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Career As A Newspaper Publisher
So you want to be a newspaper publisher! Newspapers are an important factor in informing the public. However, current and future readers are opting to go elsewhere for information and even for local advertising. Newspapers can either follow their lead, or they can bid them good-bye.
Jolted by sharp circulation losses, newspapers in America are trying to turn the situation around. Newspapers have convened focus groups, launched front page changes, and added larger, more stylish key boxes. Editors are calling for shorter stories, more art and graphics, and a livelier page-one mix. What does it all mean for a newspaper publisher?
Newspapers appear to be on a downward slope (in terms of revenue and readers), and newspaper publishers are working hard to keep newspapers from sliding into oblivion. Media in general is in a state of upheaval. Take a look at the projection of media less than ten years out, and the pace of change is accelerating.
The Big Three Internet Players. . . Google, Yahoo, and MSN’s creation of news services (which have long used the major news wires and have even begun hiring their own reporters), Craigslist's increasing ownership share of local advertising, and A-9's ongoing photo-mapping of every single U.S. storefront are taking over the market.
So, what is a local newspaper to do?
1. Be local, be relevant, be outspoken, be persistent, be consistent.
2. Stop being a newspaper with a website. Start being a web presence that also distributes via print. A newspaper’s web site should easily show up on the web. If a newspaper website is not showing up for readers, a newspaper will not have any readers in ten years.
3. Smart media outlets are making blogs their allies. Look at the editorial page. Pull from the best of local voices every single day and never go stale. Newspapers can gain and nurture these unique, local voices and gain the attention of the most voracious readers . . . the bloggers . . . . as well as their audiences.
A good example of a site designed to straddle the gap between blogs and media, to the advantage of both, is MSNBC. Some stories are set up, in conjunction with Technorati, to encourage blogs to discuss the topics being covered.
Want to increase the relevance and importance of the newspaper?
Become a resource for bloggers, a touchstone, a hub for stories. One way to do that would be to post videos. This would not be video pulled off TV but video snippets of local stories. Digital cams that can produce web-sufficient audio/video are inexpensive and small. Give a Flip Video cam to the reporters and instruct them that part of their job is now to capture their stories on video whenever possible. Sending a reporter to a CIty Council meeting? Take a cam along. Fire? Shooting? Interview with a visiting celeb? Cam it, and make the camera as routine for all concerned as a pad and paper. Do that, and watch the newspaper website become a hub for bloggers and for lively discussion.
Website Questions/Comments
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