John Temple is running a series describing how journalists are reinventing themselves. If the installments that follow are half as inspiring and entertaining as ME Sprengelmeyer’s opener, it’s going to be a fun ride. Give ’em hell, ME.
The newspaper industry is beleaguered by problems both cyclical and secular, but what really scares me is that we still haven’t dealt with issues that are just basic blocking and tackling. To wit: This horrifying account of one man’s attempt to give a newspaper his money. (Via All Things Digital.)
Here’s a choice tidbit from the post:
I hung up the phone, exasperated.
I had the pleasure of moderating a roundtable on online comments a few weeks ago, and Jack Lail has posted a note on Knoxnews.com about the roundtable that gives an excellent summary and links to related info. Kudos to APME for funding this. It’s much needed. I was an early advocate of comments on newspaper sites and I’ve been really disappointed in how the potential for community never really lived up to its potential. I think discussions like this roundtable go a long way toward helping newspapers figure out their role in online community and how best to facilitate it.