[From the Dallas Observer]
The Dallas Morning News has decided to end its Religion Section.
“Our emphasis on religion’s going to be strong,” Bob Mong, the editor of DMN insists. “It’ll be different, but it’ll be good. We just didn’t get any advertising support for it. The core writers we have for it will continue to be there, and the amount of space we devote will be adequate for what we need, and it will let us do more Page One stories. As far as the devotion to the topic, it’s important to me, and we’re going to take it very seriously. It’ll just be in a slightly different format.”
Read about it here.
[From me]
I wonder why that is? The Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex has two of the largest Seminaries and tons of churches. Is there just no interest in religion? Is this a trend in all newspapers? Should we as believers be concerned? Is there a conspiracy?
What do you think?
Filed under: church, conspiracy theories, faith, newspapers
Kevin-
As more than an interested observer, since I work for the 3rd largest newspaper in Missouri doing advertising sales, and I’m a pastor I can attest to what the editor said.
Most people don’t realize that newspaper advertising is the single most expensive method of advertising available to the average person. It is also, I might add, the most effective. The cost of advertising in the newspaper is generally prohibitive to the church/seminary/non-profit. When you factor in that advertising generally accounts for 85% of most newspaper’s revenue you can understand that it’s vital that they have strong sales and if religion sections, or sports sections, or metro sections, etc. can’t cut it as far as advertising is concerned, they will be cut.
I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, I think it’s an issue of dollars and sense.
they’ve all quit reading the paper and turned to your blog.kevin bussey is huge in texas and wisconson. you’re the new alamo! so the answer is, when are you going to start selling add space?
Nope, I’m going with conspiracy on this one. Madalyn Murray O’Hair is behind this, mark my words.
What do you mean, dead?
I think they read all about religion on the net.
The Dallas Morning News cut the section to four pages from six about a year ago. The new format, stuck in the back of the Metro section, does not significantly reduce the news hole from what it was a month ago.
DMN has a bad history of cutting popular features at the wrong time. A couple of years ago they killed their science section. The next month the now-out-of-work editor of the section was named science reporter of the year, and several of his stories and others he’d shepherded won other awards. A few months ago they cut back on stock reports, but now have restored them after a massive defection of readers.
Will the reades come back?
It’s a great newspaper. Newspapers everywhere are suffering from a lot of problems, like yahoos complaining that ‘mainstream media just doesn’t get it.’ As a consequence of repeated hammering by a lot of commentators, many people feel they can stay informed without a good newspaper hitting the porch every day. Competition from other media hurts, too, but generally competition between media forms used to increase newspaper readership.
It’s a general disdain for knowledge, I think. And it’s dangerous. There’s no particular animus to religion at the Dallas Morning News
Oops. It appears I missed a “close italics” code after the name of the newspaper, and it should be “readers” instead of “reades.”