Post Mortem For A Dead Newspaper
from the looking-backwards,-not-looking-forward dept
John Temple, the former editor, president and publisher of the now shuttered Rocky Mountain News, has been running a great blog about issues from the newspaper industry over the past few months. He consistently has been saying stuff that made me wonder why the Rocky Mountain News didn't seem to do the sorts of things he seemed to constantly talk about... and now he's explained why. He recently gave a talk at Google about lessons from the collapse of the Rocky Mountain News in both text and video form. It's long, but well worth watching/reading:It seems like pretty much everything was based on looking backwards, not forward. There was little effort to figure out how to better enable a community, or any recognition that the community of people who read the paper were the organizations true main asset.
The talk is amazingly honest, coming from someone who accepts a share of the blame for what happened, and should be required reading/viewing for anyone in the media business, new or old. The same game is playing out not just in newspapers, but in a number of other businesses as well. Like the Rocky Mountain News, those businesses are looking backwards and defining themselves on the wrong terms, while newer startups don't have such legacy issues to deal with.
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Filed Under: failure, john temple, lessons, newspapers
Companies: rocky mountain news
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Oh my god how fricken stupid were these people?! They had a huge story. But instead of getting it to the people immediately via the web, they printed it on paper and delivered it via trucks so that everyone could read it the next day. This "news" paper deserved to die.
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faster media
For half the 20th C, newspapers admitted that TV got hot stories out to the people faster, but then trumpeted that they did a better job of covering the story with depth and context. The lag time required to write, print, and deliver were a feature, not a bug.
With the web, they could have had the best of both worlds: get something out immediately (as in the Columbine shootings) and then do a fuller analysis subsequently in the print (and online) editions. But that backwards-looking attitude prevented that happening.
I am somewhat encouraged to note that the Washington Post seems to be avoiding that trap, content-wise. But I don't think they are capitalizing on the potential ad revenue from their mobile edition they way they could be.
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Re: faster media
I think eventually the papers are going to become more textbook like in that they will be delving into the specifics of the key/popular storeis on the web.
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Hrm.
That points to a larger problem with institutions trying to adjust to change: the people responsible for managing that transition are almost by definition incompetent at the task.
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Rocky Mtn News
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Rocky Mountain ...
Next thing you know someone will do something stupid with Rocky Mountain Oysters
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In addition regarding a paid news subscription model
"The Rocky Mountain Independent, the second attempt by former Rocky Mountain News staffers to start an online news publication, announced Thursday that it will stop producing new content on Monday.
In a letter sent to "members" who had purchased an online subscription that allowed them access to certain features, owners of the website said they could not continue producing their product with their current revenues."
Obviously not enough folks were willing to pay for what is probably free on the web elsewhere.
When will they learn!
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Re: In addition regarding a paid news subscription model
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Re: Re: In addition regarding a paid news subscription model
I listened to the whole audio-video presentation as I had been a subscriber to the Rocky from the time I moved to Colorado in 1982 until delivery was stopped outside the Denver area and switched to the Denver Post. Temple gives 10 reasons why the Rocky failed. Perhaps the most important lesson to be learned is that one must pay attention to what your clientele wants. Charging a subscription fee for web site to reprint what can be found anywhere for free is not a very good business model and will be very difficult to attract advertisers for supplemental revenue. Value must be added. I'm not sure what that "value" may be, but lessons can be learned from successful web sites, particularly those without a fee. Find out how they are monetized, likely through advertising because the sites attract a large, interested customer base that is willing to respond to the ads. All this requires a great deal of creativity and not just the required technical and artistic skill at web site design - another of Temple's points. You can name a large number of successful web sites that have made its creators and employees rich because they had these talents.
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Re: In addition regarding a paid news subscription model
Take a look at http://www.rockymountainindependent.com/ I'm seeing the same recycled wire copy I can get anywhere.
Meanwhile, two free papers (the Westword and the relatively new Denver Daily News) were thriving long before the Rocky went into its death throes. Newspapers still have a valid business model, but step one is to provide unique and valuable content.
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It's the money, stupid!
The JOA certainly didn't help, either. Generally where one of those has been tried, the stronger paper has devoted itself to running the other one out of business. In Seattle, the Times recently succeeded in killing off the Post-Intelligencer, but the fight left it in such tenuous shape that it's not likely to last another year.
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audio
This may sound wierd, but all the content I steal from TPB has nice high audio that sounds great on my laptop. I actually think the overdrive the audio, but the net result is a good experience coming out of my tiny laptop speakers.
All the audio that I get from Youtube, etc uses some normal and useless audio levels.
I have to add this jab, but I apologize for it...
I think it ironic that your multimedia is disappointing me...
Take care
jp
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