There was much made of the special
announcement today from the Detroit Newspapers (Detroit News and Detroit Free Press). Now, I don't want to sound too much like an armchair quarterback, but if anyone couldn't see this coming, then they aren't paying attention. Frankly, it was not nearly as bad as I expected. Here's the quick rundown for those that missed it:
- about a 10% reduction in staff
- "expanding the immediacy and impact of our digital services" (um, they haven't already???)
- stop home delivery on monday to wednesday and saturday
- continue to sell hard copies at newstands and stores seven days a week
I'm a little surprised they aren't doing more to eliminate the hard copies and looking harder for new revenue streams (well, that they announced anyway). If I were in charge, I'd be cutting the hard copies altogether for Mon - Wed. and Sat., and looking at new ways to deliver electronically, whether it be a subscription based access to hand-held wireless based electronics (like the
Kindle from Amazon.com) or via text to voice conversion and mobile streaming. All while offering options for reading reduced versions for free - sort of the movie preview model for newspaper articles. I also would expend a lot more effort on local news, local events and local calendars pushing the local connection, local opinions and local advertising! Leave the national news to the national competitors (except that I suppose most of the national news has been involving Detroit recently).
I don't recommend clients spend their money on newspaper advertising for the exact same reason that the newspapers are going to stop existing as they are (even in their revised format). They may be printing, but very few are reading.
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