The lone constant in life

One of the universal truths that I have discovered in my 48 years on the planet is that one of the most universally feared and hated forces in life -- change -- is also one of the lone constants.

Change occurs all the time. Some of the changes are good, some are bad. It all depends on your point of view. I'm not a big fan of change, but I realize that in the end it is healthier to embrace change.

There has been a great deal written this year about the changes that are occurring in the newspaper industry. Some media outlets are reporting the death of our industry and the rise of new media as our successor.

One of the problems with much of this apocalyptic reporting is that it lumps all newspapers together into one badly-painted, broadly-drawn disaster.

The current recession has been very hard on large metropolitan daily newspapers.

The rest of us, like just about every other business, are plugging away each and every day. Our online edition is attracting more traffic, and revenues online are up from last year.

I'd like to pause here and offer an observation. We are in the information business. We work hard to provide the best coverage of Le Mars and Plymouth County. Currently and for the forseeable future, this information is distributed primarily by our print edition.

The delivery method of our information continues to evolve. We continue to make changes to our website, www.lemarssentinel.com, which has a new look and feel. We will continue to make changes to the print and electronic versions of our newspaper.

I have heard from some of our print readers who are not computer users that they dislike the mention of websites in news coverage. The Internet and the mention of websites are intended to offer more information about a topic. It is not our intent to make any of our readers feel like second class citizens if they do not own a computer.

To put all of this in perspective, I'd like to offer the following excerpt from a speech made by Ken Paulson, who recently stepped down as editor of USA Today to work at the Newseum, a media museum in Washington, D.C.

"I can certainly understand why newspapers are not viewed as trendy. After all, they were really the iPods of 1690.

But humor me, and consider this alternate history: Imagine if Gutenberg had invented a digital modem rather than a printing press, and that for centuries all of our information had come to us online.

Further, imagine if we held a press conference announcing the invention of an intriguing new product called the "newspaper."

That press conference might go something like this:

"We're pleased to announce a new product that will revolutionize the way you access information. It will save you time and money and keep you better informed than ever before.

"Just consider the hours you've spent on the Internet looking for information of interest to you. We've hired specialists who live and work in your hometown to cull information sources and provide a daily report tailored to your community, your friends and your neighbors.

"We also know that you sometimes wonder whether you can trust the information you see online. We plan to introduce a painstaking new process called "fact-checking" in which we actually verify the information before we pass it along to you.

"In addition to saving time online, you'll also save money. You won't need those expensive color ink cartridges or reams of paper because information will be printed out for you in full color every day.

"You'll also save money on access charges and those unpleasant fights over who gets time on the computer because this product will be physically delivered to your home at the same time each day, for less than what you would tip the guy from Pizza Hut.

"You worry about your kids stumbling across porn on the Internet, but this product is pre-screened and guaranteed suitable for the whole family.

"And in a security breakthrough, we guarantee newspapers to be absolutely virus-free, and promise the elimination of those annoying pop-up ads.

"It's also the most portable product in the world, and doesn't require batteries or electricity. And when the flight attendant tells you to turn off your electronic devices, you can actually turn this on, opening page after page without worrying about interfering with the plane's radar.

" To top it all off, you don't need a long-term warranty or service protection program. If you're not happy with this product on any day, we'll redesign it and bring you a new one the next day."

I can see the headlines now: "Cutting-edge newspapers threaten Google's survival."

All a matter of perspective...

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.