Bloggin’ on the Edge

Posted by Scott Spielman Scott Spielman at 11:58 AM | Comments

It’s funny how things work out.

One week I am determined to start a one-man crusade to inject some optimism into the world and hopefully get people to realize that we all need to work together to overcome our fears to get the economy going and the next I’m in the newsroom, typing on my own, as our staff has dwindled due to a variety of economic pressures.

Yep, that’s a good one all right. The economy got me right where it hurts.

So what does this all mean?

To be honest, we’re not exactly sure.

There have been a number of things that have brought us to this point. Yes, the economic times have been difficult, but that hasn’t been the overriding factor. Advertising sales—and salespeople—have been hard to come by in recent months. Circulation difficulties have been a part of it, too, and a number of long-range plans that we have counted on have either fallen by the wayside or not materialized fast enough.

The impact of the Internet can’t be forgotten, either. Many newspapers have tried to adapt to this growing trend and we have, too, but our staff was small to begin with and the expertise wasn’t there.

I’ve long thought that everyone needs to be careful what they wish for, what they say and who they choose to make fun of. My philosophy has been that, one way or another, God will turn you into the person you once mocked—perhaps to give you a new perspective, probably to teach you how to grow.

At the beginning of 2009 I find myself in that position, a position I’ve advocated to many a member of any number of elected boards or state politicians. I’ve echoed their remarks as they’ve talked about their own budgets: We need to look at every corner, find every efficiency and evaluate every service to ensure that we provide the basic services to our customers. In their case, the customers are taxpayers or business owners. In ours, it is readers and advertisers.

That’s where we are as an industry as a whole. That’s where we are as a snapshot of that larger picture: we’re taking a look at what we do, what people want, and how to give it to them.

I still think there is a need for a localized newspaper, something printed that people can hold in their hands, an organization that takes a look at local government and questions their decisions—not just something that is put out by the municipality, for the municipality, to promote the municipality without any watchdog effort. It’s what the industry was founded on and I think it is still a vital part of the community.

We’re looking at our format, our procedures—just about everything—and we hope to soon return with a revitalized product that will once again engage our audience.

Here’s where you come in. This is a good chance to take a more
active role in the issues you want raised in your city. Send me a line—I’m going to assume that my voice mailbox will soon be filling up, so email will probably be the best way to do it.

There are plenty of ways to make your voices heard, either through my email at sspielman@journalgroup.com; the comments section on our web site, www.journalgroup.com or through the community forums, which I diligently try to cleanse of spam every chance I get.

Thanks for your patience during this trying time. As for me, I keep coming back to something State Rep. Marc Corriveau (D-Northville) said to me last week.

“As bad as things are, I still have hope for the future.”

I do too. We just need to learn how to do things better.

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