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MediaNews execs: We'll no longer give away all our print content to web users
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Local.com clarification
Posted by Bernie Fischer 5/15/2009 4:14:53 PM

MediaNews Group�s reference to Local.com was intended to signify the �code name� for this initiative and is no way associated with or will be marketed under the Local.com brand that exists.

Bernie Fischer
VP Marketing
MediaNews Group

Long overdue
Posted by Martin G. Reynolds 5/13/2009 3:43:49 PM

I agree, without buy-in from the other large newspaper companies, this could be difficult to achieve. But I for one have been calling for this kind of action for years.
It boggles my mind why we give our content away. What ever steps we can take to get value for what we do, I am 100 percent for it.
Even if this initial effort falls flat, let us hope it gets the attention and traction from the public and our peers to embark on similar efforts and make this the norm online rather than some exception.
The key here will be the development of a very slick interface that doesn't make paying hard to do. We must invest in the technology to make this easy or we'll be shooting ourselves in the virtual foot, again.

M.

Burying the lead
Posted by Neil Budde 5/13/2009 1:12:28 PM

After reading the headline and summary about this memo, I expected to see another half-baked plan to charge for routine news coverage. The real news was buried. The real news is that MediaNews says it plans to create differentiated products to appeal to new audiences. Simply putting print content online isn't enough. If it truly executes on that plan, it could succeed.

Also buried in this is another lesson I first raised concerns about years ago. To make their online efforts look more valuable than they really were, most newspaper companies attributed to the online division the revenue from higher fees charged to put classified ads online. This so-called automatic upsell did two things: It created falsely exaggerated online revenues and it sped up the deterioration of the classified business by making classified ads more expensive at a time when the market was pushing the price of classified ads to zero. If online divisions had been more focused on selling new online ads to new advertiser, they would be in better shape today.

A Piece of the Action
Posted by Alex Dering 5/12/2009 6:16:52 PM

In Star Trek (the original series, not the latest movie with the Enterprise looking like a Benneton ad), there's an episode where an entire planet models itself after the organized crime mobsters of the early 1900s.

One of the mobsters, Jojo Krako, tells Kirk that he wants his help to whack the other bosses (with the Federation's fancy "heaters"). Kirk is (of course, after years of indoctrination by the liberal media) shocked at the bloodthirstiness of Krako's plot.

Spock observes, however, that Krako's goal is, essentially correct. The planet must become united.

Singleton's idea will not succeed unless he gets the other "bosses" to go in with him on the venture. They must be united in closing down the free feeding trough that is currently online news if they expect the plan to work. Otherwise, they're simply doing the same whackjob to themselves all over again.

Sad, sad, sad
Posted by Bob Logan 5/12/2009 5:51:42 PM

Singleton needs to know that the verbal root *execute* in *executive* means to act or carry out, not to simply chop off heads.

As for his wish for an enterprise that "extends the reach of our audience"? I can only wish him luck. That would be a noble goal.

Alas, I don't think that what he thinks he's saying is what he meant to say.

Charge more for less news
Posted by Bradley Fikes 5/12/2009 1:49:12 PM

Singleton eviscerates his newsrooms, then boasts about he "great local journalism" he'll charge for. The man is not only devoid of new ideas, as Carole pointed out, he is completely delusional.

Where's the new idea here?
Posted by Carole Simmons 5/12/2009 1:00:43 PM

I read this this morning and thought I was reading an archived article from five years ago. There's nothing new here. These ideas have been tried by local newspapers from coast to coast. Having Dean Singleton rehash an old idea does not make it new and will not make it any more successful.

Delusional
Posted by Dave Barnes 5/12/2009 12:41:16 PM

"if you want access to all online content, you are going to have to register, and/or pay."

Dinky Singleton is completely nutso. As a subscriber to one of his print newspapers (the Denver Post), I hardly ever visit the online site. It is difficult to navigate and contains almost nothing that I cannot get elsewhere.

As for his "local.com". Has he not heard of Westword or Yelp or Twitter or Facebook or Colorado Pols? YourHub.com has been an utter failure, who can believe that MediaNews can create a local presence?

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