One can only hope that Tribune finally "gets" it this time. In the face of dwindling audience and ad revenue and sluggish online growth, the L.A. Times doesn't have many more reincarnations left.
After Wednesday's ouster of LATimes.com editor Joel Sappell, in favor of "Innovation Editor" Russ Stanton (previously the business editor) and promotion of site GM Rob Barrett to VP of LAT Media Group, the L.A. Times' parent company seems to be making good on its plans to do something definitive about its train wreck of an online strategy.
But legacy systems, expensive stand-alones like the Envelope and even David Hiller's newly-announced push for 24/7 news won't give the paper the foundation it needs for a sustainable financial future unless it can do three things simultaneously: scale back the frighteningly costly dead-tree edition, bring its audience online and do a better job of wringing money out of advertisers ...
They're not small tasks, or they would have been accomplished long ago. But they'll go more smoothly if the Times makes one small change in its editorial stance - and starts inviting audience participation more actively and openly.
The success of the blogosphere in drawing audience (if not dollars, in many cases) shows that society has evolved in its attitudes towards news and newsgathering. Users want to be a part of the information flow, to have a voice, to interact online with their peers. Blogs let them refute common wisdom, toss out opinions and argue vigorously for them - essentially giving them a role in online society.
The ballistic rise of Flickr, YouTube and MySpace shows that users desperately want to be noticed, to be recognized, to be valued for their creativity and identity - however inflated that might be.
The virally fast-spreading use of tools such as del.icio.us and Digg prove that users value the ability to filter content to their own tastes - and search and select content filtered by others.
The question Stanton and others at the Times will need to start answering - pronto - is how to build a new online business model that integrates these shifting audience needs with the production and distribution of the L.A. Times' chief commodity (news and information) and selling it for as high a price as the market will bear.
Answers abound. It's all in whom they choose to ask - and how swiftly they're willing to jump aboard with the fast-evolving culture of building web audience by trusting it.
Posted by: Mack_Reed on Thursday, January 25, 2007 - 10:09 AM
