Steve Outing, one of the industry's most grounded analysts, has been rolling up his sleeves for a long time in trying to help the newspaper business transform first into a digital model and then into a digital model that works as a business.
His latest column for Editor & Publisher is more plaintive than most, in that it critiques the recent musings of U.S. newspaper executives in reversing course to charge online readers for content. Outing argues it won't work, the local media will lose relevance (socially and technologically), and the strategy will open the door for competitors.
But Outing isn't all into the free-to-be camp, either. He believes there are opportunities to drive revenue from readers --- he just doesn't see it happening through a firewall, not when so many others seem prepared to keep giving much of that same content away.
Instead he advocates partnering with advertisers to offer loyalty programs that permit readers not only to gain free access to content but other benefits. In other words, the carrot approach and not the stick. His biggest idea: Discounts for members from those same advertising partners, instead of generic coupons.
A number of months back, veteran newsman Steve Outing extended his column and other journalism into a campaign to help reinvent the beleaguered newspaper classified ad. In his regular Editor & Publisher column, Steve Outing suggests newspapers need to stick to quality, to public service, and to the plan to help readers deal with the digital sphere. He isn't big on wild redesigns to attract younger readers. Forget about it, he says., they're not coming to the party. A plug for a new site from the distinguished newspaper/online columnist Steve Outing, www.ReinventingClassifieds.com, which engages us in a conversation about how to revive the most ailing part of the newspaper business. Steve Outing has for years been sounding a reasonable, practical tone in striving for strong journalism in realistic economic conditions in his writing for Editor & Publisher. It should come as no surprise that, in weighing in on the direction of newsrooms, Outing is recognizing the days of mini-vans arriving with new personnel seem done for the time being. But he sees a viable, positive option in developing a professional-amateur model of journalism, tapping into expertise and enthusiasm in communities of interest to complement the work of the full-time professionals. |