Only newspapers dedicated to watchdog role will survive industry's sharp, painful downturn

Marie Theresa Hernández, associate professor of modern and classical languages at the University of Houston, has taken up the cause of Mrs. Juana Villegas (DeLaPaz) on her political blog, http://dreamacttexas.blogspot.com.

Ms. Hernández, also an author of three acclaimed books, is an example of the explosion of Juana's story on the blogosphere across the country and on AOL.com and Yahoo.com with Sunday's New York Times piece by reporter Julia Preston. The space the newspaper devoted to the story on two pages was most impressive.

This newspaper of record will most certainly survive the current downturn in the print industry. This nation and world counts on The New York Times to be our watchdog, even here in Nashville. It is as Jefferson wanted of a free press -- for our republic to survive and prosper through an informed populace.

Hernández, however, initially wrote today that she had trouble finding Juana's story on The Tennessean website, which has news of importance about Nashville and Middle Tennessee. She did finally find the story, as authored by local AP reporter Travis Loller.

I read the story last week on the second page of The Tennessean's Local section, below the fold. The Tennessean either did not have enough staff or concern to cover the story itself. But readers who could find the story benefitted from reading Loller's account. It remains the best story so far on Juana from the mainstream news media along with The New York Times' reporting.

Yet it's difficult not to respectfully wonder about The Tennessean's news judgment when the industry's newspaper of record comes into your own backyard and reports on an incident of nationwide interest. Then today, after reading Tennessean VP Mark Silverman's column -- touting to readers that they are getting more from all the newspaper's content sources - the mainstream industry's credibility suffers.

Credibility is all the industry has left to correct its downturn. I do, however, agree with Silverman that newspapers will not go away. The good ones and those of record like The New York Times will indeed survive and recover. So will needed alternatives like the Nashville Scene in print and in its staff's very informative web blogs, which mostly provide information you can't get in The Tennessean.

I'd like the industry to survive because my wife and I have many friends and their families dependent on keeping readers and their jobs. There are very good and caring professionals who still work at The Tennessean and other newspapers across the country. Not all of us get to work for The New York Times. Still, we can make a big contribution to progress in our communities by increasing the awareness of injustices locally and how to make a difference.

Columns ignoring the obvious that readers have already noticed, however, hurt the industry terribly along with its hard-working employees. They certainly deserve better.

It's ironic that newspaper people like myself used to look on TV journalists as burdens on a free press. Now, TV journalism is one of the few pillars still in place to prop the news business up. I apologize to my TV brethren.

As for newspapers, readers recognize the absence of byline names they invited for years into their households and consciences, and they're stunned by the sudden appearances of new ones. Few newspapers, however, tell their readers about buyouts and layoffs that reduce staff numbers -- particularly of newsroom veterans -- and the adequate coverage of communities. So readers such as myself are left to depend on the alternative media to get the rest of the story.

So to be constructive in my criticism, I'd recommend newspaper leaders and spokespeople first be honest with their readers. While acknowledging the industry downturn, also be transparent about the shortcomings it has forced in your coverage. Your readers already know it -- as with the case of Mrs. Juana Villegas (DeLaPaz) and The New York Times coming into your own backyard.

Be honest with readers, and this investment in credibility will pay off in the long term for a recovering news industry.

Conversely, sugar-coating the obvious just insults our intelligence as readers, consumers and involved members of our communities. And yes, I am a Tennessean subscriber and former active employee.

On a final constructive note, I want to express my appreciation to The New York Times and reporter Julia Preston. They have reinforced my faith in the industry by their dedication to be a watchdog of government and human rights, even as far away as Nashville.

Granted, I've been critical in the past of The Times in coverage of one of the battles for Fallujah in the Iraq war before I came down with leukemia. I apologized to readers for accepting too much information from a Tennessee Marine colonel in Iraq whose parents I befriended locally.

My credibility rightly suffered. But my criticism of The Times was not an entire loss. Atrocities by Al Sadr's forces were confirmed in my mind and writing -- by a Marine major writing for The Nation magazine and an on-the-scene story sent me by the Washington bureau chief of the then-Knight-Ridder Newspapers. While the atrocities were not in the Fallujah temple as the colonel contended, they did take place in the local courthouse.

So my jump-on-bandwagon criticism of all the media in Iraq -- including over the security of Samarra -- was entirely unjustified. Many media heroes have come out of this war for their bravery in providing coverage and awareness.

Iraq hopefully will soon be in this nation's rearview mirror, either by the wishes of the Iraqi government or Sen. Obama's win in November. But the welfare of our republic will still always be at risk.

The kind of watchdog dedication again displayed by The New York Times today is what makes newspapers indispensible to consumers and concerned community members such as myself.

The obvious lack of dedication is what leaves other newspapers as future candidates for the scrapheap of history. And that's rightly so, even though it will be the hard-working employees without big bonuses and golden parachutes who hurt the most.