As I read Swensen’s article “News You Can Endow” in The New York Times, all I could think about was Nelson Poynter. Poynter was one of America’s most visionary publishers of the 20th Century. He thought that his newspaper’s vast profits (in the 1970s) should be put to good use, so he turned over the profits of his St. Petersburg Times to a worthy cause: creating an educational institution where journalists from everywhere could come to perfect their craft. We know that place today as The Poynter Institute for Media Studies-—that one place in the sun that I am very proud to be associated with since 1984 in a variety of roles.
Poynter would smile today if he read Swensen’s proposal: to treat newspapers like we do colleges and universities, to turn them into non-profit organizations, to provide them with endowments that would allow them to continue doing what they can do best——to report news objectively, to be watchdogs protecting the interests of the rest of us.
By endowing our most valued sources of news we would free them from the strictures of an obsolete business model and offer them a permanent place in society, like that of America’s colleges and universities. Endowments would transform newspapers into unshakable fixtures of American life, with greater stability and enhanced independence that would allow them to serve the public good more effectively.
Why not? If we can come to the rescue of banks and automobile manufacturers, why not do the same for newspapers, which represent institutions in their communities, not to mention that they are also sources of employment for many. In a world increasingly populated by citizen journalists where everyone is a writer, a photographer, a videographer or commentator, it makes sense to protect the place where “professional journalists” trained to report the news, to analyze it, and to present it objectively, can thrive and continue to practice their craft.
Endowments to newspapers—-like those of colleges and universities—-should not come easy, another good thing about this idea. Not all newspapers deserve to survive, in the same manner that not all banks and car makers deserve to be thrown life lines. In fact, yesterday, during an interview for a media magazine in Sweden, a journalist asked me: How many of the daily newspapers of today do you think will be around ten years from now? “Out of 100, perhaps 65 or so,” was my answer. Let the endowments that Swensen suggests go to those that need to be preserved.
Endowed newspapers will have to pay greater attention to the way they conduct business, something that can be extremely helpful in allowing publishers to review what they do, to learn new methods and to be able to survive commercially in a 24/7 multiplatform media world.
Let the endowments begin.
For complete article by David Swensen and Michael Schmidt:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/opinion/28swensen.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=DAVID%20SWENSEN&st=cse
Related, of special interest:
– USA: Online newspaper readership climbs 16 percent
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10150884-93.html
– USA: Who Says 2008 Was a Washout? Here Are 10 Papers That Bucked the
Trends
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003935035
– @ SIIA: Pearson CEO Scardino: The Right Media Business Model? Think
More ‘Ralph Lauren’ Less ‘NYT’
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-siia-looking-for-the-right-media-business-model-more-ralph-lauren-than-/
– USA: How the New York Times Can Thrive Without Profits
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/01/27/how-the-new-york-times-can-thrive-without-profits
– New Kindle Coming Feb. 9?
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-kindle-2-coming-february-9/
The Pink Lady
Mention the color pink and immediately images pour into our heads: The Pink Ladies from the classic musical Grease (remember Frenchy and her friends?), or rosé Veuve Clicquot champagne, or the pink panther. In newspapers, the closest we come is to the “pink pages” of the Financial Times and a variety of other financial dailies worldwide. Those are more like “peach pages” to me, but readers always refer to those as “pink newspapers”. In Miami, a “pink newspaper” may be one that favors Castro and communism (those were the days!)
So now, my dear friend, colleague and ultimate color diva, Pegie Stark Adam, reminds us that pink may be the color of the season, even before spring arrives. She tells us that it is all in the pink as she discussed that shade during a radio interview in Canada. According to Pegie, the host of the show wanted her to concentrate on pink, so she did. You can go here to listen to Pegie’s pink musings: www.cbc.ca/thecurrent
Ron Reason chimes in to remind us that PINK rules the day in the new MAC cosmetic campaign featuring Dame Edna
Go to the website and scroll down for the official photos:
http://www.temptalia.com/mac-cosmetics-dame-edna-official-pictures-photos
Pass the butter—-and the silicone pack——please
And, in the “are you sure you are not embellishing department?”, here is a little memorable moment from my dinner in Stockholm last night:
“Sit here, Mario,” my dining companion instructed me courteously last night as we entered the busy-with-a-million-conversations room of the Erik Gondolen restaurant. “You will have a better view of the city, “ he said.
I sat down, and, indeed, the view of old Stockholm below was breathtaking, including a side view of the Grand Hotel, where legend has it that Greta Garbo filmed some scenes for the movie of the same title. The champagne arrived, and the friendly waitress pointed out the best on the menu——the fresh oysters, the grilled angler with risotto and the ending of vanilla ice cream with warm berries compote, marvelous.
I was barely into my second oyster when, suddenly, an animated guest sitting at the table directly across from me, produced a silicone pack, in the shape of a breast, yes, and passed it around for all to see. While my two dining companions continued our conversation, I fixed my eyes on this man in the fashionable tan jacket, white shirt and white hanky protruding from his pocket.
He spoke English with an American accent, dominated the conversation at his table of about 8 people, and, of course, he had their attention——and mine.
One of those ephemeral moments that leave you full of questions: was this one a plastic surgeon making a pitch?
Was he discussing the upcoming surgery of the pretty blonde woman sitting across from him? Could he not have waited to show the tools of his trade till he got to the office? Isn’t a good thing that this man (doctor?) does not specialize in penile enlargements?
Sad thing is I will never know.
All about Erik Gondolen’s restaurant in Stockholm:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/stockholm/D34248.html
To read TheRodrigoFino blog, in Spanish, go:
https://garciamedia.com/latinamerica/blog/
Mario is on the SJ train X2000 from Stockholm to Goteborg—-a winter wonderland picture out of my window. Next stop: Goteborg.
TheMarioBlog posting #189