(The press) It's the only business protected by the Constitution of the United States (N. Hickey/ Columbia Journalism Review)
The concentration of media ownership in a few hands has come at the price of commitment to public service. (Eugene Patterson, former editor of St. Petersburg Times, and Washington Post (WSJ)
(In the newspaper business) What we're doing is commiserating with ourselves about the difficulty of getting young people, but you can't turn your back on the fact that 80% of our revenue comes from advertisers, who demand the $50,000-a-year readers."(Conrad Fink, professor at University of Georgia in Athens.)
A recent survey showed only 27% said they look forward to reading their newspaper each day, compared with 42% in 1985 (A. H. Neuharth, Founder of USA Today and The Freedom Forum)
LET's experiment. Step one: get a newspaper and throw away all but 20 pages. That done, now imagine a MUSEA No-Ad Newspaper in your hands. What would it look like? First note its size. Handy huh? Easy to fold and carry. That's because there are no ads- NONE -ZIP -ZERO -NADA! Not only does that eliminate a lot of space in the paper but a lot of space in the newspaper offices (no classified ad staffs, no advertising dept., no salesmen, no etc.) and it gets rid of a lot of pressure on the news staff to slant news to get advertisers dollars. Imagine, if you will, all that is GONE. How does the paper feel in your hands- lighter?- more moral?- more interesting?
PAGE 1: It's the first thing the reader sees and it has got to grab you - not with gimmicks but with news you want to know right away. There's a column of summaries of all the major news stories; then the weather, major scores, upcoming big events-such as tours, concerts, holiday celebrations, games, etc.; and finally some 1st rate photos or artwork. Eye candy is alright if you've got hard news to back it up (we do). And if you're going to put photos in a newspaper, why not extraordinary ones (most newspaper photos are terrible.) Oh and look at the newspaper title at the top. In front of the name "WORLD NEWS" it says "THE MONDAY & FRIDAY World News. That's because it's not a daily newspaper (no one has time for that), it's a twice weekly - once on Monday to cover your week ahead and once on Friday to bring in the weekend.
PAGE 2: This begins the World News in depth sections. The entire page is devoted to news of EUROPE, all the latest hard news (with an occasional feature at the bottom here and in all the sections).
PAGE 3: All the news of the continent of ASIA.
PAGE 4: All the news of the English speaking countries of England, Canada, and Australia.
PACE 5. All the news of Mexico, Central & South America.
PAGE 6: All the news of AFRICA (and when there's room a special entire world story/feature at the bottom of this page to round out the world section.
PAGE 7: Begins the NATIONAL NEWS. The U.S. is divided into 6 sections. Page 7 has The Northeast, and Mid Atlantic U.S. 8. Great Lakes, and the Southern U.S.
PAGE 9: Plains & Mountain States, and the West Coast. (State news of Texas would be here.)
PAGE 10-11: Cover the local hard news. These 2 pages are divided into neighborhoods. Dallas would include sections such as Downtown Dallas (this would include city and county politics), North Dallas, South Dallas, East Dallas, West Dallas, suburbs, and Fort Worth and other towns in and around the Metroplex.
PAGE 12: Covers Sports (with a lot more news and a lot less commentary.
PAGE 13: Science and Technology. A full page of the latest discoveries in both pure and applied science.
PAGE 14-15: 2 full pages of Art coverage- but not limited to fine arts. The coverage of art is broad here and might include a feature about an artist, an art history article, coverage of crafts, an occasional essay on art education, cartoons, fine art photos, a photo or painting reproduction, and any and all things about the minor arts from cooking and gardening to interior design and house repair and decorating. Also fashion, history, travel, etc.
PAGE 16-17: Business and Labor News. Note this section is NOT limited to big business, but covers the full gamut of business from workers and mom & pop stores, up to the biggest conglomerate. (Stock quotes? Maybe, maybe not - let the readers decide. This paper is for them)
PAGE 18: Federal Government News (the state, county and local news is covered in their respective sections.) This page goes into detail on all the ins and outs of Congress/The Executive Branch/The Supreme Court. And it hits them hard with news of what they're doing or not doing for us on a day-by-day basis.
PAGE 19: IS FOR KIDS. (Teens are old enough to read the rest of the paper and it now covers issues that are important to them- so this section is specifically designed for young children under 12, plus any family issues) It might include: fun comics, games, puzzles, fiction, poems, essays, features, kids artwork, anything that'd interest (but not sell to) young children. Also something they could share with their parents and have fun together.
PAGE 20: BACK COVER. This is reserved for OPINIONS! OPINIONS! OPINIONS! First some tough take-a-real-stand editorials and their opposite viewpoints; then name a hero, name a villain (what's hurting who in our community) section; media criticism (this MUST be there); political cartoons; 8 different THINKING columnists (remember the World News has 8 issues each month) one each issue, one section on original thinking and thinkers that presents unusual or forward thinking thoughts to the community; etc. etc. (Also this section covers Religion and Philosophy.)
Also there are some pages that AREN'T in the paper. Upon request any reader can receive a DETAILED copy of the paper's intent: what it stands for and against, its ethical code of behavior, bios of the section editors and columnists, how to get in touch with us (this is also in each issue); plus a complete financial statement of where the money comes from and goes: costs, profits, etc. This builds trust with the readers, and trust makes or breaks a newspaper.
Well there you are. Now THAT'S a NEWSPAPER! And ask yourself these questions; would this type of paper interest you? Would you get a lot out of it? Would it be worth 25-50 cents per issue?
And would it be fun reading a real NEWSPAPER again. We think so, but what do you think? Write us and let us know what you think about our No-Ad Newspaper idea. Who knows it just might be the blueprint for the paper of the future! THANKS FOR READING MUSEA!