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Tuesday, 10 April 2007 18:32 |
By JOHN NORTH
Jeffrey P. Green, president and publisher of the Asheville Citizen-Times, fielded numerous questions ó many of them critical ó about recent changes in his newspaperís format to an ultra-local emphasis, following his March 30 address on ìThe Future of Newspapersî at UNC Ashevilleís Reuter Center.
A woman asked, ìAre syndicated columnists a big part of your budget? It seems like youíve cut backî on them.
ìItís really not a budget-driven decision,î Green replied. ìWeíve gone with mostly local columns on our opinion pagesî because that is what readers in surveys say they prefer.
As for ìthe syndicated column issue,î another woman said that she
previously lived in Winston-Salem, where ìsix or eightî syndicated
columns were published per day in the local daily, the Winston-Salem
Journal, which she did not name. That paper provided ìan
across-the-boardî spectrum of opinions from knowledgeable writers and
thinkers. In contrast, ìfor the last three days, Iíve counted oneî
syndicated political column published in the AC-T, she said. ìI read
with interest the local writers, but I donít trust them ó and they
donít know anything.î The crowd enthusiastically applauded her
assertions.
ìThere may be a market of people who have moved to this area for whom
my paper may not be sophisticated enough,î Green answered evenly.
Yet another woman asserted, ìIím curious about the demographics of your
general readership and how it compares with those in this room ... We
still like the hard copy.î
ìItís really a hard decisionî to radically change the AC-T, Green said
in response. ìOne idea Iím playing with is doing a once-a-week section
of world news ... You have to realize that the population of those who
read syndicated columns is in constant decline.î
The publisher then noted that ìthe demographics of the print product
is, increasingly, (age) 45-plus, and the demographics of the online
tend to be 15 years younger ... So thereís a fairly significant
difference between the demographics of the two products.î
A man questioned Green about ìthe responsibilities of the mass media
... You tell me which stories get the biggest ëhits.í Maybe the media
ought to upgradeî its standards to provide readers with substantive
news that they need to know in order to be responsible citizens in an
ever-complex world.
ìThe flip answer is that ëresponsibilityí doesnít guarantee paychecks
for my shareholders and employees,î Green replied. ìI do think
newspapers have certain unique responsibilities ... Iíll leave it to
The New York Times to worry about the rest of the country.î
Following several more critical comments and questions about changes in
the AC-T, including an alleged lack of investigative reporting, Green
took a broader approach.
He noted that, before he joined the paper, ìThe Citizen-Times had five
years of declining advertising and circulation ó and the newspaper was
down about 60 people from its peakî in total employees.
In a similar scenario, many executives would further trim their staffs,
but Green said, ìIím not going that way. Weíre going to grow our way
out of the product.
ìMy background is sales and marketing ... Iíve mainly been in the
business side of newspapers ... Now that weíre increasing our return,
putting money back into investigative reporting is a priority.î
A man then asked, ìYouíve got 90 papers in your chain ó how do you
reconcile a unique market like Asheville? Weíve got two distinct groups
here.î
ìItís like Sodom and Gomorrah ó youíve got a very liberal city of
highly educated people and outside, a very conservative, traditional
group,î Green replied. ìThere might even be an argument that we need to
have two newspapers to put out two versions of the paper to serve the
market.î
A man queried, ìHow are you going to grow your newspapers out of the Internet side?î
ìWeíre 8 percent, while the national average is 5 percent,î so the AC-T
already is in the vanguard of papers with Internet ad sales, Green
said. With increased sales emphasis in the future, he said, the
Internet sales percentage will rise steadily.
A woman asked, ìWould you care to make a comparison between the
Mountain Xpress (a local weekly paper) and the Citizen-Timesî in
editorial slant and other aspects?
ìThe Mountain Xpress is very focused on city and county government.
Itís an unusual mix for an alternative publication. Sensing that, Iíve
refocused our Take 5 productî and beefed it up to compete in
entertainment and leisure coverage, Green said.
ìFrom a business perspective, I think the Mountain Xpress left a hole
open and we jumped into it. From a political perspective, I havenít
been able to discern their political slantî so far.
Regarding the Internet version of the AC-T, a woman said, ìI spend
enough time in front of a computer ó I donít want to spend more time on
it. I like a newspaper.î
Nodding, Green said, ìWeíre a declining breed. My 16-year-old daughter
is all-electronic. She carries around her laptop (computer) everywhere.
The only thing she reads is the Take 5 Street Edition. She asks me to
bring that home.î
Speaking personally, Green added, ìI care very much about having a
print product. I very much believe, at least for the immediate future,
the print product will survive.î
When a man ó again ó asked Green about his responsibilities as a
publisher and wondered if the Gannett chain would order him to take
certain editorial stances, Green said Gannett encourages editorial
independence among its papers. ìOn the flip side, if I took a very
unpopular psoition editorially that upset the community, Iíd probaby be
fired.î
He later added, ìIím far more likely to lose my job over financial performance than over any editorial position I take.î
In summing up his viewpoint on the issue, Green said, ìI see my role,
to some extent, as to reflect (via the AC-T) what my audience is.î
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