Posted on 01/09/2005 6:41:39 PM PST by Pikamax
Hi, Why Did You Drop My Paper? By ANNA BAHNEY
ournalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer began the new year in proper fashion, by working the phones. But some senior editors were not calling sources. They were calling readers.
On Thursday, a handful of top editors, including the executive editor, Amanda Bennett, began making personal phone calls to former subscribers, many of whom dropped the paper this year after The Inquirer ran a series of editorials favoring John F. Kerry for president.
"If the people I call say, 'Yes, I was mad at your editorial,' then the next thing I say is, 'Would you like to come in and talk about it?' " Ms. Bennett said.
The Inquirer's election coverage included a daily editorial page series called "21 Reasons to Elect Kerry" that began on Oct. 10 and ran to Election Day, addressing different aspects of Mr. Kerry's proposed policies. That feature was paired each day with an op-ed piece highlighting President Bush's policies and record on the same issue.
"I am sure we lost subscribers in the fall, given the intensity of emotions of this election and given the scrutiny of the media," said Chris Satullo, the editorial page editor. "We did our job rather forcefully in supporting Kerry, and that only raised the stakes."
Last week, the paper's circulation department came up with a list of a couple of hundred people who had canceled during the election cycle and had not been contacted. The list was divided among editors and editorial board members - each with 15 or 20 names - and they began calling.
It is too early in the dialing process to present any results or plans for future discourse, Mr. Satullo said. But he said that he relished the dialogue with readers, adding that he tried to steer them away from using the terms "bias" and "objectivity."
"Those terms have been drained of any stable meaning," he said. ANNA BAHNEY
Hey Liberal Media, meet the free marketplace! Hurts don't it?
No such thing as bias anymore!
Dan Rather is off the hook!
Do they teach "stupid" in journalism school or is it an entry requirement?
If they were Catholics, this would be called penance for their sins. I can't imagine they are enjoying this demeaning chore.
I think it's pretty funny.
I didn't know "I have a plan" was in and of itself a viable plan. I guess the Inquirer did... along with different, and better.
Yes.
I love it! Journal News here in westchester fawns over hillary clinton so much that they blatantly omitted her campaign finance directors 4 count indictment today. I only hope that we can teach them a lesson the same way those Philly enquirer subscibers did. this is the new battle paradigm folks... hit them over the internet, expose them for what they are, discredit the papers & hold them accountable for their actions (or inactions in clinton's case)
Yeah, right, Satullo. You were last seen writing this moronic column that implicitly called for the death of President Bush:
Read it and weep. Maybe they should make a special offer to potential subscribers in Germany and France.
"a list of a couple of hundred people who had canceled during the election cycle and had not been contacted"
Multiple ways to read this. If--as is likely--the paper had MANY more than 200 who canceled--this could be a waffle phrase to save the ad rates which drop when circulation drops. If there were only a couple of hundred who cancelled, (again that is very likely NOT the truth) then we need to help people understand that if we continue supporting these partisan media they will continue propagandizing...on OUR dime.
I note that the Exec. Ed. merely invited people to take THEIR time to travel and come to HER office....any FOOL that does will be used as cannon fodder for their future "objective" posturing....
We were given the task of destroying Bush's campaign. We wanted to influence the election, and get a left-wing extremist into the Whitehouse -- we just never expected it to have an impact on our circulation.
The newspaper he works for should shrivel and die. He should be fired. And anywhere else that he applies for a job should reject him on the spot, given his black-death history in publishing. Of course, his wife should leave him, his children turn against him, and if I were really hostile, I'd hope to poison his well and shoot his dog. But I like dogs.
Congressman Billybob
I'm surprised the media isn't crying censorship the way the Hollywierd leftists did when people started boycotting their movies.
I write a little topical radio comedy service, but I think I make far more effort to insure that the news set-ups to my jokes are objective and impartial than does anyone at CBS, the NY Times, et al. Since they find it impossible even to grasp the concept of bias, if Peter Jennings would like, I'd be happy to go through his news script every night before airtime with a blue pencil and remove the bias, which to me practically leaps out of the TV screen.
I don't think it's an entry requirement, but it is a prerequisite for graduation. If you weren't when you arrived, you will be, before they allow you to graduate.
A St. Pete Times dialer called last night and asked if I want to subscribe to their newspaper. I told the lady to give me a second to ask my parrot. She stayed on the line a good two minutes.
5.56mm
I dropped the ultra liberal San Jose Mercury News over a year ago. I had subscribed to it for over 30 years. I now get all my news from the Internet.
Psalm 109, esp. v. 5-19.
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