This week’s show is a discussion primarily about the future of newspapers…and the Minneapolis StarTribune in specific.
Today’s hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
“Discussed During the Show” Notes:
- Minneapolis StarTribune Guild workers take it upon themselves to figure out a new business model for the paper
- Posts on newspaper models: one on how to save the Strib by Tim Elliott and this one on newspapers need blog networks by Steve Borsch
- Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor and author. His open source presentation discussing ideas around disruption, referred to by Steve during the podcast, is here
- Wall Street Journal article arguing in favor of paid subscriptions as a means of funding the newspaper business
- NYTimes: Blog standards (see Section B5 on this “Policy on Ethics in Journalism”) and their experiment with memetracking at BlogRunner
- Minnesota.com: a fairly basic directory service
- Fallon skimmer
Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:28 — 29.8MB)
March 28th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Couple of points…
1) The video segments you mention the StarTrib now doing is really a copycat of what a couple of other newspapers are doing. Can’t recall which ones but remember a link in one of the Jeff Jarvis. He usually holds up Greensbourgh as innovative and trying new things so maybe there. As I recall, it’s all about becoming total, up-to-date news no matter the medium. The paper is old news before it’s even delivered.
2) I recall reading that one of the big west coast newspapers (LA) said advertising from their website now is enough to pay for the “journalism” but that only represents 20% of their total budget/expense. I presumed from that that if the got rid of all the physical distribution they would break even or even be somewhat profitable. Makes me wonder about how that breaks out at the StarTrib.
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And of course, since Steve brought it up, I can’t let the Flying Cloud issue pass
I’m very familiar with the plan of moving traffic off MSP to the outer airports. This has been the plan since before developers built all around Flying Cloud. It hasn’t been hidden, isn’t a conspiracy. It probably would have happened before you moved to EP except for the fact that MSP is an entity unto itself and corporate users pay no property taxes there (unlike the outlying airports) Those corporate leaders have enormous political clout and have managed to forestall the move for at least 15-20 years. I understand your concern but a little research would have revealed that all reliever airports would be getting more traffic. I think it was part of the plan from before the discussion started about a new airport way out south.
March 28th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Doc Searls is posting about my point #2 and the cost of the journalism part of the newspaper business – http://bit.ly/Vr3Ny
March 29th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Thanks for the comments Randy.
Positioning Flying Cloud as though I was wearing a tinfoil hat wasn’t my intent. That said, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) signed an agreement in 2002 with Eden Prairie to limit expansion of runways at the airport to “reliever” status (5,000 feet) and a group has fought expansion for 20 years (zeroexpansion.org).
There is pressure from MAC on Eden Prairie as well as lobbying efforts underway to change the type of reliever status so as to extend runways to 5,500 – 6,000 feet. Thus far, Eden Prairie City Council has declined to allow just such a status change.
What *if* the runways were to be extended beyond 5,000 feet to, say, 6,000 feet? Since most of the aircraft flown by Mesaba airlines (NW Airlink), the largest Gulfstream and Lear jets, as well as the accelerating number of VLJs (Very Light Jets) weights would be *well* within the threshold requiring that extra 1,000 feet, it doesn’t take a paranoid, tinfoil hat wearing resident to make the cognitive leap to visualize a smaller Midway-like airport springing forth at Flying Cloud.
Add to that the land across Flying Cloud Dr that used to be a dump that, paved over, would provide space for parking ramps and lots.
Just sayin’…
March 29th, 2009 at 8:26 am
One more thing too….
Your comment and my subsequent does, in fact, further make the point about the need for investigative journalism vs. opinions that even I — a casual student of these issues around Flying Cloud — or the ZeroExpansion folks have about it.