Tips on how to reinvent newspapers
FastCompany magazine has a great profile of Rob Curley, the young editor from a small-town newspaper who has become one of the go-to guys when it comes to rethinking what newspapers do and how they do it. His particular solution is what he calls “hyper-local” journalism, where a newspaper such as the one in Naples, Florida tries to own every aspect of the news in its area — from paper to Web to broadcast.
“Most people still think of a newspaper Web site as a digital version of what went on the press last night, but that’s a small part of what we do,” Curley says. “I want a site to be so cool and important to people that they talk about it the way you talk about having a great park where you live. It’s a local amenity.”
My friend and former National Post journalist Mark Evans has some of his own thoughts about how to reinvent the newspaper business, having spent the past couple of decades (give or take a few years) working for one. A few of his suggestions: experiment, focus on context rather than the quick hit, and hire younger staff who are willing to take more risks. Good advice.
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(On Oct 22nd, 2006 at 7:37 am)
[…] Fast Company magazine explores the success of small newspapers like the Naples, FLA Daily News that have gone "hyper-local" to hone in on a differentiated service that readers value. Mathew Ingram found the link and tracks media trends. […]
(On Oct 22nd, 2006 at 12:10 am)
[…] The first four include a young woman who has become a nun, and a gay man who is a Mormon, and each involves the person simply talking into the camera with a white background. Very simple, and very affecting. And the layout and design of the feature — which is apparently one of the first projects from new hire Rob Curley, a digital media whiz-kid (who I wrote about here) — is also extremely well done. It is clean and easy to navigate, with Flash controls that pop up when you mouse over them but then go away again. All in all, it has a very iTunes-like feel. Totally un-newspaper-like. […]