Stop the Presses: The American Newspaper in Peril
Running Time: 79 minutes Completed: February 2008
The founding fathers thought enough of the role of a free press in a democratic society that they protected journalism in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Acting as the public's watchdog, keeping government and corporations accountable, the daily paper became one of the cornerstones of the American experiment.
That vital, historical role is now in peril. In recent years, circulation and ad revenue have plunged as readers and advertisers migrate to the Web. Public newspaper companies, accustomed to profits between 20 and 30 percent, have laid off or bought out thousands of journalists, reduced space for news, and began dismantling the traditional wall between journalism and business concerns in an effort to maintain those unusually high margins.
Meanwhile, disgruntled stockholders have forced venerated news chains like Knight-Ridder and the Tribune Co. to sell off their papers.
With those staffs now being decimated, who will hold public officials to task? Will newspapers be shells of their former selves by the time they figure out how to make the Internet pay? Will new institutions emerge on the Web to take up the slack?
If not, where will citizens turn for reliable, in-depth news and information? Or will rumor, gossip and politically motivated lies rule the day?
Production Notes
"What will become of the American newspaper? The ready availability of news around the clock, particularly on the Internet, is combining with Wall Street's demand for growing profits to threaten this important American institution. What's at stake is the role of journalism in a free society.
"Many American newspapers have seen advertising revenues plummet, printing costs rise, readership decline and shareholders increasingly unsatisfied with their financial returns. Newspaper management reacted with cuts: involuntary layoffs and voluntary buyouts. Papers are not only deciding how large a staff they can now afford but also how to deploy it in a shifting world of 24-hour cable news, Web sites aimed at every niche and tv-enabled telephones.
"From inside the newsrooms where journalists are fighting for their profession, through interviews with leading lights and media experts, 'Stop the Presses' asks, is the "dead tree" model of printed newspapers still relevant? Can and should they survive, or will they be completely replaced by electronically distributed information sources?
"What, if anything, will be lost as shareholder-driven publishers continue to scale back coverage and eliminate reporters and editors? Are we on the verge of losing merely a tradition of words on newsprint, or journalism itself, the only profession mentioned in the Constitution?"
Trailer
