News-Record.com

The senior editor at Editor & Publisher, a journal of the newspaper industry, has come up with his list of the Top 10 stories of the industry for 2005. It's an odd list, not because of what's on it, but because of what's not.

Joe Strupp correctly includes the massive job loss at papers, the Miller/New York Times folderol, the possible sale of Knight Ridder and the incredible efforts of the Times-Picayune to publish during and after Katrina.

Inexplicably omitted:
* The widespread circulation decline of virtually every daily newspaper of any size. On my list this displaces job losses for the No. 1 slot. Readers are the liveblood of any paper -- yes, more than advertisers -- and producing journalism they want is the biggest of the challenge looming before us.
* The rapid expansion of technology and the user's control of it. This has been hashed over here and other places to no end. From blogs to citizen journalism sites to podcasting to video to mobility, the world has opened up marvelous opportunities for newspapers....and their readers. When customers control the choices because they have so many other sources and because they can report and publish themselves, then newspapers must understand and facilitate that, not ignore or resist it.
* The great journalism that is being produced across the country. Newspapers continue to focus on public service, despite all the other distractions going on in the industry. Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute has plenty of examples. We could do more, but we're still doing well.