If you were to visit The Sun s newsroom in Baltimore today, you might be surprised as much by what we re not doing as by what we do. We have, for example, no self-improvement programs. You won t find re-engineering, or Quality Circles, or News 2000. You won t encounter editors brandishing MBAs, nor will you hear journalists being exhorted to get out of their silos. No one is being put through months and months of meetings, leading eventually to the formation of teams.
Nobody believes that the way to compete with television is to become more like television.
On your visit to the Sun, you might also note an absence of hand-wringing about television and the Internet. Our staff knows that a newspaper can have far more influence in a community than all its electronic competitors combined, and that only a newspaper can seriously aspire to be the conscience, and the goad, of a city, or of a state. In short, we see more opportunities than threats, and we re not wasting our time pining for the days of yore, or casting about for gimmicks. Today, if you read the regional and local press the papers that reach most Americans you ll sense something missing. That crucial ingredient is faith a widespread confidence that what we do matters.