What the newspaper business used to be

It used to be, said one of the people at the table, that the first paragraph of a news story had to include the who, what, when, where, and why -- just the facts. "Now, every reporter thinks that he's a columnist." The person's comment was directed at Sean Murphy, long-time reporter for the Boston Globe. Murphy was at the State House Library today, talking about his 25-year career as a reporter and attorney.

Sean P. Murphy at the State House Library

As an investigative reporter, Murphy has used the state's public records law (and a lot of persistence) to draw important documentation about the Big Dig. He told the story of waiting for days in the lobby of the Bechtel offices until the company finally produced the documents that they were required by law to produce. The public records laws, Murphy noted, allow any citizen, not just a reporter or an attorney, to obtain information to public meetings and the public's business.
Institutions such as the Globe have the resources to both obtain information and ensure its accuracy. Murphy referred to editing often, in the context of a process for ensuring that a story is accurate and complete.
The news business is in trouble, he observed. "We're fighting for our lives."
When I asked him about the role of citizen journalists (bloggers, mostly), he said, "It's a threat." It's a threat to all of the major newspapers, TV stations, and other professional news outlets. He didn't detail the nature of the threat, but said that people should insist that their news sources are appropriately edited and vetted.
Leaving the balcony area where the meeting was held, I walked past file cabinets full of past issues of newspapers, including those from papers gone by, and past the microfilm readers. The place where old newspapers, along with clippings, photos, and related materials, is often called a morgue.