They're just not that into you

Posted: March 20th, 2009 | Author: Tyler Dukes | Filed under: journalism | Tags: , , , , | View Comments
jlongmovie

"Suspension of disbelief"

OK, Newspapers, I get it.

The Seattle P-I is now online only, the Rocky Mountain News has folded and it seems all those apocalyptic scenarios about the death of the deadtree edition are finally starting to come true — so I know you’re a little irrational right now. But as a friend, I feel like I need to step in and stop you from doing something stupid.

All this talk of pay walls, government intervention and lawsuits has you looking a little desperate, and frankly, it’s unattractive and unbecoming.

I know you’re worried. But right now, you’re about as delusional as a geek playing Romeo.

I only want the best, so I feel I have to be straight with you. It’s time to face a few simple truths about your Audience — they’re just not that into you.

This pay wall thing for example. Do you remember when you tried that in the 90s? A few years ago, you were laughing at pictures of yourself back then. Now, just because you’ve hit a dry spell, you’re thinking about dragging that back out of the closet and trying it on again.

Trust me. It won’t fit.

Audiences out there have options now. They believe information belongs to them free of charge, and there are enough information providers who believe the same thing to make what you have to offer … less than worth it.

Should they have to pay for it? Maybe. It’s not that what you have isn’t valuable. It’s just not valuable enough.

It’s like I heard from Twitter the other day (yes, I know you don’t like when I associate with Twitter — deal with it), “should” isn’t a business model.

I know others have tried the pay wall. But let’s get real here. You don’t have the stamina of iTunes, you’re not as big on monogamy as Consumer Reports and you are nowhere near as high class as The Wall Street Journal.

And this bailout idea? Give me a break!

Your problem is that your Audience doesn’t want you. So your solution is to get Big Government to force your Audience to take you back? They weren’t even happy about bailing out Cars — and they love Cars!

Plus, I know how you get under the influence of Government. Remember 2003? I didn’t think you’d ever recover from that. There’s a reason why you swore the stuff off in the first place.

Look, I’m not saying I have all the answers. And I’m not trying to discourage you from trying new things — far from it.

But some ideas just won’t work, and you have to recognize bad ideas and discard them quickly. That’s adaptation. You’re weak in that area — it’s what got you here in the first place — and it’s important that you learn how to react more quickly to your environment.

Sometimes it’s important to take a step back and find yourself. Get back to the basics and figure out what makes you valuable to your Audience. It’s the only way they’ll take you back.

So cheer up, dust yourself off and get busy. Because I’d hate to see The Gray Lady turn into a Crazy Cat Lady.

  • @Ted That's a good point. But I think the problem there is that the record industry, in suing that 12-year-old, created a major public relations problem. They are now this widely hated evil empire of sorts.

    We don't want that to happen with journalism, an industry whose saliency depends on gaining the audience's trust.

    Suing is a deterrent to sharing, and with so much content out there for audiences to choose, sharing and spreading content seems to be the only way to dominate the narrative now.
  • Ted
    I for one love the mental image of the NY Times being overrun with feral cats. But maybe that's just me.

    As for the prospect of newspaper suing sites that steal their content, photos, etc, yes, it does make them look desperate. And yes, it is lame. And yes, it is no different than the recording industry threatening 12-year-old kids with going to juvie if they keep swapping music files over the interwebs.

    But consider: Those threats did play a big role in music industry putting the squeeze on illegal downloading. And if not for the very real threat of litigation, it would have been infinitely harder for them to get the kind of deals they now have with middlemen like Apple and iTunes. Had the music industry simply rolled over, they would have seen their entire industry vanish in record time.

    Granted, it's still a doomed model. I expect that in 5 years record labels may cease to exist in their present form. But at least they managed to find a way to turn a potential collapse into a gradual decline.
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