Re: E-M:/ Michigan Newspapers

["Eric Baerren" <ebaerren@gmail.com>]

I have a suggestion -- go Web only.

Printing the newspaper on dead trees requires the cost of maintaining and staffing a printing press. Pixels are almost free.  There are a few big papers -- the Christian Science Monitor -- who are already going this route (the CSM doesn't print a daily edition anymore, and sticks with pixels during the workweek).

It's not generating revenue, per se, but it is eliminating basically all of the costs associated with operating a newspaper -- printing press, circulation, classified ads, even management to coordinate all of those things.  After start up costs for equipment, marketing, and site design, I think you could fund an entire local news operation for less than $200,000 a year, almost all of which would be salaries for reporters, visual media specialists, and an editor.

On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 9:52 AM, Erich Ditschman <theriverdude@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

 

David:

 

I enjoyed your column today and agree that the loss of professional journalism is a threat to our democracy.

 

Do you have some suggestions on how our news services can make money so that they can stay in business? 

 

Perhaps a silver lining is that we are saving some trees and polluting less rivers.  

 

Erich Ditschman

 

 

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From: David Poulson <poulsondavid@gmail.com>
To: enviro-mich@great-lakes.net
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:17:09 AM
Subject: E-M:/ Michigan Newspapers

I wrote this for LSJ: http://tinyurl.com/5rsdt5
I'm posting here because I believe that it has particular implications for environmental protection.

dp

--
David Poulson
Associate Director
Knight Center for Environmental Journalism
Michigan State University
517 432 5417

-- 
Editor and owner
www.michiganliberal.com