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Ditch all websites

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by clutchcargo, Feb 5, 2010.

  1. clutchcargo

    clutchcargo Active Member

    lol. Ted Cassidy puts the pinch on Bill Shatner.
     
  2. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    One of my favorite posts of the last 2 years.
    In Twitter We Trust ... priceless.

    Really I would give up my job today if I knew all newspapers would fail tomorrow. I'm that sick of the morons who run this business. But I want them to be out of jobs, as well.
     
  3. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    An interesting theory, but it's pretty much impossible to get everyone on board with that. You'd have a 50-50 split at best and that would defeat the purpose.

    I agree there needs to be some way of charging for online information, but changing public perception 20 years into free sites is a big mountain to climb. Most of your average readers don't understand why they should have to pay a minimal amount to get reliable information.
     
  4. Wow. Ditch the Interwebs. Brilliant idea.

    Honestly, if newspaper folk weren't so darn afraid of the Internet and, you know, embraced it there could be some good things to come from it.

    Instead of ditching sites, here is a novel idea: Make them more than just a free port of the print product. We scoop ourselves but why? Because no one running this industry has realized that the online product and the print product should be distinct. We just post our stories online before they run in the print edition.
     
  5. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    Get over yourself. Newspaper folk aren't afraid of the Internet. Newspaper folk are way too into the internet. Newspapers have embraced the internet. That's the problem.
    I talked to somebody who said his newspaper is kicking fucking ass. That paper never changed its commitment to SELLING ADS. They are selling ads and doing great.
    Everybody else has given up. Yes his website charges money. Nothing is free.
     
  6. Are you serious? Newspapers have embraced the Internet? No, they haven't. Posting print stories online isn't embracing the Internet. The Internet is all about speed and interactivity. Check out most newspaper sites - they are stagnant most of the day and are basically just a rehash of the print product (although, usually put up before the paper is out ...). Doing one or two blogs and a chat or two isn't embracing the Internet.

    As I said if news organizations were smart they'd have two very different products: breaking news and interactive elements online and then detailed, in-depth analysis in the print edition. You can go after two unique audiences from the same newsroom.

    The Interwebs aren't a fad. Ignoring them won't make the problem go away.
     
  7. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Newspapers have done nothing but fall all over themselves to embrace every single web fad that goes around to appease people like you, who want to ignore the fact that there's no money in it.
     
  8. There is no money in it because the content is the EXACT same as the print product, just free.

    Will the Internet ever make as much money as the print product? No. But that doesn't mean it needs to be ignored and that it can't, at some point, make enough money to turn a profit.
     
  9. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    "At some point..." I've been hearing that for more than a decade now. How long does it need?

    And it's not just newspapers. Almost nobody makes money on the internet generating content.
     
  10. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    A) Without divulging state or corporate secrets: We do (our division is making money).

    B) Rushing to embrace fads isn't the way to do it; having a cohesive strategy is.

    C) There are a handful of newspaper sites that DO make money.

    Finally, I disagree with this as an absolute:

    Will the Internet ever make as much money as the print product? No. But that doesn't mean it needs to be ignored and that it can't, at some point, make enough money to turn a profit.

    -----

    Who knows what technology, both on the production and consumer sides, will arrive that will make this possible in the future?
     
  11. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Without divulging state secrets, does your division rely entirely on content created for your division by full-time, paid employees working under your division?
     
  12. NoOneYouKnow

    NoOneYouKnow Member

    Stain,

    I know where you're going with your question about relying solely on in-house created content, but that's not necessarily true for newspapers either. Papers are full of wire-service material, just like the CNN's and MSNBC's of the world have wire and in-house created content.

    The difference between papers and the Web media companies is that one is chasing it's tail and the other is staying ahead of the curve in technology (mobile, interactives, videos, etc.).

    Now, I believe newspapers could be doing the same, but instead have decided to turn a blind eye to it. They don't want to, or can't, make the investment to keep up, and instead think that charging for content will change everything. It might bring in minimal gains, but if they want to compete they need to invest -- not cut to the bone.

    Somewhere on here a person said Web companies aren't making money. I'd like some of that dope they're smoking. Many Web media companies are growing by leaps and bounds because newspapers decided the Web "was a fad."

    I guess to some it up, this debate is pointless because newspapers missed the boat -- for whatever reason -- and now have a very limited chance at full-fledged survival. The ones that continue on will remain to be a shell of themselves.
     
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