Less than the sum of their parts

So now you know. We all know. The northwest Arkansas newspapers are all under the same "umbrella," which sounds for an inappropriate euphemism, since it is the rest of us who need shelter from the storm.

So on the front page of Monday's Morning News, you have stories by MN staffers. On the front page of the Daily Record, you have two stories by DR staff (amazingly neither was about Chrystal Bridges) and one by an MNer.

I found this curious bit of philosophy in Sunday's editorial pages of the Daily Record and Morning News:

Sometimes the members of this choir will each sing his own tune. That will make things interesting. The differences among us are as much a part of this region’s strength as the cooperation. When everybody thinks the same way, nobody’s thinking, the wise heads say. Well, that has never been a problem around here.

(for those of you bothering to subscribe: http://bcdr.nwanews.com/news/2009/nov/01/our-view-new-era-begins-readers-20091101/)

Funny to think how there will be harmony or, more importantly, disharmony among the four "newspapers" when there is only one editorial page editor and one editor overall. Those of you who enjoyed only the Morning News, congratulations. You got it. For anyone who liked both or only the Daily Record, who knows. Maybe someone will rise from the ashes to provide another voice for Benton County. Maybe not. I guess it depends if anyone cares enough to support the dissident.

So who are the survivors in this merger? By my count, only six people from the Daily Record were kept. Mike Jones is still city editor for the Daily Record, and he keeps Jeff Mores, Tracy Neal and Tabatha Hunter, who you might know if you've ever spotted Jones at lunch, as they're always with him. David Dempsy was also rehired, as was one of the sports writers. Meanwhile, I know of only two layoffs from the Morning News, so clearly the Morning News stocked the pond.

Unfortunately, the Morning News has long relied on Associated Press content, leaving its staff free to take their time in writing stories and falling fall short of churning out content. But the Democrat Gazette would never pay for the same stories twice, so the Morning News is on its own. And all the people used to fast turnover of content are now trying to find someone else who might appreciate those skills.

At this point, I can only add to the drum beats, to the war cries screaming about their lost voice. The time for action has ended. A rebirth of quality journalism may still, and it is sorely needed, but it will take men and women of means entrusting their wealth to men and women of the pen. Until such people come forward, I wish us all good luck.

Quick thoughts

The newspaper merger is clearly bad. How bad? We'll discuss that Monday.

Starting the Refugee Watch

Since news of the merger came out, reporters (at least the ones calm enough to broach the subject) are starting to talk about their futures with their respective publications and industry at large. Some are expecting to leave, but some are planning to leave. It seems the corporate bigwigs have pushed too hard and will lose some of their top talent. These are times of trial and tribulation for the local press. Please support them, because they believed they were supporting you.

So much for competition

Four newspapers are going to turn into four newspapers. Why is that bad? Because they'll all be part of one company. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette and Stephens Media's northwest Arkansas newspapers are merging. That means the Daily Record, the Northwest Arkansas Times and both editions of the Morning News will be part of one big happy family. Here's what you can expect:

Quick thoughts

Shortly after the Daily Record started charging for its Web site, there was an option at the bottom of stories to leave feedback, similar to the Morning News' site. Thing is, I never actually saw comments left by the readers.

Well, now that option is gone, unheralded and unused. There was no reason given for its disappearance, but, then again, there was no announcement that it was there in the first place.

But still, there is no word the Morning News is changing its policy yet. There is also no indication how it would impact both newspapers if both sites don't end up charging.

Quick thoughts

Rogers is losing an asset in Morning News reporter John Henley. The ace reporter is leaving the publication to pursue a masters degree, which is an admirable goal, but certainly leaves the paper on less steady footing, as he was clearly the Morning News' greatest talent. Hopefully his replacement can fill the void.

Double billing

Go ahead and try to search for a past article from the Daily Record. Go on. I'll wait.

What follows is more of the haphazard self-destruction following the newspaper's quest for revenue from its online content. What follows, however, indicates the intention to charge subscribers twice for past articles (once for the monthly fee and once for the archived story). My anger subsides into sympathy for these people who show through their actions why newspapers have declined. I withdraw here and leave you with only this quotation from a random page announcing a story is now gone indefinitely.

This story is only available from the Benton County Daily Recordarchives. Articles will be available to purchase from the archives in the near future. Click the link below to search for this story in the archives. If the search doesn't yield any results, enter part of the headline and publicaton date in the search form or contact the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette library in Little Rock at (501) 378-3851 with the section, date and page information below.»Click here to search the Archives.

Quick thoughts

You'll just have to trust me on this one, because I'm sure the details will change. In browsing nwanews.com today — actually, while looking for the option to search back stories — I came across the following in the subscription form:

Please click here to subscribe to Arkansas Online without a print subscription.
Please click here to subscribe to NWAnews.com without a print subscription.

Please take notice that the two links go to the same form on two different web addresses, and all online subscriptions give you access to both the sites. For as much warning as the Democrat-Gazette gave its readers of the online subscriptions, you would have thought they would have figured out how to set up the forms. And if the web site confuses readers this much, how are people supposed to trust the content?

All in the details

What happens when a newspaper gets beat on a juicy story? Sloppy, catch-up journalism.

I originally thought this story was only a web update. Surely that must be the reason for the lack of details and, more importantly, sources. But even web updates must be sourced. Surely it wouldn't have been too hard to match the "according to a jail booking report" that appears in the Morning News story. But the Daily Record story was in today's paper, one day after the Morning News account. This now appears every bit as bad as the television news stories blatantly ripped off from the morning print editions.

While the newspaper industry is in the midst of a revolution, it is not the time for journalists or editors (as the case may be) to abandon the standards of responsible journalism in order to give unsourced information more quickly.

Quick thoughts

What's going on at the Daily Record? Is this more evidence of the decline of newspapers? Admittedly, the newspapers were crazy to give away their work just because it was online, but is this the right move or the right move 10 years ago when the Internet was on the rise?

I hope to continue posting links to the Daily Record site, but anyone who wants to read it will apparently have to pay.

And don't expect to keep getting the Morning News for free much longer. They were behind the Daily Record in cutting staff too, but both papers ended up taking the same road.

Quick thoughts

Why have there been so many stories in The Morning News about Rogers Little Theater lately? Is it because editor Rusty Turner is also on the theater's board? There's almost as many of those stories as there are front-page stories about Crystal Bridges in the Benton County Daily Record. Well, not quite that many. We can't think of any logical reason that may-never-come museum is always at the top of A-1.

Priorities

It is the duty of the City Council to protect the interests of the city, but too often, special interest groups interfere. It seems that fate has befallen Rogers.

Councilman Bob Goodwin (or, in the original Morning News account, Rob Goodman) has broken ranks with his fellow elected officials, a sign of outside influence interfering with his judgment.

The group that has apparently purchased Goodwin's vote is the Rogers taxpayer. There is no other way to explain his concern, expressed during the city's June 9 council meeting, for finding less expensive alternative to maintain and improve the intersections and roadways of downtown Rogers.

The seven other council members understand the value of unity, as a whole in favor of continuing the project. The validity of the project is not in question, rather the speed at which the city's leaders latch on to the first proposal that comes their way. Any delay could cost the downtown business owners days or even weeks of delay as other ideas are considered.

The downtown business owners are also right to back this proposal unquestioningly, as the absence of any meaningful customer traffic is certainly the fault of those historic brick intersections.

Even if drawn out discussion would have resulted in the same conclusion, the undermining of resident confidence by working to ensure their interests are protected would only jeopardize the residents' interests.

But it seems Goodwin is finally coming around. After listening to the merchant's support of the intersection proposal, Goodwin refused to comment to the daily record, which can only mean he is succumbing to the group thinking. It will be a proud day in Rogers when projects like this can be approved and completed without any delay for discussion, no matter how good other ideas may be.