The Plain Dealer, Women and the Future of Print Media

This is a copy of a rebuttal I made to legendary Cleveland journalist Roldo Bartimole on an article he submitted today to The Cleveland Leader website. I believe his analysis in the article is spot-on, even if I am not 100% in agreement with where he is coming from.

To read the balance of his article, along with his replies, please go to this link:

www.clevelandleader.com/node/9067#comment-30509

His article isn't so much about the overall dearth of women in journalism as it is about a newspaper whose future is very much in flux from the emergent electronic media and the blogosphere that is growing daily and has all the potential in the world to drown out the opinion of the print media worldwide.

Give this a read:

We may need more women editors in the world. But, in the grand scheme of the shrinking world of print journalism, Susan Goldberg's attitude is out of line.

We don't just need good female editors...we need good editors, period. Playing the sex card doesn't add up to a hill of beans anymore. You can either do the job or you can't. Judging from the product being turned out from East 21st and Superior lately, she has lots of work to do.

The electronic, non-paper media is NOT going away. The Plain Dealer is dying...slowly and surely. So, Ms. Goldberg's offense to Mr. Ettore's statement isn't going to do a shred of good for women in the world of print journalism anytime soon.

Choosing Betsy Sullivan was a good move for the PD editorial page. She has paid her dues on the street and, if she is left to do her job, she should improve the content of the PD op/ed page.

However, if she can't stand up to Brent Larkin he will have every chance to sabotage her aims and goals for the PD op/ed. Brent Larkin knows what he is doing and is just arrogant enough to put a dagger in the heart of those who would question his motives. If Betsy Sullivan can't stand up to him, her standing at the PD will be largely ceremonial.

And that's where the PD is right now. The old guard at the paper has been entrenched for some time, but is now pulling back the reins. The comparative youth movement at the PD is welcome, but needs to be steadfast in putting their own signature on what they believe to be the direction of Cleveland and the surrounding region and need to report without lording over from the old guard.

If the PD is to remain relevant, it will need to focus on directing opinion to a new paradigm: not standing for the way things have been done for generations with the carcasses of business and political failure strewn across the city. If Cleveland is to improve, the powers that be need to be challenged and pushed not wined dined and gushed over like they were holy Roman emperors. We know the results of their "work" and they are hardly worth the adulation.

The blogosphere and the e-media will be competing for the ad dollar fairly soon. And, since the market isn't growing, the competition will be fierce from those who have a realistic and logical business model.

The PD has to change or be left in the dust if they are to remain relevant in the new world of information gathering and dissemination. They have the clout and reputation. But is the PD just as likely to rest on laurels and milk its reputation?

I'm sure the bloggers and the newly emergent e-media are banking on that stance from the PD.