[MGP-Forum Announce] Ownership type matters less than greed

[Kay Berenson]

I'd like to suggest that the discussion on type of media ownership as it 
affects journalistic values is somewhat off the mark.  A variety of issues 
dictate what type of ownership structure might work best, especially for a 
new media venture.  But those issues, I believe, have more to do with 
legal, tax and funding source questions than with the impact on journalism.

As someone who's spent more than 20 years working for daily newspapers, 
I've seen a variety of ownership models. I've been fortunate to work for 
great family owners, but I've also seen a variety of bad ones. Some did not 
want to invest in the papers they owned.  Some used their paper to carry 
out personal agendas and promote political or other causes. I've  seen 
great papers run by large companies, as well as truly bad papers run by 
large companies. I've had less experience with non-profit ownership but 
have had extensive experience at reporting on non-profits and at reviewing 
non-profit performance through United Way board positions.  Being 
non-profit does not necessarily insure holiness when it comes to 
journalism, or any other enterprise, as a number of those in this 
discussion have pointed out.
  Newspaper owners who are greedy for dollars or  hungry for political or 
personal power are bad for journalism. It doesn't matter whether those 
greedy owners are family companies, big corporations or directors of not 
for profit boards.
What we should be focused on is how to get owners, no matter who they are, 
refocused on the value to them, as well as to their communities, of 
providing quality journalism.
In the old days, it was an article of faith at most newspapers that solid 
reporting was required to make a news organization work, and pay 
off.  Somehow too many owners of all types seem to have  forgotten that. 
Some companies that now own newspapers operate as if they'd bought a 
Starbucks franchise, stopped serving coffee because it cost too much and 
now don't understand why customers are not lining up to buy lukewarm water. 
For a while, some of them got away with the cost cutting, because their hot 
water was the only game in town. It's not likely to be so now.  We ought to 
be talking about how to spread that message and get media owners back into 
serving up hot, freshly brewed reporting to their communities. Based on 
what I heard at MGP this summer, I think lots of communities are getting 
desperate for the brew.
Kay Berenson