A few things occurred Nov. 4 that were expected.

Barack Obama was elected president. The Democrats added to their majorities in the House and Senate. Saxby Chambliss wound up in a Dec. 2 runoff against a former state representative.

There were a couple of unexpected outcomes, too.

First, Republicans in Tennessee took control of the state House of Representatives, prompting a small amount of political drama as to whether the fragile one-vote GOP majority could hold together for the next two months to gain control of the speaker’s post.

Second, newspapers across the country sold out. The ink-stained dinosaur raised its head once more, enticing people across the country to fall back to a lost time and buy a newspaper.

One pundit predicted that the dinosaur awoke from years of sleep, yawned and quickly will go back to sleep.

If the current trend to produce newspaper-lite — smaller page size, less weight and minimal local news — is any indication, the dinosaur will succumb to hibernation.

The one-day glimmer of print product sellouts generated interesting comments from some of the so-called major newspaper nameplates in America.

In Washington, the Post expressed its “thrill” that people were still interested in the newspaper.

In Detroit, buying the newspaper was termed “amazing.”

Newspapers and newspaper people are their own worst enemies.

If sackcloth were high fashion, newspaper people would be paying the highest price and parading around town.

Those of us in the newspaper world revel in proclaiming our demise as other media — radio and television — welcome the self-flagellation that hides their similar or worse loss of audience and revenue streams.

We slice our products to odd sizes. We fill the remaining pages with the same material that can be found on any number of online Web sites. We forget that what readers in communities across the country desire is information that relates to where they live, work and play.

We delight is sharing with our journalistic colleagues tales of threats and woes. Inside many newsrooms, that is the message of the day so one wonders why anyone would be interested in continued forecasts of gloom and doom.

It may be time to drop the mantle of cynicism that permeates newsrooms and newspapers.

This is the question of the day: Why did people across Tennessee and America decide to buy a newspaper? As the Washington Post spokesperson told The Associated Press: “It is moments like this when people want a tangible print product. They want to keep it in hand.”

Surely it was an anomaly prompted by the election of the first black as president of the United States.

For those who believe that the

president-elect is going to be satisfied with that historic but limited mantle, you deserve to have one day of improved sales.

But for those who will spend the time and energy to wrestle with the above question, you will realize that President-elect Obama wants more and so should you.

Search for those answers. Pick yourself up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Figure out the opportunities because everyone knows the threats.

You might be surprised at the ideas that emerge when you ask people to think about solutions rather than hunker down to hang on one more day.

(Editor’s Note: At the Times Free Press, we understand what it takes to build readership in print and online: quality. No small size. No light weight. Plenty of local content. There is a message here if others are willing to think outside the corporate box.)

To reach Tom Griscom, call (423) 757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.

Comments