You are the media company CEO ...

IMO, the future CEOs on here who would go down swinging with in-depth coverage, quality feature-length stories and more opinion/analysis have it right.

One thing I'd add: Have at least a once-a-week features/lifestyle section written by and for local teens.

Believe me, I know it can be a pain in the ass to get decent content CONSISTENTLY out of high school kids. But at that age, they still live at home and will still read the local newspaper if it's something done well by their peers. And even though they act like it's "NBD," deep down they enjoy seeing their stuff in print and having people react to it.

We have a "South of 20" section every Saturday at our paper and we've had some really good columnists and writers over the years. Unfortunately, the good ones tend to move on to college or other interests. But we need future readers, and this is one of the better ways to get teens interested.

 

Speaking of future readers ... our paper recently put the kibosh on the tradition of donating papers to local school libraries, where, you know, future readers hang out. Seems absolutely brilliant to me.

 

The key with a "teen" section is to not just shovel shit into the paper and call it good. Shit can be called fertilizer but you still don't want it splattered on your shoes.

There should be some cultivation of the young contributors to improve their skills. Maybe incorporate them into coverage of school events by getting them to find sources among peers for bigger stories involving the school board, finances or the like. Actually, you know, work with the kids to help them get better, involve their ideas into "adult" discussions and spark readership among their own age.

 

-- I would talk to major advertisers and ask what they need to see in the printed page and online. If I am going to turn this around, it will be because of increased ad revenue.

-- Turn my website into a true local portal. Make it virtually guaranteed that the front page changes constantly. I don't mean take the same five stories nd have a programming code that randomly chooses which one gets top billing over an eight hour period. Create a system where as soon as the copy editor signs off on a breaking news piece, it is on the web. But my web editor is explicitly told: just because breaking news isn't broke by us doesn't mean it doesn't show up on the site. Rival TV station has a story that the star QB got busted for DWI? Put a link on the webpage. If a reputable news site has it, we need to link to it until we get our own story up. News isn't proprietary. Readers don't care who broke the news, they just want to read it. So we are going to turn our site into the place where if you hear a rumor, check our site. Drudge does so well not because of the rare times that he breaks news himself, but because if some newspaper or TV station out there breaks a big story, it will be on his site within the hour. He is an RSS feed of the interesting. We need to be an RSS feed of what the locals care about.

-- I think you can charge for premium content for things readers are fanatical about. No one is going to pay money for city council recaps. But if you own a paper in Boston, you can charge for premium Red Sox content. Pay 9.95 a month and get access to weekly chats with the beat writers, special analysis pieces that you aren't going to find in the newspaper and everything else that goes beyond reading a gamer and a notebook.

-- I would try to sell the printing presses and as part of the sales agreement, lock in a price for printing with the new owner. The newspaper gets a special deal -- we will be your best customer and get to pay at-cost prices. The newspaper deal keeps the lights on, the other print jobs make the profit.

 

What if you don't give them what they want? What if you put something in there they don't like?

Listening to feedback is important. We do that every day.

But specifically asking advertisers what they want or don't want? I wouldn't go there.

 

Crime and local political pissing matches are the way to go. Newspapers have downplayed both over the years, and it's hurt them.

I don't think a "slow read" paper is the answer. PM papers tried the features/analysis/columns route in the 1970s-80s and it didn't work. And now people -- if they remember those efforts at all -- will say, "Yeah, but ours will be good! Really really really good!" No it won't.

Newspapers have been chasing young readers since I was a pre-teen. It's NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Cover the prep sports and school boards for an adult audience -- some teens wil read it, and no fewer than if you geared it to them.

Why sell the press? When you own it, you print at cost. When someone else owns it, they need to make a profit off you, especially given that they just took out a big loan (if they can get one) to buy the press from you in the first place. And you lose control over your deadlines. And you lose the depreciation on your taxes.

 

I'm not asking the advertisers what story should lead B1. But how often does someone other than an ad rep get feedback from advertisers, especially the ones who don't complain as much as they simply cut back their ad buy because they don't see results. I want to know what they think will bring results.

 

Crime blotters, photos of nekkid women and sports.

Everything else goes to the Web.