Newspapers are sooo lame, says columnist

By: Dave Astor When the widely syndicated Kathleen Parker recently wrote a column saying newspapers are boring, did she worry about biting the hand that feeds her? "I never worry about who I'm going to offend, because I'm always offending somebody," she replies. "People who read my column presumably want to hear my point of view, not a bedtime story."

Parker did receive numerous e-mails about her June 23 commentary, including about 200 messages from former and current journalists. Virtually all of them agreed with her.

"The only two dissenting letters were from editors I know at smaller, independent papers," says Parker, whose Orlando Sentinel column is syndicated by Tribune Media Services to some 300 clients, none of which canceled after the piece. Another 50 or so readers from the general public also e-mailed Parker with their praise.

In the column, Parker wrote: "Let me be blunt. Newspapers bite. The work isn't much fun anymore, thanks to the soul-snatching corporate culture that has euthanized newsroom personalities. Most papers reflect that numbers-crunching, cubicle-hunkering mentality. We're boring, predictable, staid, and out of touch with the folks with quarters."

Parker says one reflection of the way many papers have lost their edge is the 50% reduction in staff cartoonists in recent years. "Heaven forbid we should allow anything as controversial and evocative as a political cartoon," she comments. "People might get excited, start talking, laugh out loud, and tell their friends!"

A possible solution to boring newspapers? "If you want an interesting newspaper, you have to hire interesting people and leave them alone," Parker tells E&P. That, she says, means writers should be allowed to be irreverent even at the risk of hurting someone's feelings. "Chances are pretty good that if no one is offended, no one is reading."

Parker adds that many readers, before they pick up a newspaper, already know the latest headlines from the Web or other media outlets. So newspapers need to differentiate themselves by offering fine, thoughtful writing. "Television tells the what; we get to tell the why," she says. Offering better pay to attract and keep great writers wouldn't hurt the cause of increasing readership, Parker adds.

Also, Parker says journalists need to be more aware of the concerns of their readers. "I think a lot of newspapers reflect what reporters want to read, not what the community wants to read," she observes. "We're the choir singing to ourselves."

Parker ? described as a "maverick conservative" by her syndicate ? became a Sentinel columnist in 1987 after writing for dailies in California, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina. She lives in South Carolina, but lately has been spending half her time in Washington, D.C. Residing partly in the nation's capital has been helpful for an opinion columnist who writes about politics (as well as family, gender, and other topics). "I have greater access to people and events I want to cover," says Parker, who entered syndication in 1995. "I like doing my own live, on-site reporting. I always see something different than what I read elsewhere when I show up."

But Parker feels she still maintains an independent, beyond-the-Beltway voice. "I will not change my outsider perspective," she says. "I'm too old to be seduced by politicians!" Parker adds: "I try to see through the eyes of the people I write for. If I become too much of an insider, I lose my niche. And I don't sleep well at night."

Unlike many other columnists with a large readership, Parker makes few television appearances. "I have no interest in being a celebrity journalist," she says. "I turn down TV offers most of the time." She does make many radio appearances.

Despite her belief that newspapers could be more interesting, Parker is thrilled to be a syndicated columnist. "I consider myself enormously lucky to have this forum," she says. "In addition to the obvious rewards of participating in the debates of the day, writing a column has saved me a fortune in therapy!"