And now a little Katharine Graham...

I've always been a fan of The Washington Post. I'd say out of all the "national" papers, it's always been my favorite.

I've always thought it sucked I couldn't get the Post delivered to my doorstep like the NY Times.

That being said, I've never gotten around to reading Katharine Graham's autobiography, which I'd always heard great things about.

I finally got to the part where her father, Eugene Meyer, bought the Post in an auction on the paper's front steps for $825,000. Can you imagine?

I ran across a great passage:

My father wanted a paper that would advance beyond what it had achieved even in its heyday and "take a leadership that could be achieved only by exceptional quality." In one address, on March 5, 1935, he spoke about the principles that he insisted on from the beginning, outlining them as follows:

1) That the first mission of a newspaper is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained;
2) That the newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world;
3) That as a disseminator of news, the paper shall observe the decencies that are obligatory upon a private gentleman;
4) That what it prints shall be fit reading for the young as well as the old;
5) That the newspaper's duty is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its owner;
6) That in the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifice of its material fortunes, if such course be necessary for the public good;
7) That the newspaper shall now be the ally of any special public interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.

It seems the more things change in this uncertain world, the need for some things stay the same.

Sam Zell and Me....

I've never been part of a newspaper ownership change.

My previous job was a family-owned newspaper that had stayed in the Gaylord family hands since statehood (1907, for you non-Okies). Interesting enough, the other major metro in Oklahoma --- the Tulsa World --- is also a long-time family owned broadsheet.

And until not too long ago, Oklahoma also had the Tulsa Tribune, a family owned newspaper that traced family links to Frank Lloyd Wright.

So when I came to the Sun-Sentinel, it was my first time working for a publicly traded company. Now we're part of a private ownership group that is owned by employees. Oh yeah, and a guy named Sam Zell.

I'm normally a cynic. At my old shop, I heard executives say words like "communications vehicle," "solutions-based," and "multiplatform communications company." It seemed like there was always promise of reasons to be optimistic.

I usually felt like Office Space, just like most of you.

But this time I'm optimistic. After the Zell press conference, which was beamed into our auditorium, many employees clapped. I am excited.

I can imagine what they're thinking at the LA Times, which seems to be dancing a jig in print:

"There's no need to belabor the multiple reasons for that failure, but suffice to say that, as of Wednesday, there were only three places in the world where you still could find people who believed in the efficacy of Brezhnev-style bureaucracy and central planning: North Korea, Cuba and Tribune Tower in Chicago."

So this could be a wild and fun ride. Count me among the optimists for a change.

Ain't that the truth....

The impending deals....

Great read from Reflections of a Newsosaur.

"In the last five decades, newspapers came to be run by bean counters and soothsayers whose idea of leadership was to do everything possible to ensure that the operating performance of their companies never varied from between 9.8 to 10.2 on a 10-point scale of predictability. For the most part, the top industry jobs came to be populated by people more skilled at managing than innovating – and who, despite their formidable analytical, administrative and public relations skills, had no more feel for newspapering than for running tire stores or meat-packing plants."

How many of you have had this conversation? I know I did in a past job.

Me: Why can't we do this?
Management: Because we've never done that here.
Me: But X paper did it and they flew off the racks.
Management: We don't do that here.
Me: Online clicks will skyrocket.
Management: But we don't do that here.
Me: Why?
Management: Because.

Have I seen our savior?

A music critic at my old paper used to end every column with something along the lines of, "I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is..." and he would discuss a new group.

So I wonder if I've seen the future of journalism.

For anyone who hasn't taken a peek, the St. Pete paper launched the results of four years of work this week. Who would've thought a zoo held such a story?

More evidence that a great reporter can find a great story in anything.

But I digress.

In this era of trimming resources, this reporter went to Africa to help chronicle a local story. In an era of shrinking news hole, the St. Pete paper dedicated the space. In an era of short stories, this runs long.

This is the kind of journalism that will save our product. Not gimmicks. Not schemes.

We have to provide our readers something they can't find elsewhere. That's CAR. That's investigations. That's fearless writing about stories that matter.

If we don't do those things, who will? TV won't. They're too busy covering meth busts and house fires.

It's the content that matters. Medium is secondary.

We have to find our niche. And we have to promote it. And we have to convince readers it's worthing taking the time to read, whether it's in print or online.

The Front Page...

Finally got around to watching The Front Page. Well, not the original --- the remake with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

Earl Williams: You don't have to answer this, Mollie, but is it true what they said in the papers?
Mollie Malloy: Is what true?
Earl Williams: That you were going to marry me on the gallows.
Mollie Malloy: Well, if it's in the papers, it must be true. They wouldn't print a lie.

Classic.

But it still doesn't beat the greatest journalism movie of all time --- The Paper.

Carmen: You wanna cover Brooklyn, then cover Brooklyn! But let me tell you something, it's a little tough to do from a barstool in Manhattan.

What other movie so closely resembles the characters of the great American newsroom?

I'm convinced that characters in The Paper can fit someone in your newsroom.

Alicia: We're not exactly the Washington Post, okay?
Michael McDougal: No, we're not. We run stupid headlines because we think they're funny. We run maimings on the front page because we got good art. And I spend three weeks bitching about my car because it sells papers. But at least it's the truth. As far as I can remeber we never ever, ever knowingly got a story wrong, until tonight.