Redesigns - The future or the past?

(Brain cramp: I previosuly referred to the Orlando Sentinel as the Sun-Sentinel. Corrected 7/10. I apologize for the error)
Redesigns are certainly in the news as Tribune Co. revealed its Orlando Sentinel redesign. Some highlights:

• Design pushes the paper’s “stars” (columnists), presumably to add more personality and human connection.
  
• Local news, consumer information and watchdog stories are a priority.
  
• Alternative story forms are encouraged.

The design looks sharp to me. But what will the outcome be? With each passing day, newspaper redesigns feel like “too little, too late.” The Sentinel probably should have looked like this 10 years ago. Anyone that this design might have attracted has already moved on beyond newspapers.

Alan Mutter’s Newsosaur blog notes the tepid reaction to the design. Mutter makes some sobering points. One thing he fails to mention is that, typically, the complaint you receive represents one-sixth of the complaints that are really out there.

So flashy design might attract eyes and shorter stories might get some copy read, but it is unlikely that this will do much to save newspapers. I believe the newspaper’s focus on local news, consumer information and watchdog journalism can work with a more effective design to help newspapers…but even then, print will likely serve mainly as a supplement to the Web (or a driver to it).

The key here is reallocating resources. The cutbacks are real. The jobs are not coming back. But instead of driving the reporters that remain into the ground (and probably out of journalism) newspapers should hire freelancers for the small stuff and let the talented reporters do important, groundbreaking work; let them offer insight and analysis and entertainment. The sentiment is echoed at the bottom of this story analyzing the Sentinel redesign.

A logical argument from Robert Picard—Form follows function. Newspapers took the form they take now to serve a function from decades ago. Clearly, the form is not relevant now. Functions have changed.

Finally, some redesign discussion points from the Spokesman-Review in Washington.

Lessons from PTA

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged…the reasons are vast, but most revolve around a ramped-up PTA workload. We just finished our convention in San Diego, where I co-presented a workshop on “Websites That Work: Creating the Best Online Experience for Your Community.” Anyone interested in the materials can download them from www.pta.org by the end of the week.

The lesson I tried to impart on the attendees was that PTAs have an opportunity to become true community resources—not just repositories of information about the PTA itself, but a resource to help parents with their lives. Without getting into details, I was pushing the Newspaper Next “Jobs to be Done” idea.

I felt an ambitious local PTA could easily establish a website that fulfilled certain needs for information. I used this example: In every single community I’ve ever lived in, I have never found a central resource of contact information for all the government officials who represented me. I had to produce the list myself, referring to half a dozen different sources. A PTA—or any other organized group or individual—could do this easily. They would be one step closer to being a sought-after information resource…one step closer than, say, the local paper or radio station.

Much of the talk surrounding PTA communications was the same as with any other group catering to an audience. Print is old school. People want information delivered electronically. I had a long conversation with a woman who no longer reads newspapers. She gets all of her information and news online. She is not a Gen Xer—she’s in the generation that provides the bulk of newspaper readership now.

While I am not involved with the newspaper industry as I was with Inland, readership is still a priority for me. I still have readers and their needs must be fulfilled. So I have applied the same readership knowledge I learned in work with newspapers to my products targeting parents and PTA leaders.

We are redesigning and revamping both print and online products. We are integrating them both to supply readers/users with what they want when they want it. We are exploring social networking to continue pushing our information to those who seek it.

This is our strategy. Will it work?

Success in 140 characters or less

I might not have advocated this a year or two ago, but I say give up on young readers. They’re not going to use newspapers as they are traditionally produced.

The more I observe, the less likely young readers will pay any attention to newspapers. Media consumption habits are changing—people go online first for information, they communicate via Facebook, they text, they Twitter. These are all things we’ve heard. They also multi-task, which provides even less “mindspace” for news and vital information (pushed out, as they are, by quick, fluffy info-opiates). The computer is the habit, not the paper.

Newspapers have already given up, for the most part. They haven’t supported successful (if not profitable) ventures to engage young readers. They haven’t tailored any content to them. And they’ve pulled NIE papers from classrooms by the thousands. Why bother at this point.

Some cogent arguments for throwing in the towel were made at the World Association of Newspapers conference.

Notice, though, that I said young people are not going to use newspapers “as they are traditionally produced.” I think the following strategies will work for any age group of readers:
Fulfilling needs (“jobs to be done” – Newspaper Next – please, please read)
Producing information important and valuable to the lives of people (enterprise journalism, watchdog journalism, whatever you want to call it) plus necessary locallocallocal information.
Merging media to produce content when readers want it and in the format they most prefer (at the moment).

Shift priorities. Reallocate resources. Experiment. Revolutionize. Succeed. That’s the Twitter version of the key to newspapers’ success.

"Digest this - ways to find more time"

Some sharp insight and wise strategy from Doug Fisher's blog: Common Sense Journalism: Digest this - ways to find more time

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.