They are fired up over at One Tribune Place these days. After rumors of the printed paper’s demise (exacerbated by people who deliver the St. Pete Times), Editor Janet Coats and President/Publisher Denise Palmer came out firing. Check the story in Sunday’s VIEWS section – This Newspaper Is Fighting Back.
But instead of telling us what the plans are to ensure the survival of the newspaper, the two gals in charge chose to:
This is just sad.
It’s not “fighting back,” it’s defending the status quo!
I know they are feeling stressed out. As they mention, the industry itself is in quite a quagmire. The Tribune has been holding off the St. Pete Times for decades, but now finds itself under attack by possibly millions of competitors (found on a website, television, radio, or billboard near you). Death by a thousand cuts, I think it’s called.
But this response just goes to show that those in charge of the Tribune are really not made up of what you might call “leadership quality.”
First of all, as Wayne Garcia points out, the fact that the Editor signed off on this piece of marketing spin in itself shows the mind set of the leader of the News division.
But why did she sign off on it? Janet Coats doesn’t even really believe that the Tribune is here to stay. Chuck Welch is reminding all of us that she was recently quoted saying “The truth is that The Tampa Tribune is an add on to TBO.”
(By the way, it looks like Eric Deggans, media critic of the St. Pete Times is not gonna get in the middle of this.)
But no matter, let’s look at what they are telling us.
“Oh, woe is me! Things are difficult!” is not a plan to revive a dying business, it is feeling sorry for yourself.
“You have us confused with someone else” is not addressing the concerns, but ignoring them.
“Well, So-and-So is worse!” is not an explanation, it’s a six-year-old’s response to getting caught doing something stupid. Ex Tribune writer Billy Townsend says it’s the first time he’s ever seen a newspaper attack another newspaper like this.
Fortunately, they do finally get around to mentioning their value to you and your neighbors.
Without the reporting of the Tribune’s Baird Helgeson, this community would have no idea about the issues at Lowry Park Zoo — one of Tampa’s gems — that led the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to suspend the zoo’s accreditation a week ago.
Without the reporting of the Tribune’s Lindsay Peterson, the state’s questionable financial dealings with CSX would have not received the scrutiny they warranted and your tax dollars would have been misused.
Stories about financial issues at Without Walls church, the ongoing foreclosure crisis, problems in the state’s My Safe Florida Home hurricane protection program, National Football League veterans plagued by drug abuse — all of these are investigative stories the Tribune reported this year.
Our partnership with News Channel 8 and TBO.com has expanded the reach of our journalism, giving our readers stories about cracks in the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, a toxic plume in Pinellas County and databases that allow readers to learn which teachers have earned National Board certification.
But notice: Of the 1,250 word promise to maintain the status quo, only about 200 or so are devoted to the TRUE value that The Tampa Tribune news division offers her readers.
Reading this denial is like digging through a pile of garbage to find a small bit of treasure down at the bottom. Hardly seems worth it.
Put another way, maybe it’s like digging through an average of 74 “news items” a day, and coming up with only NINE storylines worth mentioning for the entire year of 2008.
In any case, it sounds like the story’s Sub Hed is right; The Tribune Isn’t Going Anywhere.
Clyde
1 year ago
NINE stories all year?? In this target-rich environment they could be doing at least one a week! Florida is the no. 1 state for corruption (per Florida Trend, or as they spin it, no. 14 on the basis of population)and this is the best they can do?? They could just focus on political corruption and have all they could handle. But wait; to judge by the content of the paper, Tampans care only about sports so maybe that wouldn’t work either. Sigh. Give it up, Tribune.
Mike
1 year ago
The Titanic is sinking and Janet Coats is busy rearranging people’s desks. Is she such a good flirt that the guys in Richmond can’t see what she’s done to the Tribune?
dreaming
1 year ago
rod blagojevich thinks he’s not going anywhere either.
Ed
1 year ago
The Trib has issues, and every paper in the country does as well. Meanwhile no on onoline will pay for content and while Ad-sales are not able to support news. So what is the future?
Anonymous
1 year ago
The Tampa Tribune needs to go quietly (or not) into the night. It’s been propping up the status quo practically since it’s inception and the paper is now irrelevant.
Die already!
Scott Gunsaullus
1 year ago
Has anyone recently had problems accessing the Tribune website and/or TBO.com? All of my links to recent stories seem to be broken.
John
1 year ago
The problem with your statement is that it describes the Tribune but not all online media. Some niche market sites and blogs do WELL with ad revenue. Some. Not all. Expecting an online site that is hyper local to Hillsborough and Tampa to do well with online advertising is foolish — and that’s what the Tribune wants if they consider the Tribune to be an arm of TBo — because the Tribune caters mostly to one county and one city. Shallow net cast because of it.
Anonymous
1 year ago
The Tribune threw in the towel years ago, and has always suffered from bad management with kneejerk reactions. Outsourcing the advertising art dept. to India was just one of many bad decisions.
Still There
1 year ago
Where in the world is Kurt Loft during a crisis when you need him?