Ann Arbor

So... let me get this straight. They're going online only and hiring actual reporters to do some of the work for less pay. But the main thing for this site will be "community bloggers" who don't get paid.
So here's my thing: These people aren't stupid. At some point, community bloggers are going to be like actual people and want to, ya know, get paid for their work. What then? It all shuts down? New "community bloggers?"

 

Yep. It worked before, it'll work again. Race to the bottom.

 

You nailed it. They'll just find free replacements. There's always somebody willing to BLOG! for free out there.

 

Hate to say it, Moland, but that's what inspires the four-inch erections for the suits these days: freelance employees in the office (Fuck their benefits? Yay!) and a revolving door of people they can get to write for free.

The emphasis is off the story the reader holds in his or her hand in the morning. The focus is on getting it done dirt cheap. And if there are some holes or -- yikes! -- blatant, disgusting, embarrassing errors in there, please call our newsroom reponse line at 1-800-EAT-SHIT.

*** Please note that your call might be monitored for quality control.

 

This will tank before Thanksgiving.

 

I call bullshit. How can anyone say this with a straight face 5 seconds after they announced cutbacks?

 

Checked out Craigslist lately? The number of ads for unpaid bloggers is staggering.

 

And people do it, because there are tons of people out there who want to be writers.

 

I spent an hour last night interviewing Tony Dearing and can clear up a few misconceptions.

I imagine when the site is fully staffed, it will employ as many, or more, professional reporters as the Ann Arbor News currently does (between 20 and 25, I'd guess), paying them between 30k and 40k with less generous benefits. They will prioritize sports, still travel with Michigan, and provide Michigan coverage for MLive and all the other Booth papers in Michigan. They are not planning to rely heavily on user generated content. Reporters will be expected to take photos, blog, post video and audio. They will be given wide leeway to write opinion.

So, where's the savings come from? Well, the News employs more than 200 people overall and more than 50 people in the newsroom (of which, again, probably 20 to 25 are reporters/photogs). I'd be surprised if AnnArbor.com has a staff that's 25 percent the size of the paper, and it might be smaller than that. And they'll be getting less pay and benefits.

I expect the majority of the staff will not come from the current paper.

More info in an interview with Dearing on my blog:

http://papertigernomore.blogspot.com/

I'm holding off on opinion until I process the whole thing a bit more. For the most part, I'm just very sad, and sometimes angry.

 

Another trend is toward unpaid editors. I see more ads for those each week, and not just on Craigslist.

 

I believe the student newsaper is a daily. Plus, both Detroit papers cover the Wolverines.

 

Keep in mind some freelancers have straight gigs where they do a lot of stories and know their stuff. I know what you're getting at, but not all freelancers are straight out of college with zero work ethic.