Potts: Get Ready for More Chapter 11s
The always-provocative Web-news pioneer Mark Potts throws in some fine commentary on the event of the week in City Paperworld. That is, bankruptcy.
While many like to draw distinctions between alt-weeklies, like City Paper, and big dailies, like the Washington Post, Potts enumerates the similarities:
Facing all sorts of new competition? Check. Classifieds decimated by craigslist, et al? Check. Declining display advertisers without finding replacements? Check. Aging readership? Check. Rising printing and production costs? Check. Failure to move quickly to the Web (despite a younger audience that's naturally Web-savvy)? Check–in fact, when it comes to the Web, a lot of alternative papers make large papers look like denizens of Silicon Valley.
Blogger Hamilton Nolan, meanwhile, comes up with a rad idea of his own–turn alt-weeklies into alt-monthlies. He says there's no need for a publication like this to do exactly what it's doing right now (blogging, that is). There are already enough bloggers in this city, says Nolan, so use your reporters to feed an awesome monthly publication. The solution, in his words:
Fuck an alt-weekly. Become and Alt-monthly. Keep the features. Take your time. Consolidate. Save on printing costs. Save journalismism. And try not to go broke. Your cities will thank you.
I can think of only eight reasons why this approach might not work:
1) Less revenue.
2) Smithsonian.
3) Less income.
4) Posting content once a month on a Web site isn't a very good recipe for traffic.
5) Less jack.
6) On Tap.
7) Less cash.
8) Washington Life.
10:42 am
City Paper was owned by folks who didn't owe a dime and owned the building that housed its headquarters. It was sold about a year ago to folks who now are a reported $40 million in debt and have to pay rent to the former owners for office space.
These new people didn't even get the damn building.
I'm no businessman, but I've seen nothing that convinces me to blame the newspapering industry for this particular paper's fast-track run to bankruptcy. Nothing.
11:14 am
But how else would Ben Eason have been able to talk to the "smartest guys in the country" who gave him the forward-thinking, 21st Century "great idea" to focus more on the Internet?
12:59 pm
No, we gotta go Alt-Daily, then Alt-Minutely, then Alt-Secondly. Then we branch out from the temporal dimension into the spacial dimension, and start aggregating restaurant menus. Then we turn the print edition into a continuously updated podcast, transcripts of which can be special ordered on delicate e-paper.
1:35 pm
I knew I'd see a reference to e-paper in your post, Will. What next? Toilets that flush without the push of a button? The ability to send letters through the air? Color television? Jesus, Mitchell, you're living in a fantasy world!
2:03 pm
When a libertarian tells you you're living in a fantasy world, it's time to pay attention.
2:28 pm
Somebody's resorted to phoning in his zingers!
4:20 pm
Erik seems to miss a point. It's not posting once a month to a web site, it's offering what remains of value: investigative journalism. If your reporters weren't spending their time blog posting about crickets in their elevators and had time to make phone calls and meet in parking garages with disgruntled politicos, perhaps they would produce product people would be excited to read.
Repurposing pointless web-drivel in print ain't gonna get you very far.
4:32 pm
BuzzKiller, I've a newsflash for you: Bernstein and Woodward would be a broke coupla jokes in 2008. The "pointless web-drivel" sells better than anything else. The trick is using the fluff to subsidize the hard stuff.
4:34 pm
Newsflash to Riggy: Fluff is all you're selling these days. And people can get that anywhere. Last I checked Woodward was on the best-seller list, breaking news.
Good luck with your "trick."
4:39 pm
"Uh, Earth to Brint, I was making a joke."
"Uh, Earth to Meekus, duh, OK I knew that!"
"Uh, Earth to Brint, I'm not so sure you did, because you were all 'Well I'm sure he's heard of styling gel,' like you *didn’t* know it was a joke!"
4:42 pm
Not to flog this one into the ether, but there are some severe differences between a best-selling nonfiction writing Woodward and the Woodward-Bernstein team from the 70s.
But books are a great parallel: how many well-written nonfiction books don't make the best-seller list? I bet the answer is similar to the number of alt. weeklies that won't be able to save themselves by meeting in parking garages with their sources.
4:46 pm
It's not my department, but I don't see the cricket post making it into the paper next week. Pick up this week's paper and you'll see what *did* make it in: an excellent lengthy post by resident cricket-blogger Angela Valdez on a D.C. judge who got the records on his domestic relations case sealed, with lots of background and a compelling narrative.
4:53 pm
Keep 'em flogging! And keep arguing against quality and in favor of fluff. It's the Creative Loafing way, judging by the other papers. Web-first can work, but not with endless YouTube re-posts. Dude, I already saw that -- on YouTube and 8 zillion other blogs.
Does anyone come here for the insightful reporting/analysis/criticism of Black Plastic Bag?
Thank you and good night.