Comments on: Less News is bad news

By: Concerned Citizen/Citizen Will

Concerned Citizen/Citizen Will — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 04:27:28 +0000

Whither the media? Recent national, regional and local gaffs……

National:

Newsweek, in their Oct. 2nd issue lead story “The Rise of Jihadistan” reports on Afghanistan’s continuing “reversal of fortunes”:

Jabar Shilghari, one of Ghazni’s members of Parliament, is appalled by hi…

By: BrianR

BrianR — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:25:08 +0000

Thanks for writing this. Like Anglico it means a lot coming from someone who was involved with the CHN.

So what are we going to do about it? How can a local “paper” be reinvented here in Chapel Hill? I can think of few people more qualified to do it than you. Just let me know how I can help.

By: kmr

kmr — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 22:13:51 +0000

I liked Fred a lot and not just because he taught me how to invest in mutual funds in the late 1980s. No, it wasn’t so much Fred as it was DJ uppers who thought they had a paper that would fit in with the Ottaway chain. It didn’t and they didn’t have a plan B that made any sense to them beyond the free idea. So they bailed. Fred did make the paper more local as did Lee Campbell and they deserve cred for that.

By: George Entenman

George Entenman — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 19:42:48 +0000

While I agree that the CHN has seriously declined in quality, I don’t agree with your accessment of the Dow Jones management. I assume that Fred Zimmerman was part of that management, and I think he made the paper more local again. I really liked the changes he made and wish he were back.

By: Anglico

Anglico — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 18:48:30 +0000

Thanks for the email link. Here’s my note:

Dear Mr. Quarles.

What on earth is going on with your newspaper? It’s like the wheels are falling off … and a once-admired institution is devolving into a parody of itself.

Your editorial page is good for maybe one strong opinion a month, if that. Your political reporters carry water for Art Pope and the John Locke Puppetshow nearly every day. You have a staff columnist who recycles right wing talking points from the Carolina Journal as often as not. And now you’re selling the front page of what used the be the only decent paper in Chapel Hill.

I know, I know, these are “economic decisions.” Of course they are. They’re the natural consequence of the decisions your company has made. This is what happens when a newspaper goes from standing for something to standing for nothing in the course of a couple of years.

I subscribed to your paper for 20 years. I was an intensely loyal customer. And now I am so far gone, you couldn’t pay me to read the paper again.

I recently asked readers at BlueNC.com why they subscribed to the N&O still. There was only one answer: the comics.

Get a new editorial page editor.
Rededicate your organization to excellence and objectivity in political reporting.
Stop pandering to rightwing think tanks.
Stand for something.

That’s what it’ll take to get me back.

By: WillR

WillR — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:26:56 +0000

I know I’ve brought the quality down. While the CHN is sending Lisa to Madison, I don’t expect the N&O to share her insights.

Though an N&O subscriber (hey, the comics), I usually consume the CHN and N&O via the Internet. The N&O archives went silent years ago – when the CHN followed recently I realized hat the one niche for growth – intensively localized reporting deployed via the ‘net – was never going to happen.

It’s a shame because the CHN still has the chops – if the N&O would just set them free.

By: kmr

kmr — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:08:29 +0000

Yeah, it’s sad to see. The CHN used to be a really fun, informative read. These days, the Tar Heel does a much better job of covering the news in the town.
In his front-page note to the readers, Mr. Quarles asks that anyone with a comment about the ads can email him a oquarles@newsobserver.com or call him at 829-4649.

By: Anglico

Anglico — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 16:48:39 +0000

I’m glad to see this point of view coming from someone who knows whereof he speaks. As an outsider, the whole situation has looked like a slow motion implosion with NO redeeming value.