5 Comments Add your own

• 1. Horatio Alger  |  April 10th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

  OK Anna, I got a couple of thing to say about this.
  First, a question. I agree with the notion that newspapers need to “take risks” and “be different” online. Can you explain, then, why most newspapers are doing everything but? All I see are newspapers trying to copy ideas that are more successful elsewhere: i.e., You Tube by posting videos, Facebook/MySpace by creating social networking capability. Not only that, but if the goal is to “be different” why are many newspaper chains homogenizing their look from paper to paper? Is that ‘different?’

  But secondarily, is this guy’s perspective really that helpful? “Think of your publication like a Beatles song…Bring your A game.” Huh? Citing cliches is going to supposed to inspire the industry to greatness?

  Sorry, but I am hoping you and people like you have more visionary role models than a wannabe singer.

• 2. Anna Voelker  |  April 10th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

  Horatio,

  Fair criticism. I’ll try not to respond with any lame cliches.

  I am not suggesting David Cook be our role model … nor is Shawn Smith. What I liked is how Smith likened Cook’s experience on ‘Idol’ with what journalists need to be thinking when it comes to the Web.

  You’re right. There are a lot things we do that isn’t different. But you’ll see is a lot of medium-size and smaller newspapers are using the Web to capitalize on local-local news. That’s what we can do better than anybody else. Adding social networking, video and other things like it — but on a local level — is adding something to our sites.

  Are we perfect? No. We do need to take risks, get creative and do things differently. I welcome your suggestions. What would the perfect news site look like and have that’s new and different?

  Anna

• 3. Horatio Alger  |  April 11th, 2008 at 10:29 am

  Hi Anna,
  That’s a fair question. It is easy to stand on the sidelines and lob mortar shells. In general I don’t have a philosophical problem with using well developed tools (video, blogging, social networking.) It’s just that I am not sure I see newspapers trying to develop them, and use them to their advantage, to advance the mission. And, I would agree, focusing on local is the best way to go. But what I see happening, and fear for your business, is spreading yourselves too thin. I don’t know you’re situation but I imagine you have many journalists who are going a mile wide and an inch deep these days.

  My feeling is the newspaper business needs to remember what made it great - and that is, helping people make sense of their lives, to provide not just raw information and data, but knowledge.

  This to me involves using the new tools to their fullest extent. For instance, have you seen the website PBS created to promote their recent two-day series called “Bush’s War?” Apparently more people are experiencing the show (in various forms) via the web than watched it. It contains video versions of the show, interview excerpts, full transcripts of key interviews, timelines, etc.

  The only thing preventing newspapers from doing this is money. You have the heritage, the skills, the passion to reinvent local reporting to make more of an impact via the Internet than you ever could have in print. But to do that takes investment. At some point, someone in the business is going to have realize, you cannot cut your way to success.

  Keep up the good fight. And, you’re absolutely right to advise people to think differently.

• 4. Anna Voelker  |  April 11th, 2008 at 10:51 am

  Horatio,

  You’re dead on, and I appreciate your thoughtful response. One of the things we have started using in our newsroom is this phrase: “Web only.” The idea is to force ourselves to think about what we will do with content (words, photos, graphics, video, databases, etc.) if there was no newspaper to publish each day. When we do this well, our Web sites will be better and ultimately, so will our newspaper and any other products we publish.

  The struggle newsrooms have is obvious. The largest part of our revenue comes from the core, or the newspaper. While online, special publications (like magazines) and commercial printing are growing segments of our business, they don’t equal the core. That’s not to say that they one day won’t equal or surpass. In the meantime, however, you have to find a balance. You still need to generate revenue for the core while working on ways to boost revenue on the sides of the business that are growing.

  So, I hope you’ll continue to watch what we’re doing and offer your input. I am excited by all the possibilities and try to look at what’s happening in our industry differently. Like you said, there are things that we can do online that we can’t do in print. And nothing really changes about the journalism. Our jobs are still to distribute news and information. The platform shouldn’t matter. And I’m with you on providing knowledge and making sense of our readers’ lives. Our job is also to give voices to those who don’t have voices.

  This is a great biz. And what we do is important. Stay tuned.

  Anna

• 5. Horatio Alger  |  April 11th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

  More cheesehead pictures. That’s what we need. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

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