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Marketing, public relations, social media... and a little of this and that.

Local Paper Does Revamp – Puts Local and A Section Together

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Note: I wrote this a while back and almost completely forgot to post it.

I’ve previously written about the state of newspapers today and how I think local coverage should be the primary objective. Yesterday the Greensboro News & Record, my hometown paper, took a pretty big step forward in an effort to make local content the focus.

They have basically combined the Local section and the A section of the paper. Better than that, they have stated that “Local content fills the front page and the next several pages of the first section. National and world news will follow.” This is a step in the right direction, but the damaged caused by lack of attention to the issue long ago may be irreversible.

In addition the paper is making the following changes:

  • The weather package is on Page A7 today. We reduced it in size by eliminating the maps and world temperatures. The meteorological data remain.
  • The Business page is moved to the back of Sports. We removed some indices from the stock chart, but none of the daily stock listings.

Let’s talk about the two items mentioned above. Does the newspaper really need to print the weather? In the world of having the weather readily available on TV, cell phones and the Internet I simply think it’s a waste of space. Combining the Business page and Sports may be a mistake from an advertising standpoint. Here is why. If you decrease the Business section, meaning fewer stories, you not only have less space for business stories, but you also have less space for advertisers that want to target those that read the business section.

At the very least, the News & Record is moving in the right direction.

Negative Comments in the World of Social Media

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If you work for an organization that is utilizing or could possibly utilize social media, please pay attention to this post.

Okay, let’s come to a quick agreement. Social media is still new to a lot of people and the rules of engagement and moderation will continue to evolve. Agree? Good.

I stumbled on something yesterday that absolutely made me cringe. Company X has thrown up a facebook page and is actively promoting the page via their Web site. They’ve been fortunate enough to garner a decent number of “fans” in less than a week and that’s great. They’ve also plugged in a decent amount of content as well.

Here is where their messing up – and messing up big time. This particular company has done something that isn’t favorable with customers and several individuals have left some negative comments on their page. There right out in the open for everyone to read. The problem is that the company has not publicly posted a response to the comments. There just lingering. Again, this makes me cringe. Maybe they have sent a direct response to the individuals, but that isn’t enough. If you are going to leave negative comments out there for anyone to read, you need to address them publicly.

Negative comments are part of the social media game and you have to take the good with the bad, but when something bad comes up it’s crucial that the problem is addressed. If you messed up, state what you are doing to fix the problem.

“Newspaper Industry Doomed” Follow Up Info

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This is a follow up post to my previous post about the newspaper industry.

After reading this, and receiving the comment below on Twitter on Monday, I’m more convinced that newspapers need to do something – now.

mike

By the way, if you are on twitter follow me @ryanshell.com. And if you are on facebook you can track me down at www.ImOnFacebook.com. Yes, I know that I am a complete nerd for buying that domain name… and I’m okay with that.

“Is the newspaper industry doomed?”

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Is the newspaper industry doomed? I get asked that question a lot and my answer is typically something like, “The print editions will eventually go away, increase in price or be free.” The sequence is more likely to be that the print editions will increase in price and then eventually go away. Online will be where the news is reported… but whether the newspapers can figure out how to turn a profit in that medium is still to be determined.

Newspapers seem to do so many things wrong. Not just wrong, really wrong. For example, I subscribe to several newspaper RSS feeds and not a single one of the pubs inserts ads into the feeds. As an advertiser, I cringe each day as I read the feeds knowing that thousands of others are doing the same, but arent seeing the ads that I run in the print and online edition. The newspapers I’m referencing don’t even track the number of individuals that subscribe to their RSS feeds. That is insane! Why would you not track something that could potentially add value?

Newspapers do tend to have an underutilized niche. They are typically staffed by extremely talented individuals that have spent years learning how to tell a great story. Maybe it’s time for newspapers to completely change their format. Is there seriously a need for national news in your local paper? If you think there is, please leave a comment as to why. I personally think it is a waste of space. By the time someone sees national news in the newspaper they’ve probably seen the story on TV several times and seen it online as well.

Online should be for news. Print should be for stories.