Not for the faint of heart...

An enlightening, though depressing entry from a Los Angeles business blog. It presents more evidence (or at least logical arguments) that the newspaper business must change radically.

I agree that smaller-circulation newspapers and huge metros with a strong niche will continue to thrive. But there are serious problems of scale for the papers in between the New York Times and the Daily Republic in Mitchell, S.D. (The Republic has been successful growing circulation and does some good stuff on its Web site.)

Are layoffs a bad thing? Of course they are—from a personal perspective. But for business they are absolutely necessary. The business model has to change. I hate writing that, of course, but to maintain a viable business structure, newspapers are going to have to do more with less. This can be achieved through efficiencies in training (arming journalists with multimedia skills) and restructured priorities (in what subjects are newspapers going to invest their resources). As the Readership Institute has long said, revolution is required. Not just change around the edges.

Bad News
One reason even smaller papers can’t ignore the need for change is what is happening in Janesville, Wis. GM just announced it will close a plant there in 2010, which will have a significant impact on the local economy. The closure won’t be doing the local paper any good.

But if any paper can overcome this obstacle, it’s Bliss Communications’ Janesville Gazette. I’ve long been a fan of this progressive paper and got to know it well during my time at Inland Press Association (The Bliss family has been involved with Inland since it was founded in 1885). One of its leaders, Editor Scott Angus, is one of the best in the business when it comes to readership.

He wrote a column that pointed out the value of reader comments…some good points other can take and use. High-impact comments such as the ones he mentions should find more prominence on newspaper pages. Readers should definitely be in the spotlight more often—all readers, not just the same ones over and over.

Tip: Newspaper blogging advice, courtesy of Inland http://www.inlandpress.org/main.asp?SectionID=60&ArticleID=1393&SubSectionID=232

Tip 2: I’m a dunce when it comes to geography. To improve my knowledge, I use a slick feature in Tribune Co.’s RedEye edition. Its page of national and world news briefs uses locater maps—a must for international stories; probably not necessary for national ones. The only problem is that almost every day briefs are featured from France, Germany and China. There is usually a brief from the Middle East and then some from the U.S. (thanks for pointing out Minnesota). Needless to say, my geography knowledge is not getting better (though today I did memorize where Colombia is located). Advice: Please pay attention to where your briefs are coming from. Expand. There has to be news in Macedonia sometime.