Advice to Editors p.

By: Debra Gersh

Seymour Topping discusses newspapers' strengths and weaknesses
THE DAWN OF the '90s was a rude awakening for many newspapers that had enjoyed the profits and positioning of the industry in the 1980s, according to Seymour Topping, director of editorial development at the New York Times Co.
While "America's newspapers are burdened with some uncertainty and apprehension about their future," Topping said he believes that the industry can look forward with confidence "if, as editors and publishers, we engage skillfully with the challenges of the rapidly evolving communications world and aggressively seize the opportunities offered us in the new era."
Erosion of marketplace position, competitive pressures, changing reader lifestyles, loss of young readers and the recession led to an "edge of panic" that seeped through the industry "with the dawn of the '90s," said Topping, immediate past president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, during the group's annual conference.
"The initial response of many business executives was one of gloom, insecurity and cost-cutting," he explained. "Some allowed the quality of their newspapers to decline, and concerns about the decline in advertising sometimes impinged on journalistic content. Too few publishers manifested the enterprise to explore fresh approaches to our business."
Although redesigns made many newspapers "more inviting and accessible," Topping criticized those redesigns that "strayed to gimmickry" and indiscriminately splashed color, using graphics for decoration rather than substance.
He expressed further disapproval over stories that "were abbreviated so that no brain would be overly burdened" and hard news space that was given over disproportionately to entertainment and service material.
"Some newspapers took on the cast of still-life television," Topping noted.
"Today, we are undergoing a transition in the newspaper industry, both journalistically and as a business," he continued.
"We see a new vein of dynamism in our industry as publishers confront the competitive realities of the '90s and seek fresh approaches.
"Journalistically, our newspaper pages increasingly reflect the sobering-up of the American people after the excesses of the '80s. In their intellectual life, in their culture, politics and in dealing with the economy, Americans have become intent upon finding solutions to the dysfunctioning of their society," Topping commented.
Part of what has spurred editors, Topping noted, is the "evident public disillusionment with the press. This bypass syndrome is a symptom of public impatience . . . .
"It is time for newspapers, rather than suffering discouragement in the face of this bypass tendency, to recognize that they are being presented with a historic opportunity to enhance their role in American life," Topping stated.
"Television may be the prime source for breaking spot news, but no medium is better equipped than newspapers for analysis and serious discussion of the rectification of our society," he said.
"Through public service, by setting the community agenda, newspapers can secure recognition as indispensable institutions.
"We are being challenged to reach out and earn that recognition through enterprise reporting in our news columns, by grappling with the central issues on our editorial pages and ? most important ? opening our newspapers to far broader reader participation," Topping said.
"The people are demanding to be heard. We must listen and record their voices, and not solely through polling statistics. Let us provide the forums in which they can fully articulate their demands for political and social betterment."
Topping applauded newspaper groups that have invested in research and development of new technology, and he reminded the group that commercial intrusion into news will only hurt the integrity of the product, risking "loss of reader trust in the total content of a newspaper.
"Investment in news gathering, product development and better subscriber services will be determining factors in the scramble to attract readers and advertisers," Topping said. "Shoddy products will not sell in our increasingly sophisticated society, whether we are talking about refrigerators or newspapers."
Reaching all segments of the community, including non-readers, also is a key to survival, according to Topping.
"Good business as well as public service dictate that we reach out to all of these marginal and non-readers effectively," he said, noting that one solution is to hire more minorities and women "to help in revitalizing content."
"The winning newspapers will be those which deploy their resources effectively to serve the evolving needs of our increasingly diverse communities," Topping added. "Enterprising leadership will make the difference. As editors and publishers, let us face the future with confidence, knowing we can shape it."