There are two kinds of newspaper stories these days. One kind is the old-fashioned one that tell us something we don't know. The others --- now feeding on themselves in near-frenzy -- tell us about the unabated decline of the newspaper trade itself.
Sometimes, the cross paths, as if in irony, or in warning of how closely the two kinds of stories are connected. (On the timing, it seems like it is coincidence. Says McClatchy (MNI) VP/News Howard Weaver: "While the timing of the Guantanamo project is of course inadvertent, I do think it's a worthy counterpoint.")
Take the first kind of story. McClatchy's Washington Bureau released Day One of a five-parter on
"Guantanamo: Beyond the Law" for Sunday publication. It got a good ride on Page Ones around the country and was well picked up on broadcast. Its summary minced few words:
An eight-month McClatchy investigation of the detention system created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has found that the U.S. imprisoned innocent men, subjected them to abuse, stripped them of their legal rights and allowed Islamic militants to turn the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a school for jihad.
At first read, it looks deeply reported, well-told and plainly on point to last Friday's Supreme Court ruling.
Then take today's story: McClatchy is cutting 10% of its staff, company-wide, with deep cuts at the Miami Herald (17%), the Charlotte Observer (11%) and even at corporate flagship Sacramento Bee (8%). That's 1400 employees total. The revenue declines are described well by Alan Mutter, here, who argues they probably won't be enough.
The Tom Lasseter-written Guantanamo series reminds us of the sterling contributions of the Knight Ridder bureau in the earlier days of the Iraq War. After the New York Times had stumbled in its own war run-up and war coverage, the KR bureau distinguished itself by asking the tough questions, doing the tough analysis and devoting sufficient resources to the story of the decade.
So what's happening now in that Washington Bureau, recalling that McClatchy merged its own bureau with KR's after it bought the company in 2006?
I traded email on this busy morning with Howard Weaver, whose own explanation of today's cuts is worth a read.
In short, today's McClatchy bureau is well down from the combined total of KR and McClatchy. And it is has many challenges, but Howard paints the picture of a bureau struggling to get out the best journalism it can, as evidenced by the Guantanamo series.
Before the KR purchase, the McClatchy (then 11 papers strong) bureau had 15 staffers. Knight Ridder's (31 papers strong) had 45 staffers. Today, the McClatchy bureau -- with 30 papers in the company after various divestitures -- has about 47 staffers.
"The emphasis was different; under KR regional reporters were tied to their papers (KC, Miami etc) and simply housed in the bureau," says Weaver. "Ours are full-fledged bureau staff, although chiefly responsive to their paper."
The pressure is evident.
"We have put two foreign positions on ice," explains Weaver, "filling Mexico City [the office remains open with local staff and hosts rotating journalists from McClatchy papers] and delayed opening a planned new bureau in South Asia (Islamabad or Mumbai were prospects)...Neither is considered "off the books" but both are on hold." Weaver says recruiting is underway for two other open jobs.
In addition, McClatchy is taking the scalpel to the management. Says Weaver: "David Westphal, our Washington Editor, will not be replaced when he leaves later this summer to follow his wife to her new post at USC/Annenberg; current bureau/MCT management and I will take up that slack, which enables us to keep more firepower on the front lines."
The front lines. They are easy to forget about as the other kind of story dominates. Yes, McClatchy may have more cutting to do, but today -- this week -- it's refreshing to see one US newspaper company making news for its journalism and not just for its cutting plans. There is no one way out of this jam, but, in the end, journalism businesses have still got to believe that the journalism adjective is still an important one.
Disclosure: None
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