An article in The Wall Street Journal today talks of all the free items available on the Internet today -- from music to video games to operating software, to sites like YouTube and Facebook. It discusses how that the standard online business plan until last year was to create a new site, get zillions of hits and lots of buzz, then sell. But that doesn't work today because investors aren't investing.
So the new plan is to actually develop cash flow from your online site, through advertising or paid customers for premium services (while keeping the basics free or other developing models.
It didn't mention online news sources specifically, but it seems to me some of the ideas that were discussed could be transferred to the news world, such as payment for premium services. (I know. The New York Times tried it unsuccessfully with its columnists, but that doesn't mean it couldn't work in a different format. I'm just not sure what.)
Saturday, January 31, 2009
A messy divorce
The ongoing feud between The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post over their joint operating agreement and the perilous financial situations of both newspapers became far more public last week when details of a letter accusing the Post's management of inappropriately using money in the JOA fund to meet its own payroll costs was published in the Rocky. Subsequently, Post officials said they would not print the Rocky if new owners take over.
The dispute appears to be getting more bitter as the economic situation for both papers declines.
For many years now, Denver has been one of the few major metro areas still supporting two dailies. And people have long expected that one of them would become extinct -- or at least online only -- by now.
The Rocky is for sale and, as publisher John Temple wrote today, "If no buyer is found, the paper very well may close soon, almost 150 years after it was founded."
I'd hate to see the Rocky fold. I've enjoyed reading it for more than 30 years. But the market will determine whether that happens or not.
The dispute appears to be getting more bitter as the economic situation for both papers declines.
For many years now, Denver has been one of the few major metro areas still supporting two dailies. And people have long expected that one of them would become extinct -- or at least online only -- by now.
The Rocky is for sale and, as publisher John Temple wrote today, "If no buyer is found, the paper very well may close soon, almost 150 years after it was founded."
I'd hate to see the Rocky fold. I've enjoyed reading it for more than 30 years. But the market will determine whether that happens or not.
Well endowed?
The op ed piece in The New York Times this week called "News You Can Endow" has raised new/old questions about the future of journalism.
They're relatively new in the ongoing discussion about how newspapers will work online, but the solution proposed has actually been around for some time.
The two Yale financial experts who wrote the piece suggest that conventional newspapers could survive if we "Turn them into nonprofit, endowed institutions — like colleges and universities. Endowments would enhance newspapers’ autonomy while shielding them from the economic forces that are now tearing them down."
As some of the reader who responded through letters to the editor to the piece have noted, becoming nonprofit entities wouldn't necessarily enhance newspapers autonomy. In fact, because of tax laws on how nonprofits may be involved in politics, it could significantly reduce the ability of a newspaper to make candidate or issue endorsements.
I have seen several specialty publications -- focusing on a narrow range of issues -- that operate as nonprofits. I think that can work if you're readership is a relatively small group of like-minded individuals, but it becomes much harder to sustain as a model for a general readership news source.
But I'm not a Yale financial expert.
They're relatively new in the ongoing discussion about how newspapers will work online, but the solution proposed has actually been around for some time.
The two Yale financial experts who wrote the piece suggest that conventional newspapers could survive if we "Turn them into nonprofit, endowed institutions — like colleges and universities. Endowments would enhance newspapers’ autonomy while shielding them from the economic forces that are now tearing them down."
As some of the reader who responded through letters to the editor to the piece have noted, becoming nonprofit entities wouldn't necessarily enhance newspapers autonomy. In fact, because of tax laws on how nonprofits may be involved in politics, it could significantly reduce the ability of a newspaper to make candidate or issue endorsements.
I have seen several specialty publications -- focusing on a narrow range of issues -- that operate as nonprofits. I think that can work if you're readership is a relatively small group of like-minded individuals, but it becomes much harder to sustain as a model for a general readership news source.
But I'm not a Yale financial expert.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
New Year, same problems
As the new year began, the litany of problems in the newspaper industry seemed only to accelerate. Familiar media chains facing mountains of debts and nearing bankruptcy. Others cutting back on staff of benefits like contributions to 401(k)s for their employees. Still more migrating toward the Web and away from print.
But it doesn't point to the death of an industry, just some very rapid and jarring changes.
This paragraph from Adam Reilly's Dec. 30 blog in the Boston Phoenix puts it pretty well:
"But the term "newspaper" has another meaning, too: it's an organization staffed with men and women who report and analyze the news for the public. Newspapers in this sense aren't about to go extinct. They are being reinvented, however. And judging from the almost unthinkable changes that transpired on the media landscape this past year — particularly over the past few months — this reinvention will reach unprecedented heights in 2009, with once-sacrosanct forms and practices being abruptly jettisoned and new models and methods assuming starring roles. As with biological evolution, some of this change will be beautiful, some of it will be ugly, and some of it will just . . . be."
The midsize daily I work for is for sale, and all indications are that a sale will be completed early this year. We don't know who the purchaser may be, but I certainly expect some changes.
One media expert quoted in Reilly's column said the first thing he would do if he took the reins of a midsize daily would be to cut staff severely, then hire people back or hire new people as additional revenue made that possible. That certainly makes sense from a business standpoint, but it emphasizes the cringe factor for those of us awaiting a sale.
Bottom line for 2009: The industry will continue to evolve rapidly this year, but most newspapers will survive in some form. I'm not sure whether my job will.
But it doesn't point to the death of an industry, just some very rapid and jarring changes.
This paragraph from Adam Reilly's Dec. 30 blog in the Boston Phoenix puts it pretty well:
"But the term "newspaper" has another meaning, too: it's an organization staffed with men and women who report and analyze the news for the public. Newspapers in this sense aren't about to go extinct. They are being reinvented, however. And judging from the almost unthinkable changes that transpired on the media landscape this past year — particularly over the past few months — this reinvention will reach unprecedented heights in 2009, with once-sacrosanct forms and practices being abruptly jettisoned and new models and methods assuming starring roles. As with biological evolution, some of this change will be beautiful, some of it will be ugly, and some of it will just . . . be."
The midsize daily I work for is for sale, and all indications are that a sale will be completed early this year. We don't know who the purchaser may be, but I certainly expect some changes.
One media expert quoted in Reilly's column said the first thing he would do if he took the reins of a midsize daily would be to cut staff severely, then hire people back or hire new people as additional revenue made that possible. That certainly makes sense from a business standpoint, but it emphasizes the cringe factor for those of us awaiting a sale.
Bottom line for 2009: The industry will continue to evolve rapidly this year, but most newspapers will survive in some form. I'm not sure whether my job will.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)