Newspapers Fail to Keep Public Informed
Proposed Health Care Reforms Buried in Back Pages
Jun 15, 2009
While there are a variety of reasons that newspapers are closing in many cities in the United States, among them is their poor job of keeping the public informed with articles that effect their lives.
A recent example is when President Obama announced a government-run, government owned health insurance provision in the health-care reform bill being discussed in Congress. Only one newspaper placed the story in a prominent place and expanded the AP-wire story for further clarification.
The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angles Times put the story on the front page of the paper. Titled "Insurance mandate on table", the 933-word article covered Obama's openness to the idea that the government would require that most Americans get medical insurance. The article went into great detail his determination to offer a government-run healthcare plan as an alternative to private insurance that was contained in a letter to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
USA Today
USA Today, with the largest circulation in the nation, placed the 724 word article, an AP-wire story on page four with the title "Obama plan would provide health care for all."
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal, the second most widely circulated U.S. paper, put the story on page four in an article titled “Obama Shifts on Coverage Mandate.” It at least showed that Obama’s letter to the two senators contradicted the stance he took during his campaign against presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2008.
The New York Times
The New York Times ran an 804-word story under the title “Obama Urges Quick Action By Senators On Insurance,” which was published on page 16.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post story was placed on page four of Section A, a 606-word story titled “A Move Toward Requiring Health Coverage; In Letter to Senate Democrats, Obama Suggests Hardship Waiver for the Poor,” It did not even mention that it would be a government-run program until the end of the article.
The circulation of these newspapers, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation is that USA is the leading U.S. newspaper with a weekday circulation of 2,113,725; The Wall Street Journal has a circulation of 2,082,189; The New York Times daily circulation is 1,039,031; the Los Angeles Times circulation 723,181; the Washington Post circulation is 655,383.
U.S. newspapers are losing circulation faster than ever, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which reported that average sales of newspapers declined 7.1 percent in the October-March period from the same six-month span in 2007-08. The comparison is drawn from 395 daily U.S. newspapers that reported in both periods. The New York Post was hit hardest, with its weekday circulation plunging more than 20 percent, or about 144,000 copies, to 558,140.
However all of these newspapers are experiencing downturns in circulation that started in the 1990's and continue today. Circulation has been decreasing at the rate of 4.6% percent during the last year. The result has been the closing of many newspapers perhaps because of the loss of focus of keeping the reading public informed about news that affects their daily lives.
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