Some of the biggest threats endangering The Indianapolis Star:
OUTSOURCING:
Gannett wants to move some of The Star’s newspaper production jobs — people who edit the stories, write the headlines and design the look of the news pages — from Indianapolis to Kentucky. Gannett wants people in another state who know nothing about Indianapolis to design The Star’s news pages. This is sure to hurt the quality of The Star. This could also give the paper more of a franchised feel — less local.
NEWS INTEGRITY:
Credibility is a newspaper’s most important asset. But Gannett is blurring the lines between advertising and news, in some cases making it harder to tell them apart. Pressure is building to run messages produced by private businesses and advertisers in news positions. If the line blurs further, readers will start questioning what’s real news and what’s an ad.
LOSING TALENT:
The Star’s pay cuts and repeated layoffs have prompted some of its talented journalists to leave the paper, taking their knowledge of the community with them. Many good journalists remain, but what will The Star do to keep them?
