What’s Left?
First papers cut reporters. Then they cut AP.
For reals. What’s going to go into the paper? Local sections are now being treated like big think pieces about life, and A tends to be a mish mosh of half stories with an overall muddled import. You’re lucky if you still have a standalone business section. Arts? What’s that?
Everyone’s redesigning their fronts, but all people really want is information, not cool colors or video refers. Online, people need to know where to go to find the stories they want to read about. It can’t be a confusing jumble of “content” and ads and long lists of stories. Opinion should, somehow, look like opinion. Same with news. Related stories and content should be handy. If you don’t have time to coherently write up background or context on a particular story or topic, at least show me where I can read more.
Back to the AP question, will local readers be more or less likely to buy a paper that might tell them what is happening two towns over, but won’t say what’s happening at the state capital or Washington? It might work at the Daily News or somewhere that has a ton of good, comprehensive local reporting (when it wants to), as well as a Washington staff and a HUGE well of local news to draw from, but what about papers in podonk? What about the hundreds dozens of mid-size papers or smaller?
There’s going to need to be mini-APs that form. If a chain owns a bunch of papers in a state or in neighboring states, best bet is to get solid statehouse reporters who can churn out stories and localize them for around the region. It’s a tough and grinding job but that’s what’s going to have to happen.
Used to be a saying that you can’t spell crap without AP. Except now I’m thinking it might be the reverse.
Related:
The second half of this MinnPost piece is very interesting. (MinnPost is, for those of YOU PEOPLE who didn’t know, a site with a mission “to provide high-quality journalism for news-intense people who care about Minnesota. We intend to focus sharply on that mission, and not get distracted by trying to be all things or serve all people.” But that’s another post altogether.)
