Puppies vs. sting

A 20-minute Last Week Tonight with John Oliver clip lamenting the state of print journalism recently stirred buzz among my peers.

The industry’s problems, Oliver explained in it, are myriad: Staff cuts, shrinking revenue and circulation and, correspondingly, a push toward “digital-first” newsrooms.

“It’s clearly smart for newspapers to expand online,” Oliver said. “But the danger in doing that is to gravitate toward whatever gets the most clicks.”

In short, he added, that push can—and often does—lead to more cute puppy videos and fewer stinging exposes.

The segment touched a nerve. During my career I’ve watched print ads nosedive and resources dwindle. In 2009, in fact, I was part of a mass layoff at The Sacramento Bee. It wasn’t the paper’s first cut, of course, and it certainly won’t be its last.

Recently, the Bee has tried to rebuild as a digital-first entity, with an emphasis on video in particular. Is it working? In July, McClatchy, the Bee’s parent company, reported a second-quarter net loss of $14.7 million, with ad revenue down 11 percent. Ouch.

Not to pick on the Bee, however. Honest. SN&R and other alt-weeklies also face huge challenges. Smaller staffs, fewer ads and, always, the worry about content vs. pickup rates.

Cute puppy videos, we know, will always do well—but what about articles on government corruption, the homeless and the environment? Not quite as exciting, sure, but so very necessary.

I have no answers, just a commitment to strong journalism and compelling stories, whatever the topic. I just hope our readers will continue to dig in deep with us.