Harrisburg Patriot-News to publish three times a week

Interesting thought, but I guess what I am thinking is that she could have just not slammed it, rather than embracing it.

 

Hang in there, Shotty. Fuck those guys.

 

Thanks, everybody. The good words do help a lot. I appreciate it.

 

First of all, I think Sara Ganin will still have a very successful career if she ignores my advice. But I would think that if a young reporter working at a shrinking midsized daily like Harrisburg could get a book contract they should go for it. The book would not hurt their resume and it facilitate a move to magazines or a larger paper.

I know of no reason that the changes just announced in Harrisburg will lead to a happier ending for staffers there than in Alabama or New Orleans. Given that staffers at the southern papers learned of the proposed changes by reading the New York Times I don't believe anything Newhouse is currently saying.

If she just wrote her notebook and nothing else it would offer a comprehensive chronology and I would be interested in reading that.

 

This ignores the fact that businesses need to plan years out, and make revenue projections for out years.

While they may be making profits now, if they forecast losses in the future, it's incumbent upon them to act now, and not wait until it's too late.

 

Ah, cool. You just meant that as her next move, not her ultimate move. Gotcha.

 

I may be wrong but I strongly feel that the great state of New Jersey will be next to fall for this three days a week ploy.

 

It doesn't surprise me that Ganim would embrace this -- particularly as the Patriot-News isn't being given a choice in the matter -- not only because of the type of person and employee she appears to be, but also because of the type of reporter she has shown herself to be.

As someone who likes to dig, and excels at it, and as someone who is obviously an enterprising reporter and who will be seen even more now as an enterprise/projects reporter than she might have even been before, perhaps Ganim would even personally prefer the wider windows of time between publishing that being a three-days-a-week paper will provide. Her strengths and suitability for certain stories would seem to lend themselves to this particularly well.

 

Going to three days a week doesn't mean Ganim or any reporter would do less reporting. It just means that less of the reporting will be read on paper.

 

Exactly. I think the publication frequency thing affects press people and circulation people more than it does the newsroom.

 

It affects people involved in production on the desk. Less than half as many designers needed. Fewer copy editors needed (because you don't have to spend any time making a headline or story fit for print). And there's no moving stories around between editions and changing all the specs.

 

Translation, welcome to the world of weeklies.