I love this business, but I am so depressed

dan, i don't think it's time to man up. i might even scurry like a rat.

 

Advertisers aren't just going to quit advertising. The amount of Internet ad revenue ought to increase as people stop advertising in print. The key, perhaps, is to direct them to the Web faster than they are migrating there on their own.

Also, it would help if some innovative soul might develop more ways to make money off the web product.

In many places, there will be no shortage of eyes looking at our newspaper web sites. The trick is to turn those web hits into cash.

 

I agree... But as soon as companies are satisfied that they can drive readers to their websites, they're not going to need to advertise in the print edition anymore... Once the companies like Best Buy, Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, the food stores, the clothing stores and the furniture stores decide that they don't need the papers anymore, the print editions may cease to exist at all... Will that day ever come? I don't know, but when papers have to go to advertisers every year and say, "Last year, our circ was 350K, this year it's 315K, that's not good...

 

Yes, one day there will be no print edition. That is inevitable. Again, the trick is to make money off the electronic edition, because that's where the money is. The sooner you can make money off the web, the better.

In one sense, it ought to be easier. Cybrerspace, in a sense, is infinite and free. You don't have to pay for newsprint. You don't have to pay for carriers. You don't have to pay for gas for your carriers' 18-wheelers.

It's more cost effective to run an Internet site than a newspaper. You just have to find ways to direct advertisers there to pay what's left of the bills.

 

As a news writer, I never worried about stuff like this. Maybe I just had a good editor to keep the bullshit away so we could report. With a little more than a year as a sports writer, I'm always concerned with page hits, downloads, how many ads the tab sold, how much it cost in overtime and paper and ink to put it out, stuff like that.

Right now, my paper is on a figurative island. However, Big Dick Daily and Channel "1" from 150 miles away is starting to move into the backyard and compete for those advertising dollars. There are rumors of bureaus forming. I wonder how long before the layoffs come. And frankly, I want to go back to the news side before that happens. The high school sports beat has got to be the most inconsequential that the paper has. It has been left unfilled before, and it will likely be frozen if I transfer or leave.

Sure, I'm scared for the future, and a lot of the situation is out my hands.

 

If your paper leaves the high school sports beat unfilled, that would be an incredible example of short-sightedness. At any paper of less than 100,000 circulation, I'd argue it's one of the most important areas of coverage to the readers; at larger papers, it's still near the top 10. Everybody identifies with it.

I'd love to see a day when the primary advertising channel is the web, and the paper product is presented to advertisers as the "upsell."

And, web reader, if you don't want to see ads? Fine. Pay. (Not unlike this place, actually.) Otherwise, accept the intrusion (not that they couldn't be made somewhat less annoying) as the price you pay for "free" content.

The thing that will be most important as the media industry moves forward is the writing. Good writing is good writing, no matter the delivery method. Yahoo Sports has certainly figured that out, based on the recent hires it has made. As a guy who made a pretty good living off the design revolution, I have to concede that some of that emphasis was misplaced. The words matter, and those who can string the words together the best will get rewarded, no matter how those words are delivered to the reader.