I grew up during the Big Peach era of the Register where sports has always had its own section. Personally find it hard to read digital newspapers due to the time it takes to load pages and all the pop-up ads and videos. Tried to subscribe to the Press-Citizen/Des Moines Register but delivery was so sporadic (non-existent) and we could never reach anyone on the phone about it. Then when we did finally reach someone they would say the problem would be fixed but it never was, so it got to be too frustrating and we went back to digital. I miss reading an actual newspaper.
I skip the sports section, always. I do appreciate the digital version of the paper that I can read on my App. The one that's laid out exactly like the paper. Yes, it's a day behind in breaking news, and that can be sad, but there are always some good stories that are more "evergreen." I especially appreciate Lee Rood's "Watchdog" column and (of course!) the dining coverage. Agree that it's all a shadow of what it was, but I guess I'll take what I can get. And gosh, I sure do miss the Datebook!
I agree that the DMR news coverage has suffered in favor of sports -and I like sports. However, yesterday’s opinion piece in the DMR by Representative Josh Turek was very informative about how the changes in Iowa laws have affected people with disabilities. It’s too bad the information came in the form of an opinion piece and not investigative journalism.
Very interesting. Seems to me that this shift to mostly sports happened a few months ago. I'm a casual fan, and I'm always frustrated there is so little news in the Register. Their political coverage is still excellent. The Gazette always has news out front. Great statewide and local coverage, along with great politics.
I have been slow to read newspapers online. I prefer print. Only recently did we drop the print Sunday New York Times and Register to read on the app. My husband pointed out how the news is more current on the app as you said. But I said that it seems as if most of the stories are sports—again as you said. Thanks for confirming. I want to read the news! No wonder subscribers keep going down. I enjoy Axios. Thanks
This used to be such a great newspaper - "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon". The entire state read it and had common information. With what you describe (I've been out of state for 40 years), it's no wonder so many good Iowans would vote for Donald Trump...they aren't being kept up to date on what that man says and has done! Also, I worked in collegiate athletics administration my entire career and it used to be that the local, major newspaper drove what local television news covered. If there was an expose in the morning paper, tv news had it that night. With the Register so weak, staffs so small (including investigative staffs), it's the wild west for corrupt pols and city officials as they seldom get held accountable. And Trump has convinced tens of millions that the media is crooked. Sigh!
No, Dave. You are not alone. I no longer subscribe to the DSM Register because I find nothing of value in it. Although I enjoy sports, I can always find the latest scores elsewhere. Finally, I love politics and the Iowa Capital Dispatch does a very good job. If I knew the solution to the decline of legacy news media, I'd be wealthy and living on a tropical island. But I don't and neither does anyone else it seems.
Dave- we take 3 IA newspapers here-1digital, 2 print. ONLY the digital IA Capital Dispatch focuses on meaningful news. The print papers are sports, sports, sports. Is it a supply problem? Are there no real reporters left?
Just wanted to encourage everyone to subscribe to the FREE digital Iowa Capital Dispatch for excellent coverage of Iowa issues by seasoned journalists & NO ads or pop ups. If you like it, help keep it alive with a regular contribution.
Speaking as the former editor of a Gannett newspaper, I can assure you that however bad you THINK the for-profit, chain newspaper business is - it is actually worse.
All Gannett and Lee papers are virtual zombie publications now thanks to massive cutting of editorial staffs.
Frankly, my position now is to urge people who crave real journalism to NOT SUPPORT these publications as they have been devalued to such an extent that they are standing in the way of a shift to a much-needed new paradigm in how watchdog journalism is conducted. Executives at Gannett and Lee have - for decades now - actively dismantled and disinvested and harmed the communities in which their papers purport to report.
The Register is barely a shadow of the newspaper I began reading as a child, but I still enjoy reading the paper edition (especially the comics!). I do not understand Gannett's approach, as the Register's circulation is still declining (from what I read in Cityview). I rely heavily on the Iowa Writers' Collaborative, the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the NY Times, Washington Post and Business Record for real news.
Thanks for the article. Could not agree more. I'm old enough to have grown up with the Des Moines Tribune. Back in the day of no high tech, the newspaper had current stories, photos not from eight years ago, sports were in the "big peach" the day after the event, and reporters could put together grammatically correct and coherent sentences. In addition to your observations, the reprint of previously printed articles is a thorn in my side. Sad to say after being a subscriber for the vast majority of my eighty-one years, I have cancelled my subscription.
Thanks Dave. I would suggest digitization has contributed to the decline of local news coverage. How many of the remaining small and medium sized papers have dropped their home city from their name and masthead? You see "The Journal," "The Reporter" and on and on. Chains also trumpet their coverage by promoting chainwide investigative "teams" who may not even live near or work for your hometown paper. They produce cookie-cutter "issues" pieces and mandate that local editors devote their ever-dwindling staffs to "localize" those themes instead of letting local editors determine news coverage. Corporate masters have slashed local news staffs 75 percent across the board yet profess to emphasize strong local news coverage and mask that with this "team" coverage.
And as far as sports coverage goes, the chains cannot leave coverage to their paper or property closest to wherever the next game is being played. Case in point: A major multi-state local newspaper chain left coverage of Caitlin Clark's and the Iowa Hawkeyes' recent game at the University of Nebraska to the chain's Nebraska properties. The end result was that the stories were written from a Nebraska perspective, to put it mildly. Not sure how many avid Hawkeye/Caitlin fans enjoyed reading how Ms. Clark's "coronation" (pejorative on its face) was spoiled by the mighty Cornhuskers. It may have played very well indeed in Big Red country, but probably not on this side of the Missouri. You'd think Ms. Clark's and the Hawkeyes' history-making run would merit the corporate owners chipping in a few travel bucks to have one reporter or a group of reports follow the Hawks and Ms. Clark home and away.
As my esteemed Eastern Iowa journalism colleague Lyle Muller noted, the fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena were holding up NEWSPAPERS marking Ms. Clark's historic achievement when she set the NCAA women's scoring record. She is elevating all of women's athletics and it's an empowering moment for women in general. Folks 50 years from now are NOT going to want to wade through a bunch of popups and click bait to read about Caitlin Clark. There's a historic, artful place for books and newspapers -- just like record album covers. A computer or hand-held device is not a keepsake. A book or a carefully preserved newspaper is. Newspapers and local companies could capitalize on that instead of leaving it to one-off fly-by-night book publishers.
I grew up during the Big Peach era of the Register where sports has always had its own section. Personally find it hard to read digital newspapers due to the time it takes to load pages and all the pop-up ads and videos. Tried to subscribe to the Press-Citizen/Des Moines Register but delivery was so sporadic (non-existent) and we could never reach anyone on the phone about it. Then when we did finally reach someone they would say the problem would be fixed but it never was, so it got to be too frustrating and we went back to digital. I miss reading an actual newspaper.
I skip the sports section, always. I do appreciate the digital version of the paper that I can read on my App. The one that's laid out exactly like the paper. Yes, it's a day behind in breaking news, and that can be sad, but there are always some good stories that are more "evergreen." I especially appreciate Lee Rood's "Watchdog" column and (of course!) the dining coverage. Agree that it's all a shadow of what it was, but I guess I'll take what I can get. And gosh, I sure do miss the Datebook!
I agree that the DMR news coverage has suffered in favor of sports -and I like sports. However, yesterday’s opinion piece in the DMR by Representative Josh Turek was very informative about how the changes in Iowa laws have affected people with disabilities. It’s too bad the information came in the form of an opinion piece and not investigative journalism.
Very interesting. Seems to me that this shift to mostly sports happened a few months ago. I'm a casual fan, and I'm always frustrated there is so little news in the Register. Their political coverage is still excellent. The Gazette always has news out front. Great statewide and local coverage, along with great politics.
I have been slow to read newspapers online. I prefer print. Only recently did we drop the print Sunday New York Times and Register to read on the app. My husband pointed out how the news is more current on the app as you said. But I said that it seems as if most of the stories are sports—again as you said. Thanks for confirming. I want to read the news! No wonder subscribers keep going down. I enjoy Axios. Thanks
This used to be such a great newspaper - "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon". The entire state read it and had common information. With what you describe (I've been out of state for 40 years), it's no wonder so many good Iowans would vote for Donald Trump...they aren't being kept up to date on what that man says and has done! Also, I worked in collegiate athletics administration my entire career and it used to be that the local, major newspaper drove what local television news covered. If there was an expose in the morning paper, tv news had it that night. With the Register so weak, staffs so small (including investigative staffs), it's the wild west for corrupt pols and city officials as they seldom get held accountable. And Trump has convinced tens of millions that the media is crooked. Sigh!
No, Dave. You are not alone. I no longer subscribe to the DSM Register because I find nothing of value in it. Although I enjoy sports, I can always find the latest scores elsewhere. Finally, I love politics and the Iowa Capital Dispatch does a very good job. If I knew the solution to the decline of legacy news media, I'd be wealthy and living on a tropical island. But I don't and neither does anyone else it seems.
Dave- we take 3 IA newspapers here-1digital, 2 print. ONLY the digital IA Capital Dispatch focuses on meaningful news. The print papers are sports, sports, sports. Is it a supply problem? Are there no real reporters left?
Just wanted to encourage everyone to subscribe to the FREE digital Iowa Capital Dispatch for excellent coverage of Iowa issues by seasoned journalists & NO ads or pop ups. If you like it, help keep it alive with a regular contribution.
Another excellent column, Dave. I couldn't agree with you more.
Speaking as the former editor of a Gannett newspaper, I can assure you that however bad you THINK the for-profit, chain newspaper business is - it is actually worse.
All Gannett and Lee papers are virtual zombie publications now thanks to massive cutting of editorial staffs.
Frankly, my position now is to urge people who crave real journalism to NOT SUPPORT these publications as they have been devalued to such an extent that they are standing in the way of a shift to a much-needed new paradigm in how watchdog journalism is conducted. Executives at Gannett and Lee have - for decades now - actively dismantled and disinvested and harmed the communities in which their papers purport to report.
The Register is barely a shadow of the newspaper I began reading as a child, but I still enjoy reading the paper edition (especially the comics!). I do not understand Gannett's approach, as the Register's circulation is still declining (from what I read in Cityview). I rely heavily on the Iowa Writers' Collaborative, the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the NY Times, Washington Post and Business Record for real news.
👍Great column, and the comments certainly provide support for reinventing the Register for the digital age.
Thanks for the article. Could not agree more. I'm old enough to have grown up with the Des Moines Tribune. Back in the day of no high tech, the newspaper had current stories, photos not from eight years ago, sports were in the "big peach" the day after the event, and reporters could put together grammatically correct and coherent sentences. In addition to your observations, the reprint of previously printed articles is a thorn in my side. Sad to say after being a subscriber for the vast majority of my eighty-one years, I have cancelled my subscription.
Thanks Dave. I will keep reading you and will check out Dispatch. Hi to Laura and have fun with grandkid(s)
Thanks Dave. I would suggest digitization has contributed to the decline of local news coverage. How many of the remaining small and medium sized papers have dropped their home city from their name and masthead? You see "The Journal," "The Reporter" and on and on. Chains also trumpet their coverage by promoting chainwide investigative "teams" who may not even live near or work for your hometown paper. They produce cookie-cutter "issues" pieces and mandate that local editors devote their ever-dwindling staffs to "localize" those themes instead of letting local editors determine news coverage. Corporate masters have slashed local news staffs 75 percent across the board yet profess to emphasize strong local news coverage and mask that with this "team" coverage.
And as far as sports coverage goes, the chains cannot leave coverage to their paper or property closest to wherever the next game is being played. Case in point: A major multi-state local newspaper chain left coverage of Caitlin Clark's and the Iowa Hawkeyes' recent game at the University of Nebraska to the chain's Nebraska properties. The end result was that the stories were written from a Nebraska perspective, to put it mildly. Not sure how many avid Hawkeye/Caitlin fans enjoyed reading how Ms. Clark's "coronation" (pejorative on its face) was spoiled by the mighty Cornhuskers. It may have played very well indeed in Big Red country, but probably not on this side of the Missouri. You'd think Ms. Clark's and the Hawkeyes' history-making run would merit the corporate owners chipping in a few travel bucks to have one reporter or a group of reports follow the Hawks and Ms. Clark home and away.
As my esteemed Eastern Iowa journalism colleague Lyle Muller noted, the fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena were holding up NEWSPAPERS marking Ms. Clark's historic achievement when she set the NCAA women's scoring record. She is elevating all of women's athletics and it's an empowering moment for women in general. Folks 50 years from now are NOT going to want to wade through a bunch of popups and click bait to read about Caitlin Clark. There's a historic, artful place for books and newspapers -- just like record album covers. A computer or hand-held device is not a keepsake. A book or a carefully preserved newspaper is. Newspapers and local companies could capitalize on that instead of leaving it to one-off fly-by-night book publishers.