dmn a weekly?

I still think this is where we're heading — printing only on weekends and have a 24-hour news cycle on the web.

And, if that's the case, from a reporter's standpoint, I think I'm okay with it.

One of the guys I work with always says "they'll always need someone to gather the news and write it up."

It sort of makes more sense the more I think about it.

I cover a college beat. Why not file from the game, have those stories sent straight to iPhones and Blackberries via RSS feeds, etc.? And, of course, post them to the web.

Then, keep printing on weekends just for the coupons, inserts, ads, etc.

 

Well, Pete, the reason you don't just let reporters write and post directly to Web is because most can't edit for shit. End of story.

 

Where did I say I'd post directly to the web? I said file, which means it goes to my editor like any other story. And then, instead of being typeset/laid out, it's sent in text form first to the web and RSS feeds.

 

Goddamn. One of the best papers in the country and it's amazing what Belo's done to it.

 

The reason you shouldn't be ok with it is simple - newspaper conglomerates are slowly turning the job of reporters/writers into nothing more than slave labor.

They're dumbing down standards for what is acceptable in print by slashing editing jobs to the bone and going to a web-first product where little things like proper grammar and spelling aren't important. And who wants to worry about pesky things like accuracy and sourcing? Run it and worry about it later.

And hell, how hard is it to write anyway? Anybody can do it. Hire a few kids out of college, work their ass off for peanuts and when the bitch about their pay can 'em and hire some more kids.

 

Ding! Ding! Ding! Business model!

 

pete, I think you're right - or at least leaning in the right direction. don't see this thing fixing itself in the next six months at least, and I think many will begin to cut days and go to web in order to stay afloat before long. I'm not sure if it stays that way whenever the economy bounces back, but I expect it may.

 

That sounds great. Costs can be drastically cut.

But with fewer print days, where does the company make up for the lost ad revenue? No one has yet found out how to make money through online advertising.

It might not matter, though. With only one or two print days, the suits would cut 75-to-80 percent of the newspaper's jobs.

I'm sure the company would pass those savings on to the reader. My guess is the print editions would be more like tabs or magazine-format that would cost $2 or $3 a pop.

 

Sadly, and no offense to my desking/layout colleagues, but fewer would be needed. If you're only printing three of seven days, those would be part-time gigs — and that means no benefits.