NEWSPAPERS PROVIDE DIARY OF HAPPENINGS IN A COMMUNITY

The newspaper is in all literalness the bible of democracy, the book out of which a people determines its conduct. It is the only serious book most people read. It is the only book they read everyday.

Walter Lippmann

Liberty and the News

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As the Pittsburgh daily newspaper strike stretches into weeks it's become a nightmare where many used to take the benefits of a newspaper for granted.

"You would think that government officials and politicians would find this (lack of local newspapers) to be a free in, but it's not. When you're involved in city government, you depend on the newspapers to analyze and distribute information about city programs. It has affected the way we advertise jobs, contracts and put things out for bids. Television and radio have become more active, but what we don't have is anything that resembles an in-depth analysis of issues, especially in this, an election year." People can pick up national news through The New York Times or other large papers, he notes, but local issues -- including the senate and congressional races -- and local color are missing.

The quintessential summer pursuit, baseball, is also feeling the repercussions of the strike. Pittsburgh Pirates attendance is significantly lower than last year--despite the team's current top ranking in the National League East division. "As of May 17, we were 60,000 ahead of last year's attendance; two months later we find ourselves 100,000 behind last year's pace," notes Steven Greenberg, vice president of marketing and operations for the Pirates.

"We've been unable to create the level of enthusiasm and excitement about baseball that we have in the past. Whether the articles in the newspaper are positive or negative, they create excitement about the game of baseball. Without that constant daily reporting of games, we're missing that. In addition, we're missing the updated statistics, and that's an integral part of baseball," he explains. "The newspaper is unique and we're lacking that daily exposure."

"Nobody is happy with the situation. We're all doing poorer business than we would if the newspapers were in business," says Buck Favorini, producing director of the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, a summer series now in its thirteenth year. The strike started two days before the company's season started.

"We're especially hard hit at the Shakespeare Festival. We have an audience of readers. When they're deciding what to do on the weekend, they don't turn on the radio or television, they pick up the newspaper and obviously they've been unable to do that," says Favorini, who estimates a loss of at least $30,000 in sales so far.

For the business community, this strike is the latest in a series of misfortunes, each of which affected a slightly different niche, says Jacques Kahn, executive director of three major business associations, including the downtown merchants' Golden Triangle Association. First came the recession, then a transit strike, then an unusually cold spring which slowed clothing sales, and now a newspaper strike that makes it more difficult for retailers to get out their message. Of all categories, perhaps florists have been hit the hardest. The funeral business is the core of many a florist and without daily death notices and obituaries, fewer people are sending floral arrangements.

Al Gollin, who has studied newspaper strikes as vice president and director of research for the Newspaper Association of America, was quoted in USA Today as saying a newspaper strike is "like a bolt of lightning that suddenly illuminates the landscape of readers' interests and commitments."

Also hard hit are groups that rely on classified ads -- such as residential property owners, tenants, job seekers and companies looking for help -- points out political scientist Erik Devereux, of the Heinz School of Public Policy and the Management at Carnegie Mellon University. "There's no easy way to look for jobs or to find an apartment," he says. ... Newspaper and Technology.

We're happy to report that all of our family newspapers are alive and well and we keep investing more resources in an effort to make them better for you, our readers and advertisers. Thanks for your continued support and help.

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For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

Rudyard Kipling

Law of the Jungle

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The following letter was sent this week to U.S. Senatorial Candidates CHRISTOPHER "KIT" BOND and GERI ROTHMAN-SEROT. Also candidates for Governor MEL CARNAHAN and BILL WEBSTER.

Dear--------:

As part of its coverage of the 1992 campaign, the Southeast Missourian is again inviting candidates in for individual sessions with our editorial board. We would like you to be a part of this process.

These sessions typically last no longer than an hour, are tape-recorded and usually are published with questions and responses in verbatim format in the Southeast Missourian. In the course of this dialogue, we hope to clearly define for our readers the issues of this campaign and where you stand with regard to them. Your opponent is being given the same invitation.

It might interest you to know the reach of this session is broader than just the readership in the Cape Girardeau area. The Southeast Missourian participates in a news-sharing arrangement with other daily newspapers in the Bootheel, including sister publications in Poplar Bluff, Dexter and Kennett and the daily newspaper in Sikeston. While the news products at these publications are managed autonomously, the interviews will be made available to those editors for consideration.

Our timetable for these sessions is relatively loose, though we would like to schedule no interviews after October 23. Hopefully, within the context of campaign travels to this part of the state, you can arrange a time to meet with us.

I look forward to hearing from your campaign staff to schedule this session.

Best wishes,

Ken Newton, Editor

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This has been a campaign tradition of ours for the last 6 years ... 5 or more people from our newspaper take part in the interview, and we pride ourselves on the comments for objectivity of those previously interviewed.

We will be running news stories and background data on ALL of the candidates and issues of which there are many this year.

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Democracy is cumbersome, slow and inefficient, but in due time, the voice of the people will be heard and their latent wisdom will prevail.

Attributed to Thomas Jefferson

The NEW RUSH LIMBAUGH T.V. show starts Monday night at 12:05 (really Tuesday a.m.). This will force me and many others to learn how to program our VCRs or change our life styles. Personally I like to get up between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. Six hours of sleep is all I need and I probably function better early a.m. on business or thought issues ... but RUSH, I gotta see.

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