Morris paper finding its legs? Or not?

We're in the early stages of trying to appreciate the "new" Morris newspaper, as it comes under ownership that is perceived as more local than before. The "before" chapter was Forum Communications. It is easy to feel resentful toward a cold and distant company that has a wide umbrella. Certainly I sensed that resentment of the Forum "on the street."
But let's remember that it's a universal for people to grumble about their local paper. Such sentiment has come to my attention often. To be quite frank, I have seen nothing in the "new" Morris paper that I would consider to be appreciably better. Even if it's marginally better, well so what? Not sure this is going to turn business fortunes around.
Informed sources have said all along that the Forum was going to close the Morris paper. Oh, the heartless and distant company, eh? Maybe that's just knee-jerk thinking. Maybe what's going on here is the truly inexorable, unstoppable decline of the print media.
Reed's column in the new paper is a plus. But it's not a plus making me want to spend $1.50 (up from $1.25) on the product. That's really a non-issue with me because I can see the paper at three public places. So sorry, no revenue forthcoming from me.

(Stevens County Times image - "fair use")

To the extent the Anfinsons have a honeymoon, it is almost certainly dampened by the dormant state of the website. If you ever complained about the Forum's website, well what are you going to say now? We assume the website's zombie condition is due to the ownership transition. But heavens, having a website is a given for corporate media organizations today.
Someone said to me "the paper probably doesn't make money on the website." Oh for sure, nevertheless the public expects and assumes that the website is going to complement the print product. It's true the Forum put material on the Morris website that was from non-Morris entities. Sports appeared largely to duplicate what the Willmar paper produced. I think the Forum saw this as a plus when it took over the Morris paper. Their owner would call it "synergy."
And if you sniffed at material that was simply recycled from the West Central Tribune, what would you say now? About nothing?
It's strange how I now feel an impulse to pine for the Forum. But they were going to leave us anyway, just like they closed up the Hancock paper and ended the Ad-Viser free shopper. The Ad-Viser was a nice little bonus to give local businesses who advertised. The Forum chopped the overhead and they hoped no one would notice. Just keep cutting us checks for advertising please. Many trees were chopped down to produce and distribute those Ad-Visers. And the Hancock Record too.
Our city manager told me we came close to having just one paper in Stevens County and that would be the Chokio Review. Amazing! The Chokio paper is compact in size but quite practical. Seems to me a community like Hancock with its own K-12 school could support something like that. Katie Erdman is still around.
 
How about something stop-gap?
What's the solution with the paper's website at present? Oh, there's a Facebook page too and this offers no relief for people looking for something fresh. I checked and there was a photo high up that included Sue Dieter, who is gone with the wind from the paper. Has the paper announced her new position with Collin Peterson? I don't think so. I'm not convinced it's an important position. I would want to know how much she's being paid.
If you check the paper's website now you'll see the school is looking for Homecoming parade units. Ahem, that's dated in a pregnant sort of way.
A communications business must connect with the people online, so perhaps the new owners should set up a temporary home on the web, even a blog site. It can cost zip to establish a website, certainly a blog site. Readers could be steered to that temporary place.
I'm looking at the new (October 8) issue of the Morris paper. I guess it's the Stevens County paper. The top article is one of those "hometown boy (or girl) makes good" articles. The Forum was fond of running these. Such articles recognize someone from the area doing something special. A related type of article simply announces some award or recognition for someone. These are safe, non-controversial and "happy" articles, right up the Forum's alley, and now maybe up the Anfinsons' alley too. The paper seems to suggest that everything is coming up roses, everywhere. Contrast that to my formative days when the press was ripping apart the government over Vietnam and Watergate. The press was supposed to be picking off scabs. Boy, today is quite to the contrary.
But I'd like to see the paper report on subjects that are contentious like when an argument breaks out at a county board meeting. Such an article would make me much more inclined to want to support the paper.
Sports? There's still too much sports. The Anfinsons are taking the easy road of feeding the sports beast - perhaps it's just a path of least resistance. There's still too much emphasis on Hancock, a tack that the Forum took to placate Hancock interests after cancellation of their paper. So, too much sports and too much Hancock? Well, take a look at page 2 of the Oct. 8 issue. First of all, it's a disaster. What if I had to answer for that? A third of the news space on that page is invaded by (infernal) sports. Not only that, the article is about Hancock! Mercy.
There's still another issue afoot here, and that is that the Hancock article is written by a Hancock school student in a class, written for a class. An editor's note explains that students in Nicole Schmidt's class are doing this stuff for the newspaper, which presents an issue: The paper is a commercial, business product that we presume generates a profit. Should students be required to submit what amounts to free work product? Are the students mature enough to realize the consequences of their writing appearing in such a conspicuous forum?
The article at the top of page 2 is about "Morris Area Day of Compassion." Well, no one is against compassion, right? I'll vote for it. The Hancock lunch menu is on page 2. On page A7 there's the Hancock library column. Let's remember that in spite of the Hancock school apparently going great guns, that town is considerably smaller than Morris.
The headline for the MACA vs. 'Waska football game is awfully small at the bottom of B1.
 
Let's step it up maybe?
The Morris newspaper may have been in free-fall over the last year or so of its Forum Communications chapter. Therefore I felt it imperative that the new owners make a dramatic statement of how the page would be turned. If they're reading this blog post - you never know - and if they're like typical newspaper people, they will laugh and smirk about me.
Maybe this tendency is not as bad as it once was. I have been away from the scene for 13 years. But newspaper people are quick to show a smart-alecky, know-it-all stance about everything. Sue Dieter did this. I have read that the decline of newspapers has had a humbling effect on the denizens of its offices. It used to be that the editor or publisher acted like they were smarter than all the people running the important institutions in town. It would be refreshing to see a retreat from that. The new media online is a great equalizer with its meritocracy.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com