by Andy Brudtkuhl on August 4, 2009
We all know that the newspaper industry doesn’t get the web. They don’t get the economics of the link economy – and likely never will. Further more they are completely ignoring the power of the long tail – and specifically the long tail of content.
Raise your hand if your local paper purges their archives online! *raises hand*
From The Gazette
The Des Moines Register
I reached both of these today (obviously prompting this post) after trying to get back to articles I had saved on Diigo to read later. I cannot think of a strategic reason for this – it’s not like they are charging money to access the archived content. It’s simply not there. They are missing out on huge amounts of search traffic and wasting a plethora of inbound links.
Wake Up.
by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 11, 2008
In fitting timing for our series on the Future of the Media/Journalism – yesterday Diane Rehm had a panel on her public radio show discussing “The Newspaper Industry and The Future of Journalism“.
This week’s bankruptcy filing by the Tribune Company is the latest sign of trouble for the news business. A panel joins guest host Katty Kay to discuss how the on-going recession is affecting the already struggling industry and what it could mean for how Americans get their news.
Guests include Lauren Rich Fine, Director of Research at ContentNext; Rem Rieder, Editor and Senior Vice President of the American Journalism Review; Jeff Jarvis, associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism; and Bruce Dold, Editorial Page Editor for the Chicago Tribune.
[audio:http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/305/510071/98082653/WAMU_98082653.mp3]
by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 11, 2008
by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 10, 2008
Pete, the CEO and Co-Founder of real estate website Trulia, recently posted on his blog his “11 Point Plan to Save the Newspaper Industry“.
His points are:
- Focus on what you do best
- Develop and nuture your talent
- Socialize your content
- Quit, partner or outsource everything else you can
- Build a decent website
- Re-focus and re-invent your sales teams
- Link to your competitors
- Engage, manage, and nurture the community
- Build networks out of your assets
- Constantly re-evaluate your print strategy
- Radically cut costs
Read Pete’s “11 Point Plan to Save the Newspaper Industry“
Thanks to Chris Snider for sharing this post.
Catch up on GANB’s Future of Journalism/Media week here.
by Andy Brudtkuhl on December 9, 2008
Last week was a mess in the newspaper industry where news of layoffs at major papers filled the headlines (and still are). Well Alan Mutter sees harder times ahead as the industry gets ready to head into the hardest times in the history of the media industry…
Alan Mutter discusses “Where extreme cuts may come at papers“…
The list of potential expense reductions includes squeezing staffing, shuttering bureaus, carving out layers of middle management, telescoping multiple sections of the paper into one, tightening newshole, scrapping syndicated features and wire serevices, axing op-ed pages and book sections and eliminating classified ads on certain days of the week.
In other words, a newspaper that cannot sell enough advertising or cut enough expenses to sustain profitable operations is not likley to make it to the other side of 2009.
Where do you see the cuts happening? What cuts are your local newspaper taking?
