Press on

Most seasoned and respected/or and self-proclaimed journalists and other media arbiters of conventional wisdom have used their respective pulpits to pontificate on the President’s speechy-thingy before Congress where he talked about stuff HE knows and YOU know we can’t afford or don’t need or don’t want, or, hell, don’t even understand.

And that’s not anything new with Obama. All Presidents do it. And the political party Kool-Aid slurpers wrapped in good suits sitting before the President hoop and holler not about the Presidential declarations, but in the knowledge of the power of incumbency. These enablers of the status quo relish in the comfort of doing little but extend the umbrella of big government and expand debt for the static Joe.

But this particular website real estate is rarely reserved for anything seasoned or respected or smelling of conventional wisdom. The reason we are unable to pontificate on Obama and Congress with authority, insight or frustration-morphing-into-angry incredulity is that The City Wire is not a real member of The Press.

Seriously.

We’re essentially considered second-class citizens of the Fourth Estate by a group continuing to use pre-Internet technology to deliver news and information in an age where the contributing genius of Steve Jobs has come and gone — although it’s safe to say benefits will continue from the genius he contributed.

Tom Larimer, head of the Arkansas Press Association, says the group’s bylaws don’t allow “wiggle room” to allow media companies not attached to a press to be a full member. He said there have been a few discussions about changing the membership policy, but it would take two-thirds of the press-attached members to approve a change.

“At this point, my hands are basically tied because we have to live within the confines of our bylaws,” said Larimer.

Larimer is a nice guy. Polite and diplomatic, also. One gets the sense he sees the unnecessary dichotomy. There is a hint of sympathy in his response to the question, “Has anyone pointed out that the ‘press association’ moniker was wholly accurate when a press was required to print a paper, and before the Internet was invented?”

His response, however, brought us back to bylaws.

Maybe this is the norm. Maybe the national transportation group of the day rejected Henry Ford’s full membership because he didn’t have real horsepower pulling his little Model A buggies. And not having a dash-and-dot device might have kept Mr. Bell from being qualified to serve on the board of whatever communication association was dominant at the time.

Hiding behind the pleated skirt of bylaws will work only for so long. It’s possible cooler and smarter heads will prevail and the press association will be an inclusive and more powerful organization. It’s more likely the association will change its bylaws years after The City Wire and other web media outlets have lost interest in affiliating with a “press” association.

And we are losing interest — especially when a newspaper group informs its freelance writers that they’ll be cut off if they also freelance for The City Wire. It’s baffling why billionaire-backed newspapers fear media outlets that have considerably fewer nickels to rub together.

No, it’s not baffling.

According to Newsosaur, a blog dedicated to documenting the decline of the newspaper industry, the number of jobs eliminated in the newspaper industry rose by nearly 30% in 2011 from the prior year. The proportion of cutbacks was higher in newsrooms than it was for the industry as a whole – meaning newspaper subscribers are seeing smaller papers and even less content.

Newspapers are responding by using the press less and using the web more.

“Publishers cutting daily delivery realize the strategy works only if they can build their digital divisions faster than their print businesses shrink. While publishers know this is risky business, the smart ones know there is no Plan B,” noted an Editor & Publisher article posted at Newsosaur.

The E&P article began with this observation: “Daily newspaper delivery will go the way of the milkman in a growing number of communities in 2012 and beyond.”

Maybe museum work is the future for the press association. Let’s picture 6-year-old Susie visiting Granma to tell her about the museum trip: “And they put ink on the ends of our fingers just like if we had been holding what used to be called a newspaper,” little Susie exclaims excitedly to Granma.

“But first,” little Susie continued, “they made us wait for a long time at this replica of a driveway for the newspaper thing to be delivered by a guy driving a truck. The first toss hit Billy and made his nose bleed. And the museum lady pulled the newspaper thing out of the bag, and half of it was wet and soggy, but the part we could see, well, the museum lady said most of it was posted already on the Internet a day or two earlier.”

We were tempted to mail a $125 check to the Arkansas Press Association and renew our annual “associate membership” in an effort to encourage their present behavior.

Instead, we’ve decided to put our $125 toward a fund to buy a press. Am told a press is very expensive, but in a few years should be much cheaper. Problem is, we’re not interested in buying ink or contracting for newspaper delivery services. Not sure what we will do with a press. We may hollow it out to make space for a liquor closet. Or put wheels on it to drive in local parades.

We are likely overthinking the use of a press. Based on the evidence, full membership in a press association simply requires ownership of a press, not the profitable or well-reasoned use thereof.