Kelley's Business Model Proposal

It is undeniable that journalism will emerge from today’s crisis looking very different from today. There is no quick fix for the economic catastrophe currently striking newspapers and there will undoubtedly be many newspapers that do not survive. How we will gauge when we’ve found a sustainable solution, I’m not sure. No one in our present moment knows with complete certainty what to expect at the other end of the tunnel.

What I do believe will be of primary importance to newspapers’ survival is focusing on adding value to readers. I drew this idea from a conversation with the New Media director at my spring internship site, Boston-based public relations Cone Communications, who explained to me that, in his experience, any company that wants to enter the online space needs to create value; otherwise, their presence is a nuisance. I believe this same idea is applicable to newspapers, particularly as they move towards a digitally-dominated future. Users will vote with their feet (or mice) if a newspaper does not cater to their needs in cyberspace.

This largely explains why I believe paid content will not work; it does not add value and interferes with the interconnectivity of the web. As we saw in “The Future of Newspapers”, even if 95% of news outlets try to erect pay walls, there will be a way around them.Pay walls will also quash the highly valuable ability to link to other content. Furthermore, at its most extreme extension, erecting pay walls could potentially lead to criminalization of content sharing and remixing, which would have adverse effects on cultural creativity.

But we do need a solution. Smart upstart online-only or mostly-online publications like Voices of San Diego, Talking Points Memo and Politico can help fill some gaps in coverage, but even they rely to some degree on the reporting resources of larger mainstream publications.

Below I offer a three-pronged proposal for the future of metropolitan daily newspapers. I should note that I did not invent the measures suggested. All of these ideas are in circulation and widely discussed; I do, however, believe that they offer newspapers the most real chance to resuscitate their dying operations.

1) Focus Online, Trim Print Delivery and Create a Weekend Magazine

I drew inspiration for the first part of my plan from a suggestion made by Nieman Journalism Lab’s Martin Langeveld. First, establish your website as your primary news vehicle. Second, rather than charging a premium for print delivery, balance the balance sheet on the cost side and reduce print delivery to a few times per week like the Detroit News, which as of March 30, 2009, is printing only four days per week. If newspapers raised print delivery prices, they might retain enough subscribers to actually yield greater profits- that, however, is a gamble, one that I feel could fail. When free content is available, even an older demographic reader is only willing to pay to a certain extent.

Then, create a for-pay “weekender” print edition, distributed on Friday, that serves as a one-stop news, arts and entertainment guide. A “news magazine” that serves as an effective guide to the local blogosphere and provides valuable analysis of local news is a product that I would buy. Successful marketing would be crucial, but assuming the newspaper can convince readers to pay for the weekender, it instantly becomes more attractive to advertisers, thus augmenting advertising revenue in the process.

2) Voluntary Kachingle Model

The next initiative newspapers should pursue is widespread implementation of a Kachingle model for voluntary donations. I discussed in “The Future of Newspapers” Steve Yelvington’s argument that an effective marketing campaign persuading readers of the value of donating to news organizations, coupled with the acquisition of Kachingle by a technology giant like Google, could lead to large scale adoption. Perhaps newspapers could also track the number of Kachingle donations and present these figures to advertisers; again, readers who are willing to pay voluntarily are more attractive. This scheme wouldn’t by any means cover a newspaper’s operating budget, but it might net a nice supplementary profit.

3) Establish a non-profit entity for investigative journalism

In the spirit on the Huffington Post Investigative Fund, newspapers should seek out benefactors to collaborate with in establishing non-profit sister organizations for investigative journalism. Expensive and sometimes thankless investigative work slips through the cracks when budgets condense, and stands little chance of being replaced by individual bloggers who, despite their best intentions, very rarely have the reach or the resources to follow through on a story. Investigative work is, however, crucial if we want to keep a pulse on community and government activities. One significant downside is the inability of a non-profit to make political endorsements. That said, if the rest of the newspaper’s operations remain for-profit, this shouldn’t pose a major threat.