Assignment #2: Newspapers Then-and-Now

Response due Tuesday, 10/9, in class
(response will be submitted as a worksheet with attached print-outs of newspapers, as explained below)

NOTE: Highlighting denotes a change that was made to these directions on 10/4

Analysts have described newspapers and journalism as being in a state of "crisis." Many newspapers across the country have shut down, stopped publishing print editions, or conducted layoffs. Some folks point to competition from the Internet and anemic ad sales during the recession as explanations for these circumstances. John Nichols and Bob McChesney contend that newspapers haven't helped themselves out either.



 As these authors explain:

[T]he economic downturn did not cause the crisis in journalism; nor did the Internet. The economic collapse and Internet have greatly accentuated and accelerated a process that can be traced back to the 1970s, when corporate ownership and consolidation of newspapers took off. It was then that managers began to balance their books and to satisfy the demand from investors for ever-increasing returns by cutting journalists and shutting news bureaus. Go back and read a daily newspaper published in a medium-size American city in the 1960s, and you will be awed by the rich mix of international, national and local news coverage and by the frequency with which "outsiders"--civil rights campaigners, antiwar activists and consumer advocates like Ralph Nader--ended up on the front page.

For this assignment we'll evaluate these authors' claim: that cost-cutting from the 1970s to the present contributed to the problems newspapers face today. How can we do that, though? Revenue and expenditure reports can be difficult to get out hands on. We do have access to newspapers' content, though, and we can make inferences about their investments in newsgathering and reporting by looking at this content. To do this, we'll compare contemporary issues of the San Bernardino Sun and Los Angeles Times to issues from these papers in 1968. If your last name starts with A-I, you'll look at issues from the San Bernardino Sun. If your last name starts with J-Z, you'll look at issues from the Los Angeles Times.

To figure out which specific issues you're going to examine, select and locate a date of your choice on the 2012 calendar up to this point. If I were to select my birthday--May 23rd--I'd then determine on what day of the week and month that date fell during 2012. By looking at this calendar, I can see that May 23rd was the fourth Wednesday in May this year. Then I'd go to this calendar and find out what date the fourth Wednesday in May fell on in 1968. As you can see, the fourth Wednesday in May in 1968 was May 22nd. For this assignment, then, I would compare the 5/22/1968 and 5/23/2012 issues of the San Bernardino Sun (since my last name begins with "C"). Looking at issues in this way ensures that we're not comparing a Sunday paper (which tends to be quite large) with a Wednesday paper (which tends to be smaller).

To complete this assignment, you'll need to first get ahold of these issues. I've scheduled for a librarian to take us through the steps for accessing and examining these newspapers on Thursday. You're welcome to look at any version of the 2012 issue that is available to you (e.g., print, microfilm, page pdfs). My only requirement, though, is that you be able to see every page of that issue as it was laid out in the print edition. In other words, just going to the latimes.com website is unacceptable for this project. For the 1968 issue, you'll need to use microfilm, which our librarian will show us how to use on Thursday.  you'll need to print the front page "above the fold," with the issue date visible for both the 1968 and 2012 issues.

With access to one issue from 2012 and one issue from 1968, you'll then print and complete this worksheet, referring to your newspaper issues as necessary. Most of the items in this worksheet need no explanation, such as the number of pages in the Sports section. Others are a little less clear, so please read the following carefully:

Item: # of 1/4 pages with ads only in "A" section

Explanation: Look at each page in the "A" section. Then, think about each page having four quadrants.

 

If an entire quadrant of a page is made up of ads (i.e., there is NO editorial copy or pictures), then that quadrant would count as 1 toward the total tally for this item. For the following example, then, the left-hand page would count as 4 toward the tally for this item. The right-hand page would only count as one, though, because just the lower-right quadrant is made up of ads only.

Item: # of editorial photos in "A" section

Explanation: Count every photo that is not part of an ad as 1 toward the total tally for this item. If you have trouble distinguishing whether a photo is an editorial photo or an ad, look for a caption below the photo that reads like it was written by the paper to help make sense of the photo for the reader. Do NOT count cartoons, diagrams, or graphs toward this item's tally.

Item: # of articles in "A" with 8+ paragraphs

Explanation: Look at each article in the "A" section and determine if the copy (the text) for that article eight (8) or more paragraphs. A paragraph, for our purposes, is every time a new indentation is made in an article. It doesn't matter how many sentences are in the paragraph--the paragraph might be two or ten sentences long. What matters is that a new indentation has been made.

Keep in mind that some articles may continue on the next column to the right or on another page. If the article continues elsewhere, does it, in whole, still amount to 8 or more paragraphs? If so, you'll need to count that article toward this tally.

Item: # of wire service articles in "A" w/ 8+ paragraphs

Explanation: For our purposes, a wire service article is an article that is written by a news organization other than the newspaper that it is published in. Newspapers purchase or subscribe to the articles from wire services such as the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), Reuters, and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Articles by wire services will typically identify the wire service in the article's "by line" -- the line at the top of the article that identifies who the article was written by. For our purposes here, we will consider articles republished from other newspapers (like the New York Times) as "wire service" articles. Indeed, if there's any indication in the byline that the article was written by a news organization other than the Los Angeles Times or San Bernardino Sun, consider that article a "wire service" articles for this assignment. If an article is 8 or more paragraphs long and is written by a wire service (as we've just defined them), then count that article toward tally for this item.

Item: # of international news articles in "A" w/ 8+ paragraphs

Explanation: If, in your assessment, a news article is primarily about the people and goings-on in another county, consider that article an "international" news article. An international news article, by this definition, may mention the U.S. or specific Americans; however, if, in your assessment, the article is primarily about another country, consider it "international" news. Count any international news articles in section A with 8 or more paragraphs toward your tally for this item.

Item: # of soft news articles in "A" w/ 8+ paragraphs

Explanation: Our author explains that "soft news" is "the kind of story that newsworkers feel may not have the critical importance of hard news, but nevertheless would appeal to a substantial number of people in the audience." Whereas "hard news" has to be reported immediately, journalists can write "soft news" days ahead of time for publication whenever the editor sees fit. Celebrity profiles, reviews of local businesses, and how-to articles are all good examples of "soft news." Count any international news articles in section A with 8 or more paragraphs toward your tally for this item.

Submitting this assignment:

On Tuesday, 10/9, you will come to class with this worksheet complete. You will also bring printed paper copies of:

1. The front page "above the fold" from both year's with the issue date visible.
2. An example of a 1/4 page ad from either issue
3. An example of an editorial photo from either issue
4. An example of a wire service article from either issue
5. An example of an international news article from either issue
6. An example of a soft new article from either issue

I've just provided you with extensive directions; however, if you thoroughly familiarize yourselves with the definitions above, this assignment should not take very long at all to complete.

Please let me know if you have any questions concerning this assignment.