The daily newspapers owned by the conglomerates have failed to serve the local market, and instead serve up cheap, stale wire news. Why should I trust a newspaper headquartered in Asheville to serve up quality news about national issues? I go to the Times or the Journal for that.
Most newspaper’s business model is as outdated as this clipart.
Likewise, I wouldn’t trust a national newspaper to tell me about local sports scores, local business news, local features, etc. I go to the Mountain XPress for that. Here are three observations and recommendations, partly inspired by the XPress.
- The key to success in this third age of newspapers is to only cover the region where the readers actually spend their time. Where they eat, work, shop, commute and reside. This is what’s missing. I don’t just mean endless slide shows of holiday parades — I mean actual, investigative reporting on local issues, compelling features of local successes, sprinkled with a few more “this is how we fit in the world” stories that broaden the scope into the wider context of our region, state and nation. National news should not be “how many Senators voted for the stimulus” it should be “how does the stimulus actually affect local institutions and governments?”
- Tight integration with online tools will help get the real product — not the 1/2 pound of ink and paper but the local reporting, the original can’t-get-it-elsewhere information into the pipeline and in front of people however they choose. RSS newsreaders, Twitter and other tools are now accessed by people on their cell phones and homes. Information is cargo, so embrace all of the delivery methods.
- Where there are eyes, there will be advertisers. Advertising will follow. Don’t worry about it. Concentrate on your original content. However, I do see a role for national ad organizations that newspapers buy into so as to still be able to access the national advertisers that would otherwise ignore the under-50,000 viewer markets.
Every time I see a national headline on a local newspaper, I see the death of that business model is yet a little closer. The endless katamari of the national conglomerates has expired, and the quicker they die the better. The long slow decline has accelerated, and there are opportunities to be had for nimble organizations that have the cojones to adapt quickly.
Do you have examples of good implementations of the new old media? Here are my two local favorites:
- Tryon Daily Bulletin (for its print edition)
- Mountatin XPress (for both web and print)
And please, poke some holes in this and give me some other perspectives — I’m continually shaping my outlook.
UPDATED: Slappy slappy slap! Somebody from the Tucson area really did record it: www.comcastsuperbowlporn.com
Ok, now read this:
Porn interrupts Super Bowl broadcast in Tucson
By Alex Dalenberg, Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.02.2009Tucsonans watching the Super Bowl got more action than they bargained for when a short clip from an adult movie channel interrupted Comcast’s feed with full male nudity during the final moments of the game. Officials at Comcast said about 30 seconds from Club Jenna, an adult cable television channel, were shown on the local Super Bowl telecast. The company was still working Sunday night to figure out how it happened. Comcast had “no idea” at the time it happened how the porn may have gotten into its feed, said Kelle Maslyn, a company spokeswoman.
The Star newsroom was flooded with calls from irate viewers who said that the porn cut into the game with less than three minutes left to play, just after Arizona Cardinals player Larry Fitzgerald scored on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to put the team in the lead. Callers said that the clip showed a woman unzipping a man’s pants, followed by a graphic act between the two. “I just figured it was another commercial until I looked up,” said Cora King of Marana. “Then he did his little dance with everything hanging out.” Jeanene Piek said she was outraged that her granddaughter had seen the clip. “I was in a state of shock. I am totally disgusted,” she said.
The Super Bowl was being shown locally on KVOA. The station sends its signal to Comcast through a fiber line, said KVOA News Director Kathleen Choal. KVOA’s signal didn’t have porn on it when the station sent it over to Comcast, station president Gary Nielsen said. The company will continue to investigate what happened to its signal, Nielsen said. Engineers at Comcast will be working throughout the night to determine what happened, Maslyn said. The porn broke into the standard-definition feed reaching analog TV sets. It appears the porn only reached homes in the Tucson area, but Comcast did not know exactly how many homes were affected, Maslyn said.
Comcast’s high-definition feed was not affected. Maslyn did not know how many homes were affected.
Comcast is the second-largest cable-television provider in Southern Arizona and serves more than 80,000 customers in unincorporated Pima County, Marana and Oro Valley.
Comcast has set up an e-mail account to take feedback from concerned customers. The address is comcasttucsonfeedback@gmail.com.
I obviously was not in Tucson, but this is pretty awesome. I don’t know why they published that e-mail address, because I definitely had some feedback for them.
Dear Comcast Tucson,
Thanks for the extra treat during the 4th quarter — definitely helped me and the boys celebrate (temporarily at least). Just when I thought that TV programming was going down the tubes you guys pull this out (no pun intended). I know some people think you committed a “Cardinal” sin, but we’re all mammals – what’s the big deal? It’s reasons like this I haven’t switched to satellite yet. Brad’s 14 year old twin boys thought it was the “awesomest thing ever,” and my aunt Claire got all bothered and went out for a night on the town for the first time in 15 years. In fact, I think I may have a new uncle soon! Is there anyway I could get a recording? I’d love to put this in my family’s video scrapbook — I just had a son a week ago and this was his first Superbowl. Thanks again and keep up the good work!
– Andrew Fletcher
Yeah, this is my sense of humour at work. I mean that literally, I’m actually at work right now.
Some fear debut of powerful atom-smasher — CNN.com
Let me take the minority view on this one. So… what if we do actually destroy the earth by building a machine of this power? Perhaps every intelligent species has had the technology to build such a thing without the corresponding ability to accurately model what it will do when they turn it on. Maybe we’re about there’s a cosmic corner that you just can’t peek around without taking a leap of ill-founded faith. There could be a point that all civilizations reach where they self-destruct because the laws of physics are bent too far by inexperienced hands, turning curious societies into a tragic stream of dead worlds. Maybe that’s why we’re “alone;” it’s because everyone else committed technocide.
I can’t wait for them to turn it on! I’ll throw a party!
