More awards the Enquirer didn't win
The 73rd annual National Headliner Awards; the first name in each category is the winner, and the other names are finalists. The Lexington Herald-Leader won in the spot news category for its coverage of the crash of Comair Flight 5191 in August (a story that the Enquirer attempted to cover), and also won for sports photography. The Cleveland Plain Dealer won for illustrative graphics and was a finalist in two photography categories and for health/medical/science writing. The Louisville Courier-Journal was a finalist for business coverage, the Dayton Daily News was a finalist for illustrative graphics. The Enquirer, of course, got goose eggs. Note also that the competition is open to TV and radio, and no local station won any awards.
posted by Newsache at 10:48 AM
15 Comments:
I listened to a speech from a former congressman where he preached how bad the Republicans are in communicating there message to their base and to the public, and how the public does not know anything about what the republicans got done in the 109th congress. And while he was going on about the issues that the Republicans got done, he was also talking about the "earmarks". He explained to the conservative crowd, that "earmarks are les than one tenth of a percent of the federal budget" witch is a stunning fact that makes me wonder why this is the concern of our time in the conservative community.
As he finished his speech, I walked up to him and told him "Mr. Congressman, I might be wrong but I recall reading an article in the Wall St. Journal, about an official in CO criticizing an earmark that Sen. Allard (R-CO) inserted in a spending bill, saying that it takes away the money the State gets from the federal government." So I asked the Hon. Congressman "Is it true that when a congressman or senator inserts an earmark in a spending bill, he does not raise spending? That he just takes away the liberty from one bureaucrat to decide how to spend the money and decides himself where the money should go?"
The answer was yes.
So if earmarks do not raise spending and it's not more then one tenth of one percent of the budget, why is there so much noise about it?
Because we do not communicate, and nobody amongst us is aware of the facts. We have to start communicating, and shouldn't be afraid that someone will slam us, because if you fight back, you have a chance of winning, and if you don’t fight you don’t even have a chance of winning.
Most of the Pulitzer nominees have also been leaked to Editor and Publisher, none for the Enquirer there either. Of course, the Pulitzer is a tad unobtainable... but it's ALWAYS going to be unobtainable unless the Enquirer allows it's writers to be more passionate and edgier.
Note this is a conservative talking. More passion and edge from both sides would improve things dramatically.
One of the likely winners this year is the Hartford Courant, which is a smaller newspaper than the Enquirer. Writers names are on the Pulitzers, but it takes an entire organization committed to quality to win national awards. The Enquirer lacks that commitment.
The Enquirer is committed .... to a geographical arc of mostly well-off, better educated females who live generally north of the city -- its target demographic. If I was a male (of any race) I'd be ticked off at being marginalized, and piegonholed for sports coverage. Almost religious in its pursuit of this "market," the newspaper has dumbed down its coverage to the point that insiders say rebellion in the newsroom, long brewing, is headed for an explosion under the latest management structure. And why not? You win Pulitzer Prizes with reporting that impacts the community -- like exposing horrible public policy or scandalous business practices, not by trumpeting the latest sale at Kroger/Meijer/Remke (pick one) or when Girl Scout cookies will be on sale. There is a place for that, I guess, but where is the hard-hitting, edgy reporting that can make a real difference?
If indeed that is what Gannett is after, then why don't they just go after the the high purchasing female population north of Cincy and leave newspapering to people who like newspapering for the people who like receiving newspapers and traditionally organized news and information?
Or, is it that people are complacent and accept getting get less and less from their newspaper--either in print or online? If circulation is truly growing for the Enquirer, haven't they proved the case because the majority isn't married females 35-42 living north?
Maybe it is a fable now but I recall a Christmas note a couple years ago from the Publisher to all Enquirer employees. It went something like this: "If you don't want to work hard and you don't want to change then maybe you should consider getting out of the newspaper business."
Should Gannett take MS. Buchanan's holiday advice and get out of the newspaper business?
Or, could it be that the "target demo" is a substantial but tiny bit of buying power compared to ALL the rest of the population that Gannett and the rest of us that Enquirer ignores? AND those ignored ones ARE a profit center?
IS the Enquirer putting a gargantuan spin on the truth?
Should Gannett read the 2004 holiday letter to Enquirer employees and apply it to themselves? Get the fuck out of newspapers and ernst/analysed information if that is not what you want to do.
Simple.
BTW: To Nasty, Brutish & Short: This is the first time I agreed with what you had to say. Note that this is a liberal, free-thinker talking...
What I want to know is... who is the "Hawaiian Hottie" the whistleblower keeps referring too?
Just need the context...
Hey Enquirer: You all suck!
Heard over and over is that cities without major sports teams don't do well in media awards. So, Lexington got it without professional sports.
Is there an excuse for Cincinnati?
Uh, maybe because the plane didn't crash here? This obsession with awards is high school letter-ish. As are becoming some of the commentors. Hey Enquirer, you suck? What profound literary criticism. As we noted last week this started as a credible, thoughful site and it's joined the likes of WLW and The Beacon in its shallow Enquirer-bashing. Newsache, please get back on track. We need you. But not at this level.
OK. Define what level that the Enquirer CAN be better.
Then, go about doing it.
We are waiting... what do you need, a plane crash?!?
Until then, the Enquirer sucks and there is no excuse.
Here's some problems with the Enquirer: look at the major story in Saturday's paper, high end car dealers providing those waiting for their cars to be repaired with massages and wi-fi? That's a front page story? Even on a Saturday there's no way that's a front page story.
Look in Sunday's paper and there are several articles that were reported on by the New York Times and others earlier in the week. The article on page A21 (Itching to know about the louse) was originally reported on March 8. The article on page A22 (Drugs for Anemia Get FDA Warning) was originally reported on March 9. The Page A2 article (How much is the family pet worth to you?) also was from March 9.
The point is most of the wire service material found in the Enquirer is several days old.
Look at today's sports section and the headline on C11: UC Clermont men win national title. The game must have been played yesterday (March 10) when Clermont defeated Penn State-DuBois 81-72. Nope. Game was played March 3. Yup, a week ago! And the sad part is the Enquirer never mentioned when the game was played in their article so readers were misled into believing the game was yesterday. I'm lost on why the Enquirer not only failed to report on a game for a week but also why they completely missed the timely reporting of a local college's national championship.
As others have pointed out, the Enquirer consistently misses the boat on important local news coverage and fails to deliver timely national news that can be found in most other newspapers or on the web.
And, while I'm on my soapbox, can I say how much I really dislike the importance that the Enquirer gives to what the "man/woman on the street thinks". Isn't this what the Letters to the Editor is for? Look at A10 today. I don't care whether eight people from Butler County say where they're from! Look at E-1 and comments on the sunshine laws. If I want to hear from other folks what they think about things I'll ask them. The Enquirer apparently wants their reporters spending more time asking the man/woman on the street their opinion than seeking meaningful opinion from experts. That's not reporting.
Though the Comair crash was in Lexington, the Enquirer treated it like a local event because Comair is based here. And remember that the Louisville Courier-Journal won Pulitzers for coverage of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire and the Carrolton bus crash, both of which were in the Enquirer's back yard.
Stop the presses!!! What would we do without the Enquirer alerting us to their front page, above the fold story in Monday's paper (March 12th): "Malls Keeping Longer Hours". With this kind of journalism, a Pulitzer can't be too far away!
Hey, what's your problem with longer hours at SOME malls (note also that some stores said the idea didn't make financial sense for them and at least a couple of anchors aren't going along)? Don't you just jump out of bed on the weekend in a rush to get to the mall?
Actually, there is some news in this if you think of the continuing competitive exploitation of the shop-until-you-drop crowd in the Enquirer's target-rich areas north of the city and to some extent in Northern Kentucky. Of course, how many malls is too many and when is the term "sprawl" going to be attached to the development taking place at every interstate off-ramp, and when will the Enquirer take a critical look at this?
But the real question, is what's a story like this doing on Page 1?
Next up: Expect a story from the rats who build so-called lifestyle malls that have sprouted all over the area, demanding equal time on their latest "innovation." Perhaps they'll go to 24-hour operation, like ... egad ... Wal-Mart.
"A healthy newspaper helps a town's economy and makes for better politics. It's like exercise is for your body. Bad things happen to towns with bad journalism — or no paper." - Project for Excellence in Journalism director Tom Rosenstiel
wheeze, cough
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