Posted on Sun, Aug. 24, 2008

STAR-TELEGRAM: The paper and the business changes but the commitment remains the same

The greatest compliment paid to any newspaper occurs when readers refer to it as "my paper."

That kind of identification and relationship can’t be bought. It is earned through years of consistently providing quality information that is useful and relevant.

It’s why the avalanche of letters, e-mails, Jeers and phone messages that bemoan and berate the recent changes at the Star-Telegram are, in an admittedly perverse way, heartening.

People care about what’s happening to their hometown paper.

When viewed from the outside, "the paper" is a monolithic institution. From the inside, it’s the newsroom, advertising, circulation, production, marketing, maintenance and customer service — and the scores of employees who make those departments work in harmony to bring people information when they want it and how they want it.

For more than a century, the Star-Telegram has stood as a guardian of the people’s right to know, a champion of the important community initiatives and a challenger to those who would attempt wrongdoing.

The company has written checks and provided news space and committed volunteers in support of too many nonprofit organizations and social causes to count.

The ability of this newspaper to remain the vital institution it has been in North Texas since Amon Carter founded it in 1906 is shaken, but definitely not crushed. The situation in Fort Worth isn’t unique; every U.S. media company, be it family-owned or a national conglomerate, is wrestling with the realities of the new media environment and a downturn in the economy that has traditional advertisers sitting on their wallets.

In fact, more people are accessing Star-Telegram content than ever before when you count the eyeballs reading the paper-paper and those seeing our ever-expanding and innovative online offerings.

While the industry works to find the right prescription for its future — which will have to include a way to make the online "product" generate a higher percentage of revenue — what won’t change is the Star-Telegram’s commitment to providing quality: in journalism, in service to readers, in advertising, in support of the community.

A free and vigorous press is crucial to a community’s well-being. The Star-Telegram has served as the means to coalesce Tarrant County residents around issues as diverse as saving parkland to improving healthcare delivery to adopting a plan to end chronic homelessness.

Consumers of information have myriad outlets for national and international news and opinion, but no one — NO ONE — cares about Fort Worth and its surroundings like we do. We will find a way to not only survive but thrive.

In the short term, we need our beloved readers to be patient as we endeavor to find the business model for the 21st century.

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone ended a tirade about the changes at the paper by saying, "Amon Carter is spinning in his grave." I’d take the voluntary separation package and spend the rest of my days as a volunteer for the local causes that inflame my passion — veterans, the homeless and adult learners.

Few industries today are conducting business the same way they did 10 years ago, much less 100 years ago. Technologies change, and the Star-Telegram is not immune to those seismic shifts.

But it is a misperception among cynics that the only thing that matters is selling newspapers and that we’ll do whatever we can, however deplorable, to that end. That’s not what motivates the journalists and photographers who daily strive to tell compelling stories through words and images.

If I sound defensive, maybe I am a tad. Being chewed raw by folks who think decisions to cut jobs are made callously or cavalierly disrespects a 100-year history of professionalism and credibility and commitment to this community.

The Star-Telegram has an established track record of bringing together the elected and the elite with the advocate and the intellectual to share ideas and tackle issues that stood in the way of our community’s progress. We’ve written stories and columns that shine a light on injustice and celebrate our collective successes.

That’s not just our history. It is the key to our future.