Summary: Steve
Rose, Chairman of Sun Publications, says he hates the new design of the Kansas
City Star, but says the paper is trying to attract a younger demographic.
Rose says the Star is in "survivor mode...but it probably is hopeless."
IT'S PROBABLY HOPELESS...
Steve Rose, 6/22/06
The new design of The Kansas City Star is stunning.
I just happen to hate it.
And if I hate it, you probably hate it, because traditional newspaper readers
don't like all the busy graphics and wrap-around type and mega-banners. We don't
want to see a photo on the front take up half the page, leaving little room for
news. We don't like tidbit stories that are brief little popcorn bites. We don't
like it when columnists are started in the middle of the page, causing readers
to jump to read the rest. We just want the news delivered plain and simple and
in-depth.
But then, The Star didn't have us in mind when the redesign was formulated. We
are captive audiences, because we need our daily newspaper fix, even if we have
to hunt all around the crazy color scheme to find the stories. We can moan and
groan all we want, but The Star considers us oldies the secure base, while they
are desperate to connect to the future readers, if they can.
It is rumored by reliable sources that The Kansas City Star is the most
profitable newspaper in the Knight Ridder chain, which was just sold to
McClatchy Newspapers.
So the reasonable question might be, why would a cash cow make what are perhaps
the most radical changes of any metropolitan newspaper in America?
The answer is, the most profitable newspaper has the most to lose. The Star
looks at their current readership and sees the frightening numbers: The median
age of a reader is probably in the early 50s. When The Star looks at the lack of
subscribers in the 20s and 30s, and even into the 40s, they must feel panic.
The next generations either will never read newspapers or newspapers will have
to change dramatically to lure them in.
So, don't blame The Star for ruining our daily newspaper. They are in a survival
mode. They believe if they can make their newspaper look like a television set,
younger readers will tune them in.
Since I am not at The Star, and was not sitting around the table when they
decided to change radically, I am in a position to say the unthinkable that no
one dare say at that meeting and get away with it.
The Star can try everything, but it probably is hopeless.
These younger non-newspaper readers are not just turning away from newspapers.
They are tuned out of all news. Study after study confirms the younger set do
not get their news from network television. They do not tune in to CNN, Fox, or
MSNBC. They do not spend much time reading news on the Internet, either.
The upcoming generations don't care about world news; they don't care about
national news; they don't care about local news. They just simply don't care.
They do not vote, either.
What is at stake here is not just the future of newspapers. What is at stake is
the future of democracy.
The premise behind democracy - which may be flawed - is that people would care
and stay informed. With the upcoming generations, that is not happening.
The Star can transform itself into the most beautiful, titillating product
imaginable and personally hand a copy, free, to every young soul in the
metropolitan area every day. My strong hunch is they would toss it in the trash
and go back to listening to their iPods and watching their DVDs.