The PD has been the Big Dog for news content in this state for a very long time, including solid political coverage, especially in the past year. Time will tell what a “reset” business means for the robust newsroom required to do all of that. And it may be a harbinger of what awaits political coverage elsewhere as the newspaper landscape continues to change.
Swing States Project
Campaign Desk, Swing States Project — November 27, 2012 06:50 AM
‘Resetting’ The Plain Dealer
What’s to become of Cleveland’s daily, a bright spot in Ohio’s coverage of election 2012?
By T.C. Brown
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At the blog of the Cleveland Digital Publishing User Group (CDPUG), I posted a review of the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Internet strategy to date. It produced a reply, also posted there, from Steve Newhouse, the head of the privately held Advance operation. http://blog.cdpug.org/?p=1785
The newspaper's management hasn't developed a high performing web site and the conservative nature of a family owned business may work against the firm placing another bet on innovative design that incorporated 21st century digital media.
My concern is that while a "harvest" strategy involving content management might assure some level of advertising revenue, it might not produce the quality of journalism one would expect from a newspaper in one of the nation's largest cities.
A strategy of print and digital media if well designed, and that includes apps for mobile devices, could bring back the under 40 demographic. We'll have to wait and see what Advance comes up with.
#1 Posted by Dan Yurman, CJR on Tue 27 Nov 2012 at 07:06 PM
Dan: Advance websites in general suck, and they've done nothing to improve them in any of the places where they've already gone non-daily. Steve Newhouse or anybody else who says this isn't about cost-cutting is full of it.
#2 Posted by SocraticGadfly, CJR on Thu 29 Nov 2012 at 01:51 PM