The newspaper business 50 years later

Though it's a milestone that will appropriately go unnoticed, I started my first "real" job at this newspaper 50 years ago this week.

I was a 15-year-old kid with absolutely no experience yet somehow survived through the sweltering heat and the "brotherhood" of a newspaper family.

That first real summer job -- complete with an actual paycheck -- would be the start of a longtime love affair with ink and deadlines and the chance to be on the front row of some exciting times.

On occasions such as these, you become aware of the many changes in this business over the past half century.

It's boring for most people, but the mechanical changes and the actual manner in which newspapers are produced today was unheard of in the summer of '63.

Computers -- you must remember -- didn't arrive on our scene for another 20 years or so. And even then, that technology is today worthy only of a museum.

But clearly the most radical change in the past 50 years is the public's perception of the newspaper business and the blurred lines between news and opinion.

Those two changes are much more critical than the bells and whistles that are employed today to simply produce the newspaper you now hold in your hands.

In fact, as many of you will be reading this online instead of holding a sheet of newsprint in your hands.

We small newspaper folk blame the large urban papers for portraying opinion as news and we have ample evidence to prove our point.

Opinion belongs on the opinion pages and news belongs on the news pages.

But tell that to The New York Times or The Washington Post.

And that stealth combination of news and opinion results in lost trust from the public when it comes to the newspaper industry.

I don't mean to bite the hand that feeds me, but the public should view some newspapers' coverage with a jaundiced eye.

The death of the newspaper industry has long been predicted. But don't believe it!

Smaller newspapers who serve their communities honestly and accurately are flourishing. The everyday comings and goings are still the bedrock of this industry.

Larger newspapers are a separate category and their stock is faltering. They want to blame technology, device competition and a whole host of issues.

But the truth is our larger brethren have lost their way when they try to shape events instead of reporting events.

I'm unable to sum up briefly what 50 years in this business means.

But this much I do know: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That's not a lot to learn in 50 years. But then again, I'm a slow learner.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.