[CQ-Contest] ARRL report on line scores decision

[Walton Stinson, W0CP]

Now that the changes to QST are official policy, I'd like to explain why it happened, what it means, and why I voted as I did.

Ever since the League started doing readership surveys, we have known that
section news and contest line scores have very low readership. We also know
that they serve an essential function, that's why we have kept them. Several
years back, when we began our WEB initiative, we were hopeful that the web site would eventually reach a level of sophistication and member acceptance that
would allow it to take over some of the "narrow casting" that we have been
forced for so many years to squeeze into QST. We realized then that the WEB
could potentially do a much better job of providing special interest member
communications, since it would be free from the severe restrictions on space
and the deadlines that go along with being in QST, thereby freeing space for
more feature articles in the journal. That day has now arrived.

While this will allow us to reduce our page count, to call this a cost
saving move would miss the real point. This is not a short term cost saving
move that was just thought up. We have been considering this for at least
five years. It is a common sense business decision that makes sense outside
of any cost saving considerations. QST is our most tangible member benefit,
and it's also a general interest magazine (we support some significant special
interests with NCJ, QEX, the WEB, and the DX Annual). We must give our editorial staff the ability to choose  material for QST that is going to have the
greatest overall appeal to our membership. We know that section news and
contest line scores are important to publish, but pages of numbers and callsigns don't have much general appeal. Even those who are regular readers are likely to read just a tiny part of the coverage. Yet, together they consume over 170 pages each year. Those pages are worth $4,437 each. Do the math. This is not a trivial allocation of League resources. 

Today, we are doing a better job for section news and contest results on the
WEB than we ever could do in QST, and we've just begun. It's simply a more
appropriate medium for delivering the info.We have an exceptional web site,
staffed by real pro's.  For contests, we can release results months sooner,
and in searchable, sortable data base files. Now, we will have the freedom
to focus on the how, why, where, and fun of contesting in QST, rather than
publishing rows of numbers and call signs in tiny print. Now, we can use QST
to provide articles about the most interesting section or contest
activities - articles that will actually be read by most of the 160,000 hams
who receive the publication. We will actually have the ability to promote
these activities through expanded feature stories.

There are some who will view this proposal as a sign of decreased support
for contesting or section activities. That is definitely not the case. This
is simply a change. As both management and the board know from experience,
change does not occur easily at the League. Whatever the issue, there is
always a vocal minority that prefers things to stay as they are. And that's fine. Changes like this shouldn't be easy. However, change is absolutely necessary for the continued success and viability of any organization, including the League. We now have the opportunity to improve our reporting of section activities and contesting, while also improving the value and quality of QST to the majority of our members. Let's make the most of it.

73, Walt W0CP
ARRL Director (RM)
(and past chairman of the Contest Advisory Committee)




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