NYTimes: New Jersey altweekly flourishes…in print
December 24, 2008 at 10:57 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsNew York Times media columnist David Carr had an eye-opening article yesterday about TriCityNews, an Asbury Park, N.J. altweekly with a circulation of 10,000, a skeleton-crew staff, and an enviable profit margin at a time when newspapers — and magazines, as well — are seeing layoffs, dwindling revenues and bankruptcies. (Carr mentions Creative Loafing Inc. in the article.)
How’d Dan Jacobson, the paper’s publisher and owner, do it? In what would seem a suicidal move, he invested his energy and focus into the print “product” and saw it become an item readers clamored to pick up. He set advertising rates 10 years ago and maintained them, and in the process, developed a loyal list of clients. Most importantly, he says, he ignored the publishing pack’s rush to gain an online presence and completely ignored the web. (Look at the paper’s website.) It appears — in this case, at least — there’s something to be said about safeguarding your content.
Of course, as Carr writes, Jacobson’s working with much, much less in terms of circulation, manpower, coverage area and competition than most media companies. But the publisher says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
(It would be interesting to see how Carr’s article has upped the TriCityNews website’s pageviews. And for whatever disclosure is necessary: Carr is a former editor of the Washington City Paper, which is owned by Creative Loafing Inc.)
These are things to think about as media companies — thrust into a gut-wrenching spot because of readers’ changing habits (inevitable), the availability of multiple voices (that’s a good thing), and the impact of a piss-poor economy (aw shit) — struggle to find a way to pay writers, reporters and photographers to attend city council meetings, dig through mounds of legalese-laden documents, and take a dedicated look at issues impacting the communities of which they are a part. And in most cases, the work produced needs to help make a profit. That’s business and it’s understandable.
The TriCityNews uses one model. And it seems to be working in Asbury Park, N.J. For how long, exactly…well, no one really knows. But like a former editor here once told me: “Sometimes you need to do what no one else is doing.”
December 26th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Emphasis on “in this case.”
December 26th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
What I think Thomas makes a good case for here is, “followers trust the original author enough to retransmit the message to the audience who trust them” [as demonstrated in the Station Ranger Fire story linked to by the previous poster]. Regardless of whether the medium is print or online, its about trusting your source as a news content provider. Just as TV did not replace radio, the web will not replace print. All new mediums rely on and add value to other mediums. What’s remarkable about both of these stories is showing how communities form around news sources that are trusted and who will provide them with “different” content. The web just makes it easy to have an interactive conversation with like-minded people more immediate. That’s why I like cl.com, but would never pass up my paper copy.