Ask Chris Harte
Your questions, his answers.
As the August issue of Twin Cities Business went to press, a July 1 story in the Star Tribune reported that the newspaper is withholding payment from some creditors as it restructures its debt. Though Publisher Chris Harte says the Strib has the means to meet its obligations, the restructuring is a reminder that newspapers generally have deteriorating balance sheets. What will become of the Star Tribune and others? Do we need print newspapers, and how should they serve readers?
Here, Harte answers TCB reader questions about those issues. An investor in the Star Tribune and a member of the executive advisory board of Avista Capital Partners, the New York private equity firm that bought the newspaper for $530 million in February 2007, Harte became chairman of the Star Tribune at that time, and publisher last September.
I read the newspaper every day. I also find myself to be a dinosaur in that respect. My wife reads portions of the paper on line. Our kids never look at the newspaper (they are all college educated and in the work force). My questions: How do you stay viable in this current market? And what will you look like in 5 or 10 years? —Steve Clark
CH: The way we stay viable is to acknowledge that what is going on in your household is fairly common these days. The Star Tribune has by far the largest and best-trained newsgathering force in the Twin Cities, and we have to leverage this core competency over multiple print and digital channels of distribution.
Ten years from now, there will still be a strong print newspaper. But our cost pressures and readers’ time pressures will continue to change the newspaper—which has survived the introduction of radio, television, cable, and now the Internet, despite those who long ago predicted it wouldn’t.
Why should I subscribe to a newspaper when I can access all the news I need on line? —Dee Anne Thom
CH: I don’t view the print newspaper and Startribune.com or other online news sites as mutually exclusive. Some newspaper readers don’t use news sites. Some Startribune.com readers don’t read the print newspaper. But hundreds of thousands do what I do, which is use both at different times and for different purposes. For me, a cup of coffee outside with the Star Tribune on a beautiful day can’t be beat by any online experience!
In a tighter capital market, how are you squeezing more value out of the Star Tribune acquisition? Are you able to realize synergies with this deal in the form of cost savings or other efficiencies that will be passed down to the consumers? —Steve Sapletal
CH: We are constantly reducing costs in this economic climate, and trying to do as much of it as we can in ways that won’t be noticeable to readers or advertisers, or will affect the fewest readers possible. If your question is whether we will be lowering the price of the paper, the answer is no. But the price the consumer pays is already heavily subsidized by advertisers, who provide 80 percent of our revenue.
I see the largest demographic of the newspaper is people 50 and older. Why not reformat the entire paper to this demographic, perhaps setting a precedent for the industry?—Terry Nichols
CH: The 50-plus demographic represents slightly less than 50 percent of our newspaper audience. We don’t think it would be a good business decision to write the other 50 percent off. Bluntly, advertisers generally are trying to reach younger, not older demographics. As someone who is well over 50 myself, I’m not necessarily happy about that. But it is a reality of our business. Our best business model for now is to try to balance everyone’s needs. I hope in the not-too-distant future we can produce more products directly aimed at specific demographic groups.
Has the value of an independent press fallen over the last decade or so because so much more of the news is canned and distributed by those creating it? Why isn’t there more of a demand for an independent press? —Margie R. Bodas
CH: I’m not sure I fully understand your question. There have never been more sources of news in our society than there are today. For every merger, there are several new voices starting up. The Star Tribune is as independent as it’s ever been. All our news decisions are made right here.
Given the ever-diminishing number of paid jobs in journalism, should students be encouraged to study journalism in college? —Christy Dammen
CH: You should study journalism if it’s your passion. Jobs ebb and flow in all professions, and while traditional journalism jobs are on the decline, there is an explosion of information businesses, especially on the Internet. If you want to be in the information business, a degree in journalism is as good a way to gain entry as it has been at newspapers.
There also is and has been a healthy debate about whether you need a journalism degree to be a good journalist. A strong base in English, history, science, and other disciplines can be every bit as good.
There is a strong sentiment by many Star Tribune readers that the reporting (let alone the editorials) has a distinctly liberal leaning. Is it the Internet and other news sources stealing away readers, or are readers being driven to more balanced sources? —Todd Caughey
CH: That’s a loaded question! The Star Tribune works hard to get balance in its news coverage. Most readers want it that way, and our total audience, print and on line, continues to grow.
Many readers think the paper is liberal and others believe it is a mouthpiece for business interests. Neither is the case, but readers should judge each story and edition for fairness, balance, and completeness, and make their own judgment. Many Web sites and blogs are far more likely than a good daily newspaper to provide just one point of view. One of the things I fear most with the explosion of blogs is that more and more people are getting just the viewpoints they already agree with and seldom, if ever, reading anything that might make them rethink their views.
Why does your newspaper have to editorialize outside the editorial and opinion pages? —Alan Tenenholtz
CH: With the exception of our columnists and pieces clearly marked as commentary, you should not see the opinions of reporters or editors reflected in news coverage. I hope you will write to our editor, Nancy Barnes, and me when you think we fail at that. Reporters do often need to go beyond the immediate details and give other facts to provide perspective, but that needs to be in a balanced way, and I believe our reporters and editors achieve that goal most of the time.
Like many newspapers, your editorial page represents only one viewpoint, which is very liberal. Wouldn’t readers be better served by having a liberal and a conservative team of opinion writers covering local and national issues? These teams could respond to one another, which could lead to increased quality of reasoning on the part of both, and offer a new and innovative form of journalism. —Cedric Long
CH: I don’t think it would be the best use of our scarce resources. In addition, many issues don’t split neatly into liberal and conservative views, so we might need more than two groups!
Our editorial board is made up of individuals with different backgrounds, interests, and beliefs. The board, including Editorial Page Editor Scott Gillespie and me (no one from our newsroom participates in editorial-page decisions) discusses the issues and usually does additional reporting on them.
We believe we should take a clear editorial-page stand on major issues, focusing on local, state, and regional issues where we have more expertise than any other news medium. We do this not to preach some sort of dogma, but rather to contribute to public debate.
We work hard to make sure that our editorials and the columns by national and local writers that appear on the Op-Ed page provide a wide diversity of opinions; we want the majority of columns on subjects that we’ve written editorials about to take a different position than our editorials. Our readers are plenty smart enough to make up their own minds, and our most important job is to provide a variety of opinion.
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