A Modern Fable
It's going to take some "vision" to keep
the clock from striking 12. By Jim Abbott
Mr. or Ms. Publisher of Anytown, USA, sat in his or her office looking at the latest circulation figures of the newspaper and was dismayed to see that readership was declining. "This is not good," he or she thought. "We must do something!" So he or she called together the management council and said, "What can we do?"
The features editor said, "We need to make a decision. Ann Landers has passed away but Amy Dickinson is going to continue the column. Should we pay for it and make space in the paper for it?"
The Publisher said, "Certainly, many of our current readers look to that column every day. We must continue it!" And so it was done.
Another features editor said, "I have found a wonderful new horoscope. It is more expensive than the one we are running now, but our current readers will love it. There is a lot of debate about the validity of horoscopes, but it is popular. Should we buy it?"
The Publisher said, "Absolutely. Our current readers just love to see the future predicted every day. Buy it!" And so it was done.
The sports editor said, "I have found a wonderful new column about NASCAR and I am sure our current readers will love it. The columnist predicts that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. may eventually become more popular than his father was!"
The Publisher said, "Great. A recent survey says our current readers love NASCAR. We can certainly find room for that column. Buy it!" And so it was done.
The Sunday features editor said, "There is a new comic strip that I know will appeal to our current readers. We have surveyed them, and they love it. Do you think we should buy it?"
The Publisher said, "Our current readers have spoken. They want this comic strip. Buy it and make room for it on our comics page!" And so it was done.
The financial editor said, "Our current readers are losing money in the stock market but I have found a great feature that will help them make more money. Should we buy that?"
The Publisher said, "It will help our current readers, by all means we should run it!" And so it was done.
The editorial page editor said, "You know, many of our current readers think we are pretty liberal but I have found an op-ed feature by a noted conservative that is pretty expensive but it would balance our coverage. Should we run that?"
The Publisher said, "We certainly do not want to lose our more conservative readers. Buy it and find space for it on a regular basis!" And so it was done.
The youth editor, who was not a member of the management council, approached timidly and said, "We could develop a wonderful new section to appeal to the young readers of our newspaper. These are our future readers and we need something for them. Shall we move ahead with this?"
The Publisher said, "That is an interesting concept, but we need to develop a business plan that will show we can pay for the space. Our advertising representatives are really busy selling ads to our current advertisers so you should go out and find new advertisers to support this risky investment." And so it was not done.
Finally, the NIE professional approached the all-powerful management council and said in a quivering voice, "I have some wonderful lesson plans that will get students involved in our newspaper, and I know of a great serial story that will attract many young readers to the newspaper on a regular basis. Do you think I might be able to get some space for these?"
The Publisher said, "Do you have any idea how expensive space is in our newspaper? You will have to find sponsors for all this space who are willing to pay a premium for this stuff. And you will need to find sponsors to cover the cost of sending all those newspapers to the schools for these kids. Don't bother us again until you can cover all these costs!" And so it was not done.
The Publisher and the management council were dismayed as readership continued to decline. Eventually the newspaper went out of business.
And no one could figure out why?
SUMMER/FALL 2003