University of Virginia Library

Young Faces

Today someone walking into
the Progress news room might
mistake it for a college newspaper,
with all the young faces that
abound behind the desks. However,
many newspapers are notorious for
hiring young, hard-working staffers,
employing them for severally ears at
nominal salaries, then replacing
them with new reporters when the
more experienced reporters begin
to demand an increase in salary.

Mr. Mount reports that the
Progress circulation is "the highest
it has been in our history." With
only one daily paper in
Charlottesville its citizens seem to
have accepted the changes in the
Progress rather than cancel their
subscriptions. The paper seems to
be trying to give the community
what it wants in the way of the
type of new it emphasizes, but it
does not strive to have those stories
written by staffers with a great deal
of background or experience with
the subject.

Mr. Runser sums up the
situation as follows: "They
consider it a business venture. I
think they are more interested in
the ledger sheet than in providing
thorough news coverage to the
community."

But, then, as the saying goes,
the power (or profit) of the press
belongs to those who own one.