Cohen: "The name of this newspaper is the Houston Chronicle...."
In the January 2008 Texas Monthly, Paul Burka writes about reductions in the size of the Austin press corps. His story includes snippets of a conversation with Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen:
I called Jeff Cohen, the editor of the Chronicle, to ask him about the reduction in the paper’s coverage, including the layoffs at the Hearst bureau. “I don’t feel bad about having only six reporters covering the Capitol,” he said. “Texas Monthly only has one in Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city. The name of this newspaper is the Houston Chronicle, not the ‘Austin Chronicle.’ We often put Austin stories on the front page in session and out of session when they relate to the leadership or they involve watchdog reporting.” A lot of political stories, he said, can be covered with local reporters, such as a recent piece on the unfulfilled promise of electric deregulation. He acknowledged the financial pressures newspapers face: “Advertisers are unsure about where to spend their dollars in a fragmented media marketplace. That will resolve itself eventually, but in the meantime there’s a pressure to cut costs.”
In the long term, my concern, like Jefferson’s, is government without newspapers. How will people in Brownsville and Harlingen and McAllen know what they’re not reading about what’s happening in state government? They won’t. How will Speaker Tom Craddick’s claims to absolute power affect legislative races around the state if the media don’t remind the public of the controversy? Beyond these questions lies another: Will there still be newspapers—or newspaper readers—in the digital age?
Jeff Cohen says yes. “Chronicle home delivery is up,” he told me. “We’ve sold more college subscriptions in Austin, College Station, and Waco in each of the last three years. As long as there are informed and educated readers, there will be a place for newspapers.
So, how much better might the Chronicle be able to cover the Houston area AND Texas if the newspaper were to shutter its expensive (and ineffectual) Washington bureau and redeploy some of the resources to local and regional coverage?
We agree with Cohen that yes, the newspaper's base is the Houston area, and that means it should focus on Houston. Most people don't pick up the Chronicle to see what its stellar D.C. bureau is reporting. But they do pick it up to see what's going on in the area (and for coupons!). And if the Chron is truly selling more subscriptions in Austin, College Station, and Waco, then it suggests the newspaper should be broadening its regional/state coverage, not cutting it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/02/08 10:22 AM | Print |
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