Entries from Lucas Grindley's blog | Exploring the new way for journalism tagged with 'Punditry'
Not even bargain hunters want a newspaper, NYT says
In the category of "signs newspapers are about to die," the New York Times reports: "While all publicly traded newspaper companies have seen their share prices fall in the last year — drops of 50 to 70 percent are commonplace...
Newspapers hear the fat lady warming up her voice
Maybe if there wasn't an impending recession, then newspapers could have skated past the thin ice protecting them from drowning in red ink. If advertisers still spent like during the boom days, then the latest report from Borrell about which...
Valleywag says what I've said forever about Google News
This warning should sound familiar, except this time it's coming from the lips of the venerated Valleywag blog instead of mine. Maybe now you'll listen! "Marissa Mayer, the Google executive who runs all the parts of the search engine, just...
Just give up (some things), Jarvis says
Editors note: After reading my post, Jeff Jarvis claims he's not advocating outsourcing your Web site ... just the CMS. That's not what I gleaned from the following quotes, but we'll take his word for it. Jarvis quotes Bob Wyman...
Copy Editor vs. The Computer
Amidst a long memo announcing staff cuts and reorganization, The Morning Call lets it slip that copy editors are slowly being replaced by a glorified computer spell check. As someone who supports new technology, I can't argue against the logic...
Portfolio speculates on sale of Drudge Report
Taking my advice on which Web businesses are prime for purchasing by media companies, Portfolio called a panel of experts who speculate on just how much Drudge Report is worth. The bottomline suggested price was $10 to $20 million. That's...
In 2008, I resolve to be as right as PaidContent says I am
PaidContent.org reports that my punditry is dead-on accurate in numerous areas . . . or something like that. Here's the story about why JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan says Web revenues are set to skyrocket. A roundup of my earlier predictions...
List of businesses to buy expands for first time
It's official. Here's the first-ever addition to my list of businesses newspapers should buy: PerezHilton.com. Keeping with my earlier rules to qualify, the prospect must not be some new whiz-bang gadget. It should be content that just works online. And...
Orlando Sentinel cuts NASCAR, focuses on local sports
In a memo to the Orlando Sentinel staff, NASCAR coverage was officially cut today. "With the increasing demand to produce local news, we've decided to eliminate our national NASCAR coverage and focus more on local sports coverage," it states. This...
A fantasy Google profile
The biggest surprise in social networking is the missing player at the table - Google. And if the user profile page is the backbone of all social networking, then what would a Google profile page look like? Google should expand...
As the sports writers leave, so too might the sections
This is the time of year for predictions, so here goes. During 2008, at least one newspaper will collapse its daily standalone sports section into the rest of the paper, conceding that it can only compete on local coverage and...
Perhaps my clearest I-told-you-so yet
I've been so busy I forgot to shout from the mountain tops (or at least this little blog) my favorite phrase: "I told you so!" Google News replaced those links that send loads of empty traffic to your sites with...
Final closing bell nears for standalone business sections
Business and features sections are to newspapers what art and gym classes are to public schools -- the first to go when the budget gets tight. The latest in a long list of examples is the Winston-Salem Journal, which cut...
Laid-off reporters, editors look to independent sites
Back in April, I made what should be a low-hanging-fruit type of prediction. Here's exactly what I said: "I envision a time when struggling newspapers cut budgets and reporters, who then unite to start their own rival Web sites." Later...
Google could be waiting to use AP content
When I first heard about Google buying rights to all Associated Press content, I thought for sure that meant Google would stop linking to all those AP stories on newspaper Web sites. After all, then they can keep millions of...
AP predicts never again – again
After Sam Zell bought the Tribune Co., the AP wrote a story about how very unlikely it was that anymore newspaper companies would change hands. Now with the sale of Dow Jones to tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the AP is back...
Ad rates to climb sharply, so says me
Advertisers, prepare for rates to go up. And I’m not talking about in print. If newspapers respond to market demands, the amount of money it costs for a simple banner ad is about to jump dramatically. Just guessing on the...
As papers close down, opportunities pass by
Time to check in on a prediction Wired magazine made (and I seconded) at the start of the year. Wired said a newspaper will combat revenue declines by ending print publication and going online-only. An opportunity for that change is...
Prepare for salary cuts across the board
In what is sure to become a trend across the industry, The Daily Herald out of Chicago cut all employee salaries by 5 percent to combat falling revenues. Plan now. Many of you will make less money in the near...
Google pays triple for Doubleclick
Beginning to contemplate how Google might leverage ownership of Doubleclick will quickly give you a brain cramp. Possibilities are endless. A story at washingtonpost.com focuses on how the combination could affect online advertising. "It has been our vision to make...
Fired reporters start boring Web site in protest
Eight reporters fired from the Santa Barbara News-Press have created their own Web site to compete against their former employer. The firings are the effect of a crazy labor dispute with the publisher. Still, I envision a time when struggling...
List of businesses newspapers should buy
Newspapers should be buying their online competitors. But too often when newspaper's open their wallets it's to invest in trendy gadget sites (ones that don't produce content but offer a nifty tool for reorganizing it). Instead, buy content that just...
Expect the newspaper fire sale to begin
For months now, I’ve said more newspaper companies will consider going private as a means to escape pressures from Wall Street and the rollercoaster of financial instability brought on by ignoring their expectations. As we all know, Tribune Co. accepted...
Private ownership a temporary solution
The Washington Post reports that newspapers will increasingly be the target of private ownership because it provides a layer of protection from the ups and downs of Wall Street shareholders. Sound familiar? It should. I said the very same thing...
Newspapers can go online-only and pay the bills
Howard Owens disagrees with Wired Magazine’s prediction that a major newspaper will stop printing and go online-only in 2007. Although Wired’s punditry might be a little overly optimistic, Howard’s rebuttal is equally pessimistic. Howard alleges that newspapers can’t possibly support...
Can I just call this, I told you so?
What have we learned from the sale of the Star-Tribune to a private equity firm that was just created in 2005 by a bunch of richie-rich business men? 1) Newspaper industry analyst John Morton told the Associated Press that newspapers...
Fresno Bee let competitors get too Famous
Much to the chagrin of its users, community Web sites Fresno Famous and Modesto Famous were bought by mainstream competitor, The Fresno Bee, for an undisclosed amount of money. Buying a competitor is a last resort. So one can’t help...
Careful or you’ll miss the real lesson
Something about the Washington Post’s story on the “mojos” at Gannett got journalists in a tizzy. Mobile reporters at the Fort Myers News-Press work out of their cars, filing several times a day to the Web site, without editing. Interesting,...
How was your Black Monday?
On Monday, newspaper Web sites got an indication of whether they’re efforts to brand themselves as outlets for local shopping are working. The Monday after Black Friday is one of the year’s biggest days for online shopping traffic. Coincidentally, online...
Reassign beats now, or cut reporters later
In earlier posts, I’ve warned about the impending consolidation of coverage. And here’s a real-world harbinger. The managing editor for the Winston-Salem Journal was faced with the need to cut his budget. And when looking around the newsroom, he saw...
Next Steps
Obviously this report doesn’t have all the answers. Questions abound. Would a newspaper like this comply with ABC standards? What kind of equipment exists to deliver a personalized newspaper? How does this affect Accounting? How does it affect the way...
If you let me choose, I will let you help me
It is usually a veteran editor who makes the argument against the “a la carte” news idea. “If readers are allowed to subscribe only to the news they want, they won’t get the news they need,” or so the thinking...
Stop Wasting Paper
Newspapers are one of the most inefficient products on the planet. Companies spend thousands of dollars every edition to print pages and hand deliver them to subscribers who just throw them in the trash bin. The truth is not everyone...
Zoning by Interest
Readers want more coverage of the things they’re passionate about, but our passions vary. In response, newspapers depend on mass appeal. Topics that interest the majority get covered more than those that interest a few fanatics. The result is a...
Drop the price
Looks like someone else over at brasstacksdesign.com has a set of “new rules” for journalism. My rules are much broader lessons to live by. Brasstacks offers what feel more like steps. And Step. No. 6 is “drop the price.” Most...
Can this be done?
(Last installment in “From good to great” series) Consider the infamous “Innovator’s Dilemma.” As a company’s main source of revenue dries up, it takes deliberate leadership to reallocate jobs and money to those areas of immature but growing revenue. Those...
Need for immediate expansion
(4 of 5 in “From good to great” series) At the Associated Press, the Web staff of 10 multimedia producers is so overwhelmed that the duty of posting breaking news is being transferred directly to desk editors. JSOnline.com has already...
Tactics for transferring ownership
(2 of 5 in “From good to great” series) Models that help the newsroom take ownership of its Web site are already emerging. And they can be adapted to benefit the television partner, as well. With interests in the Web...
From good to great
The rare opportunity presented any Web site to become an industry leader and serve its readers better than ever before. A one-time opportunity to dramatically increase Web-exclusive content and television convergence is here, but only some journalism companies will recognize...
The 7th Step; Beyond CraigsList
Newspapers should take what they know about their kryptonite and use it against each other. Remember Rule No. 1. “If newspapers are going to survive, first some must die.” Maybe even more than most industries, newspapers spend time identifying and...
How Newspapers Can Survive CraigsList
The six steps to overcoming a disruptive business model and creating a new one to live by. With CraigsList in your market, the time for hand-wringing and worrying is over. It’s time to do something. So far newspapers like mine...
Syllabus for 'The New Way'
The New Way for newspapers comes with a few “new rules,” as Bill Maher likes to call them. Only these are serious. 1. If newspapers are going to survive, first some newspapers will have to die. And it’s every man...
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