I'm not a historian: the fall of print media - Reason 1, part one

This subject could have reams and reams written on it: but we don't publish it because we'd have to shrink the pages, find a way to get it up on the web before everyone else, do it with a writer who has no passion and no desire to deliver the truth, use editors who edit out of vanity - and must do so with an advertiser looming over shoulder; because after all, God forbid we could put a quality product that readers would pick up without the help of advertisers.

OK, maybe the state of newspapers would only take a graph from a blogger to capture.

Maybe not.

Like I said, I'm not a print media historian; I can only go on what I see, hear and know. Of course, my own cynic's filter is placed over it, along with that idealist nature, with a gentle stroke of passion for the topic.

I'll start by saying the 2009 situation has nothing to do with the 'economic meltdown' so the term has been coined. Has it helped? No. But it also isn't the catalyst for paper closures, either. Newspapers themselves are the problem. It's a big and broad topic, and I'll likely not do it the justice it deserves. But here goes:

(Let me preface this by saying this is only the first area I have identified, and by NO MEANS the only reason)

1.) Stop cannibalizing yourselves: Good God, folks. It doesn't take a bloody rocket scientist to figure out that you can't post the same material to the Internet that you put in the paper the next day. You immediately cut out that segment of readership from your print product. Duh.

Yes, people want their quick hits of news, breaking news hits and interesting tidbits - but they want the 'Twitter" version of it. They don't need all 500 words - they want 140 characters.

Why do you think text messaging and Twitter and Facebook IM have taken over as the communication method of choice? Because it's quick.

Newspapers don't GET quick. But they should. Is the Internet important? YES! But, it is only a portion of your audience, and it is a portion of the audience that is looking for specific things. They want their headlines, they want instant updates, they want games, contests and access to letters to the editor - but what the web reader doesn't want, nor need, is in-depth analysis.

I get regular updates from my own newspapers web statistics and we get tens of thousands of hits per month, but they only stay for two pages and their web stamina is very limited - down to only one or two minutes. Yet, our web teams spend countless creative hours trying to come up with ingenious ways to keep the readers on the page. (Of course, this is for advertising reasons. Leave it to the corporate head honchos to want to monetize EVERYTHING - which, I guess they should, because I do want to get paid. But, wait for my piece on the Myth about Advertising).

Here's the truth: Newspaper organizations across North America have dumped hundreds of millions into developing the best and latest in web and mobile platforms - yet they don't get the mileage out of it - because they cater to an 'instant-minded' readership, but are trying to apply old-school newspaper tactics to keep them engaged.

I have to laugh, because the very people (web development) who are designing the sites, are the very people that they are catering to - YES! Other web savvy people. They know what these people want, yet they are told to deliver something that old school management wants - face time with the computer.

Not going to happen.

That's enough for now. Part two on this topic will come later. Just remember: Web people don't want print news on their laptops, desktops or Macs. They want quick, they want to be in the know and they want it to be short.

Why doesn't newspaper management get that.

In the next blog, I'll show you why we HAVE to change the relationship between web and print immediately, if we are to save newspapers.

Birth of Journo 2.0

The year 2009, and for that matter, 2008, have been unkind to the newspaper industry. But, as my dad used to tell me: you made the bed, now you have to sleep in it.

Watching a steady stream of wire reports, twitter posts and print headlines extolling the doom of newspapers, and seeing a steadier flow of colleagues' job losses - wondering if I am next - prompted me to start blogging about it.

Call it stress management. Call it catharsis. Call it an axe to grind.

Hopefully, in the end - with the contribution of others - we can call it a solution.

Print newspapers have a place in today's 'instant-society'. And yes, I do believe a daily morning newspaper can survive in this world of instant news, split second headlines, e-mail, twitter, the Web, television and radio.

You probably think I'm one of the dinosaurs who helped get print media in this place to begin with - especially with my belief we can compete with other media. Or, you may think I am some greenhorn just out of J-school, hoping, begging, pleading to get a career out of a field many say is all but dead.

Actually - I am neither. I will admit to being an opportunist, an idealist, and a believer in doing things better and smarter than the other guys. I am a journalist, a writer, a media professional with a profound passion for what I do; and I am a person who believes that there is no better medium than newspaper to explore life in our respective communities.

Over the next several weeks, months, and maybe even years - I will explore journalism and print media as it undergoes a metamorphosis of sorts.

In the end, I believe you too will believe newspapers can survive - though I will pull no punches and I will show the reality of the other side, and why it doesn't work.

Look forward to having you join my journey - and if you like it, pass it along to other journalists and writers. Together, we can change journalism and we can alter the devastating path of newspapers across North America.

Are you up for it?

FdS