Editor's Desk: Troubling Times

By Michael F. Flach
Herald Editor
(From the issue of 7/31/03)

These are troubling times for those of us who work for Catholic newspapers. Not only do we hear constant predictions that the Internet will eventually supplant printed versions of newspapers, but financial constraints at the diocesan level have put pressure on editors to keep their papers solvent.

A Catholic News Service report last week noted that the Archdiocese of Omaha is cutting five issues a year from the publication schedule of The Catholic Voice, its archdiocesan newspaper.

Catholic Voice executive editor Charlie Wieser said publication would be cut from 26 to 21 issues a year. The change took effect July 1. Instead of being published every other week, The Catholic Voice will be published twice a month from September through May, and once a month in June, July and August.

In a front-page note to readers in the paper's June 20 issue, Wieser attributed the cutback to printing and postage costs and a 25 percent cut in funding from the archdiocese. "A long recession and uncertainty about the economy has led many businesses and individuals to tighten their belts. It's no different at The Catholic Voice," Wieser said.

Two full-time workers were laid off from the newspaper's staff. Six full-timers and one part-timer remain, Wieser said.

Diocesan officials in Erie, Pa., are debating whether to discontinue publication of the Lake Shore Visitor, the 129-year-old diocesan weekly, and replace it with a monthly magazine.

Erie’s daily newspaper reported in mid-July that discussions were under way in the diocese about the possible closure of the Lake Shore Visitor. The diocese sustained investment losses in 2000 and 2001 and has a hiring freeze in effect for the diocese's central administration.

The Lake Shore Visitor is published weekly. Circulation is 20,000.

This discouraging news follows earlier changes in New York, once considered the premier Catholic paper in the country, which went from a weekly to a monthly. In Florida, the paper that covers five different dioceses went from a weekly to a biweekly. In Milwaukee, the new archbishop recently announced that he was considering whether to discontinue his weekly archdiocesan paper The Catholic Herald.

Erie Bishop Donald W. Trautman called it "premature" to speculate about the status of his paper. "We are simply studying the possibility" and are "a long way away yet" from a final decision, he said.

The bishop added that parish assessments for parishioners to receive the Lake Shore Visitor were one issue, as were budget deficits at the newspaper. Bishop Trautman said a total coverage plan to give every household the paper is preferred, but "very difficult in these economic times."

The good news in Arlington is that the HERALD continues to grow in size and readership. Regular editions now average about 36 pages per week thanks to a steady increase in advertising revenue. Our weekly circulation is now close to 61,000.

For years I’ve argued that the diocesan newspaper is still the most inexpensive way for bishops to communicate with their parishioners. Every diocesan household can be reached for pennies a week. It’s more cost-effective than radio, television or the Internet.

Yet when the budget axe falls, the diocesan paper is often considered the first to go. It’s an extremely short-sighted approach to take at a time when the Church needs to increase its evangelization efforts. Timely communication through the diocesan press is an essential component of any evangelization plan.— M.F.F.

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