: It appears the management has incorrectly targeted those over the age of 50 to peddle their “product” to. Most over the age of 50 just don’t get the Internet and 21st Century communication. Management will LOSE!! As Warren Buffett said: “I only have two eyeballs and 16 hours a day to use them.” You have to make choices when you put those reading glasses on yer snooze. Buffett also said: “Even from my own reading habits, I see the effects of print newspapers losing more eyeballs with each passing year. My local paper continues to shrink in both size and coverage. For the first time in my life, I am considering canceling my subscription.” The fun will come when they attempt to cajole us into PAYING MONEY for their content. Then we’ll see who is right and who is clueless . . . So yins AA.com moguls, go ahead and Delete Fair Comment on Public Figures from yer wee website. Dish up the Vanilla Pablum posted by yer reader toadies. See how many readers ya git to pay actual money fer yer tepid product. East Syracuse will pull the plug on yins before the New Year dawns.

On 8/8/2009 2:11:19 PM, Thrasher said:

This is a chat forum not an english lit class..I could care less about grammar, syntax in a chat forum..get real...harlem.bates and barney miller apparently are envious types obsessed with my income and daily chores... of course I don't need thier permission to chat/post about whatever the fuck I want to 24/7 and I will continue to..lol,lol,lol

On 8/9/2009 1:41:17 AM, paloma said:

I think it's hilarious that some people continually declare that this column in particular and the Metro Times in general are entirely valueless - and yet these same people come back religiously to read Jack's work every single week.

On 8/9/2009 11:44:00 AM, Thrasher said:

I agree that is why I come every week to provide cogent and progressive posts with sizzle to take the stench out of Jack's tired rants...

On 8/12/2009 11:17:56 AM, commentee said:

The entire argument here is based on the false assumption that the Ann Arbor News produced a kind of high quality editorial content that demonstrated real depth and intelligence. Guess what: it didn't! The Ann Arbor News was JUST as bad, with the added benefit of killing trees 7 (instead of 2 days) a week.

On 8/12/2009 1:13:31 PM, a2resident said:

In addition to the problems facing all other newspapers, I think the Ann Arbor News lost a lot of subscribers because it avoided important issues that it saw as "too controversial," amd also because editorial content quality was sometimes low. I recall when it backed Bush for reelection because "you don't change a horse in midstream." Aside from the fact the Bush was an idiot who ruined the country, this was just a lame reason for an endorsement. However, even given its shortcomings, the News had many good reporters and its demise was tragic. One positive development in Ann Arbor is the creation of new sources for news. The Ann Arbor Chronicle (www.annarborchronicle.com) does excellent reporting on local politics, and Heritage Newspapers (which owns the Dexter Leader and Chelsea Standard) has stepped in with a weekly paper, the Ann Arbor Journal (www.a2journal.com) that covers local news. The Metro Times had an Ann Arbor edition for a while -- maybe there is a renewed business opportunity here. Competion among the media is good for democracy!

On 8/12/2009 4:51:14 PM, Orpheus A2 said:

I agree with "commentee". You all assume the Ann Arbor News produced high quality editorial content, but it didn't! I used to joke that the Ann Arbor News was mostly true, but you could never tell what was truth and what was not. As a long time observer of the A2 News I can tell you their main flaw: they never did any fact checking on their stories. I once questioned the long time editor in chief about that lack of diligence after the second or third time he published an article that mentioned an event I had personally witnessed that got published that contained material errors of fact and he told me they didn't believe in fact checking! The New Yorker is the magazine it is today because they fact check each story not once, not twice but three times, by three different people. Perhaps that is overkill and not economic for a daily, but you get the point. There is an ideal happy medium somewhere between zero fact checking and three times. My theory is that enough people figured it out and the rest is history. Before the Ann Arbor News went away I met a lot of people who held the same opinion about its variable accuracy. I wish AnnArbor.com the best of luck, but advise them to shorten the odds and employ at least one fact checker. The people in Ann Arbor are smart and educated and can smell a rat (or a bad "fact") a mile away.

On 8/17/2009 8:50:36 AM, poppycock said:

First: did A2.com Ever really promise to be an online journalism product? I recall them talking about "social content, online communities, marketing and deals,blah blah blah" And that is what they have. Second, "Never read the AA News. But given their location they were probably editorially to the left of Pravda" is just an ignorant comment. I have never eaten poisonous toad, but I imagine it tastes like Chicken would be a similar comment. I wonder if the poster knows that the A2 News backed George W Bush...TWICE! That the editor, Ed petyk... was a scab. He crossed picket lines to work for his bosses in Ohio when another family dailys staff went on strike. So much for being a leftist rag. third: None of this really excuses the poor quality of "journalism" at the new A2.com. They have much work to do to reach the quality that should be expected from a news source in Ann Arbor. I am willing to give them a little time, but not a year. They have many staff and "leadership" from The News and Cleveland that should be able to step right into the gap and fill it with worthy content. Thankfully I don't think Ann Arbor is quite up to the graft level of Detroit so I don't think the .com folks are missing too much...yet Fourth: One of the first things they need to do is get the delivery of the hard copy done. I have missed 4/4 issues as they cannot get the logistics squared away after two weeks. This does not bode well. Fifth: I can see Thrasher is a self adulating bonehead, usually to be found at any anonymous web blog. Hint: you are neither as intelligent nor as knowledgeable as you think, not even close. Your comments have little to do with reality. Maybe it is time for a Palin Death Panel for you? I am wondering who does her fact checking?

On 8/24/2009 11:02:50 AM, Piney Woods Guy said:

Aug 24. This now appears to be a DEAD topic, but here is 2¢ more. 1. The past week shows the News Source to be a REPORT THE POLICE BLOTTER operation. Have your morning Joe, read the Detroit News, then bop over 2 blocks to the Police Dept and copy down what happened last night in Ann Arbor. 2. I went to buy a Sunday copy of the News Source. The price is $1.50. It consisted of 18 flimsy pages in Section A - I stood at the news rack at CVS and flipped thru the top of the pages = Nada, Rien, Zilch, Zero. Ditto for Section B that instructs you how to live your life. But then, Get This!! A TON of Advertising Inserts. By weight, I would estimate the Sunday News Source to be 85% advertisements. And they expect people to pay them $1.50 for a pile of advertisements. Jack is right! There is no hope for this News Source.

On 10/12/2009 9:58:41 PM, Arboriginal said:

The Ann Arbor News folded not because it was not making money but because it was not making enough money. How is that for shit syntax? Fuck greedy republicans! Really. Fuck 'Em!!!!