The Seattle Post-Intelligencer bit the dust today to be reborn as an online only edition. The San Francisco Chronicle is losing $1 million/week and if it dies I believe that Sanfran will be the only major city without a major newspaper.
(as an aside i think the loss of the Seattle Supersonics was covered more than the loss of the Post-Intelligencer.)
The advertising based model of providing content is dying on the vine. Today’s NYT runs a story about the dearth of blacks on television, using the cancellation of both wack DL Hughley’s and my man (Go Blue!) David Alan Grier’s shows to ruminate about the challenge of having a diverse lineup on television. But who wants to diversify a burning house? Television shows are based off of ad revenue. Again, a dying model. I noted yesterday that there’s no way in hell that you can use 10,000 bic lighters to replace the lights of a baseball stadium.
It looks like those lights ARE going out though.
For those in the creative narrative game this is going to provide a tremendous opening. Ed has it partially right. Augie has part of the picture too. But creating cultural democracy means nothing if there are no institutions powerful enough to keep government institutions in check through shining a halogen light on their insides.
I think it is a little stretch to say DL Hughley and David Allen Grier shows are a dearth to diversity due to the fact those shows were bad “Chris Rock”/”Chappelle Show” copycats that could not deliver.
I don't think the problem is advertising based – I think the problem is an old guard trying to hold on the “mass media” instead of multiple, effective verticals. These media outlets are still trying to cling onto their old definition of “mainstream” and reluctant to accept diversity.
I believe the opportunity is when someone (including a smaller firm) is willing to take on diversity as it really is, they will see a resurgence in advertising revenue.
I always found it funny that the editorial board of these newspapers are defiant in not representing the views/stories of people of color, the ones who make up the majority of the city population.
I didn't realize you link to my comments, thanks!
Doc during the 20s there were plans for a rail system but the great depression and WWll ended that endeavor;now this economic downturn has renewed that plan,but geographical racism has put a choke hold on this region, and now we must create a new business model and a rail system may not work in a urban farming landscape.
As you note, you can't use 10,000 Bic lighters to replace the lights in a baseball stadium. But who says baseball games have to be played at night?
The business model for commercial media is evolving, not dying. The closing of some traditional outlets who are slow or reluctant to adapt to prevailing economic conditions is inevitable. Oddly enough, I believe major newspaper outlets, including the Seattle P-I, are adjusting to the new demographic realities before our very eyes. The first order of business is to stop the bleeding; print circulation numbers and ad revenues are declining while online readership increases (!?!). Therefore, the logical thing to do is reduce or terminate the print operation. News coverage, in terms of scope and focus, is to be similarly altered. Ditto for the rate cards. Perhaps it no longer makes much sense for a full-service, mid-to-major daily to devote its (relatively) limited resources to national and international news content (and advertisers!) in a media environment with USA Today, various magazines (Time, Newsweek, etc.) cable and broadcast TV news networks, terrestrial radio, the Internet, satellite radio, and other mobile media. In such a contraction, a number of rank-and-file professional journalists will inevitably be kicked to the curb. I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing, :-D.
There's not really much evidence to justify your pessimism here, Les. Advertising and advertising sales shrink and expand roughly consistent with economic conditions — true — but advertising, specifically commercial advertising, is as fundamental to commerce as financial capital and credit. Every sponsor who backs off commitments to, say, the local daily, redirects their budget toward less expensive, more efficient activities. And they realize there are tradeoffs involved in ending accounts with the Baltimore Sun for a viral marketing campaign over the Internet. Money will be spent, regardless.
The real question is why are full-service, big city, daily newspapers still trying to play baseball at night?
ha!
here's the challenge. i do not believe that our past models are going to be very accurate in predicting what happens going forward. i don't assume that this is a normal correction, leading to a new equilibrium in which things will look more or less the same as they do now, with new tech driving the process. newspapers can and should cut their print operations if they lose money. but the service that newspapers perform at their best won't come back without an infusion of capital. i don't see that infusion coming. why would it?
I have to ask: do you believe the very nature of commerce is about to change due to an economic contraction? If yes, why?
I say values change, or more specifically, that which we find valueable changes, but the basic paradigms don't. Print display ads in most big city dailies don't represent the value to potential advertisers they once did. But access to tens of thousands of readers does. For many readers, $.50-$1.00 for information today that I heard, saw, or read in real time yesterday no longer has value. But access to information still does.
Racist Joke About Malkin Incident (Fox Sports 970) Inappropriate!
Pittsburgh Penguins standout and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin should answer to the NHL for his disgraceful hit to the head of Kings forward Wayne Simmonds in the waning seconds of the Penguins’ 4-1 victory over the Kings Friday at Pittsburgh.
Malkin got his left shoulder into Simmonds’ face as Simmonds was pursuing the puck, and the blow clearly dazed Simmonds for a few seconds. It was a needless, senseless play seconds before the end of a game that had been decided — and it’s exactly the kind of shot to the head that the NHL claims it’s intent on ending.
Wayne Simmonds is a professional ice hockey player, currently playing as a right wing for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is one of a small number of black players in the league. A right-handed shooter, Simmonds was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, 61st overall.
It’s inappropriate to recite the racist joke that the men at Fox Sports 970 decided to share about the Malkin incident Saturday evening. In short, they thought it was hysterically funny to make a racist joke about the NHL being racist, the color of the puck, and the like. It obviously likens Wayne Simmonds to a hockey puck and played on a long-standing African-American racist slur.
To Pittsburgh’s absolute shame and regret no one made a fuss about how inappropriate the racist joke was. As a city we should do something more! But, what?
Apparently, Fox Sports 970 wanted tongues furiously wagging, enraged emails, letters and phone calls pouring in. Now they will put forth the predictable defense calling this a parody, a free speech right, and harmless spoofery.
George Lopez, D.L. Hughley and Eddie Murphy all talk about race in their jokes. However, they understand the fine line between what is funny and what is truly offensive. People who don’t get this go into entertainment purgatory and pay for their sins. Can you say Don Imus?
Will Simmonds get any justice?
Similar to the drawing, from famed cartoonist Sean Delonas (a cartoon likening the author of the stimulus bill, perhaps President Barack Obama, with a rabid chimpanzee graced the pages of the New York Post), the Fox Sports 970 racist joke was rife with violent imagery and racial undertones.
Nonetheless, the most important question? Does the NHL apply equally to grunts and superstars.
No consideration should be given to the fact that the Penguins are in the thick of a playoff race. Malkin should have considered that before he delivered that very dangerous blow to Simmonds’ head.
First known as “970 The Burgh,” today, WBGG-AM calls itself “Fox Sports Radio 970.” It is one of the premier destinations for Pittsburgh-area sports fans, serving as a flagship for the Steelers, Penguins and University of Pittsburgh Radio Networks.
toddelliottkoger.blogspot.com
It’s not the artform, it’s the delivery mechanism? http://t.co/8dPmUjhS