News and Observer publisher writes letter to readers

The open letter from The N&O publisher.

The publisher of The News & Observer wrote an open letter to readers today, acknowledging the newspaper is “upsetting our readers on a daily basis” because of changes to the newspaper. Newspaper publishers are usually only quoted in their own papers when they’re defending or lauding their work, so it’s worth paying attention when they speak up.

In his letter, publisher Orage Quarles III says some readers are “quite unhappy with the changes we’ve been making to the print edtion of the N&O.” The changes, of course, all center on a reduction in content — ranging from fewer enterprise stories to recently trimmed TV listings (messing with the TV guide always pisses off newspapers’ older audiences).

It’s easy to understand why The N&O feels lighter these days. Layoffs and buyouts pared the newsroom down to 132 full-time employees back in April. That’s about half the staff that was employed in the newsroom four years ago, according to an April 2009 article in The Independent. A newspaper simply can not produce the same product after cutting that much staff.

The 754-word letter written by Quarles appears as nearly a full-page ad on the inside of the local section and doesn’t seem to be available on the newspaper’s website (but it is now thanks to my mad typing skills. You can read it here.) Here are the highlights:

* The latest adjustments to the paper include reducing the TV grid and weather page, trimming even more stock and mutual fund information and reducing the number of pages in the newspaper.

* Prices have increased in racks and stores and for home delivery. Subscription rates will increase again in August, Quarles said. (Home delivery rates were also raised in July 2008).

* The N&O will launch a redesigned website in mid-August.

* The size of the pages in the print edition will shrink in August as the newspaper follows a money-saving industry trend.

* Quarles notes the excellent job the paper has been doing in watchdog and investigative reporting with its Executive Privilege series.

A subscription stand outside Kroger on Six Forks Road.

I’m guessing this won’t be the last letter we read from Quarles as The News & Observer and other newspapers continue to find their footing in this dreary economy and Internet-loving landscape. I’ve vowed to continue to subscribe to the newspaper until I’ve paid off my student loans for my print journalism degree, even though I read nearly all my news online these days.

I know us Internet nerds love to beat up on newspapers. We make fun of the print editions. We mock their cluttered homepages and poor uses of Twitter and facebook. But there’s no denying that if The News & Observer didn’t send its reporters to courthouses, city halls and college campuses, more government dollars would get wasted and voiceless victims would be ignored.

Just today the N&O revealed that North Carolina court systems failed to fully compensate at least 80,000 crime victims because courts are ignoring state law and using antiquated computer systems. Reporters Joseph Neff and David Raynor poured over 244,489 court cases to come to that conclusion. What other local media outlet or citizen journalist is going to take the time to do that?

This summer the chancellor and provost at N.C. State University and the chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees resigned after the N&O showed that former first lady Mary Easley landed a $170,000-a-year job through cronyism. Those resignations might not have happened if those officials had been forthcoming about how Easley got her job. But The N&O didn’t relent, and through public records and interviews, reporters showed that top university officials lied about how Easley got her job. The News & Observer’s “Executive Privilege” series also showed how former governor Mike Easley used his influence to snag sweet real estate deals and free flights on private jets. Federal authorities are investigating whether anything illegal occurred.

A copy of The News and Observer lays in the yard of a home in Five Points.

None of these investigations would be possible if a reporter wasn’t being paid a salary that comes from advertising dollars and subscriptions. No doubt the industry has made some missteps and has been slow to embrace new forms of media that readers are craving. But newspapers need the public’s support now, more than ever, to survive.

So don’t be one of those people who joins the bandwagon and blanketly declares “newspapers are dying.” The journalism that newspapers are practicing is crucial to maintaining our democracy. Newspapers must figure out how to make money off our mobile news habits.

Until that happens, support your local newspaper. They desperately need you as much as you need them.

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