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ASNE President Kaiser speaks on accountability journalism before FTC

The fear today is that the quality of journalism and the business of journalism are two different things, but one is having a profound, negative impact on the other. If high-quality journalism diminishes or disappears, who will set the community agenda, and will there even be one?

Federal Trade Commission Dec. 1-2 workshop page

Bill Densmore blogs from FTC workshop

Martin Kaiser's remarks at FTC workshop:

So much of what we hear about the present state of journalism and its future comes from the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today — national newspapers.

That is understandable. These are the titans of our industry.

But you can't judge what's happening to the state of journalism without looking at newspapers and their online sites in large and small communities across the country.

There are hundreds and hundreds of newspapers truly serving their communities.

I speak for these news organizations as president of ASNE, the leading organization of newsroom leaders including print and online, and as editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, an independent newspaper that is consistently among the leaders in local readership.

I live with what is happening to journalism in this country everyday — through my own newsroom and the editors I talk with daily in ASNE.

I understand we are going through the most dramatic change in the history of our industry.

In the last 10 years we have drastically reduced our staff — like most other newsrooms. There are stories we used to cover that now go uncovered.

Like many editors across the country we are focusing our reduced resources on what is most important: maintaining and even increasing our emphasis on investigative, enterprise and explanatory reporting — the journalism of accountability.

We are also embracing new technology to reinvent how journalism is both done and delivered, all to continue connecting with our communities.

Still today the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does what only newspapers do -- although now on different platforms -- connect our community.

Many of our readers understand what we do for them.

At a recent speaking engagement, I was asked about circulation. When I told the audience that it was down -- there was a large moan from the crowd.

At another recent speech, I talked about our investigative reporting on 18-month-old Jatavius, whose mother starved him to death, and 5-month-old Will, who drowned during an unsupervised visit with his mentally unstable mother. These are two of at least 22 children who had died in foster care from 2004 to 2008 despite clear warning signs to the Bureau of Milwaukee County Child Welfare they were at risk.

Since we reported on the first victim, the bureau has been overhauled and for the first time in more than a decade, according to the department, no child has died in 2009 and the number of children abused or neglected is the lowest since the bureau was created in 1998.

During that speech, to my surprise, the audience interrupted me by breaking out in applause.

In the last year I have received more positive comments about our news organization than at any time in my almost 13 years as the top editor. The emails, voice mails, phone calls and letters I would like to think are all because of the great work we are doing.

But, what I really believe is going on is that our community knows the value of our news organization. They know accountability reporting is vital to the Milwaukee area and Wisconsin.

They know we set the agenda for TV, radio and the other Web sites in our community. They know public officials can't ignore us.

They are concerned that the number of journalists is falling while the number of commentators is growing.

No matter the technology of the future, we can't lose traditional values of journalism — truth seeking, loyalty to citizens, a discipline of verification, independence from those we cover and being accountable to our readers.

The fear today is that the quality of journalism and the business of journalism are two different things, but one is having a profound, negative impact on the other. If high-quality journalism diminishes or disappears, who will set the community agenda, and will there even be one?

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