Amazing for what now passes as "news"

been done

and done

and done

 

and, you know

 

Many years ago, when one of the papers where I worked spent months hyping the opening of the city’s first Super Target, I decided that it would be funny and creative to go to the newsroom Halloween party wearing a mash-up of Superman and the store with tights, a cape and a Target logo. When I finished my night desk shift and arrived at the party, everybody was already drunk and beyond the costume-appreciation stage of the party, so it was a complete fail. I haven’t put on a Halloween costume since.

 

I know us sportsers roll our eyes at such stories, but from my experience reading our page view numbers, openings like Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out do blowout traffic. So do a lot of restaurant stories these days. We may think it's stupid, but if your business model relies on page view traffic, it's relevant.

 

No chain whores itself out more for media attention for an opening than Ikea, however.

 

Any business model that doesn't involve subscriptions is just plain stupid.

 

This post strikes me as the "slow news day?" snark from Twitter and Facebook trolls. Think it was a slow news day? OK, then tell me what specifically you wanted to read about that we didn't cover. If people are interested in it, it's news. It's low-hanging fruit, yes, but you're out of your mind if you think it still doesn't have value to your audience. Just look at the Facebook interactions with that story:


People in that market cared. That's all that matters in terms of its value as news. To their readers, this was news. And don't be so sure stories like this don't lead to subscriptions. They do. You'd be shocked to see what kinds of quick turn NASCAR briefs on teams or tracks getting new sponsors (and equivalent stories) converts people into being paying customers.

 

Good newspapers used to cover everything local so well that the newspaper as a whole daily entity was a can't miss, must read. Now with staffs cut to shreds and not enough reporters to blanket coverage the city, suits pay consultants to analyze data to find which stories do the best in terms of internet readership like ChicFilA openings. Brilliant strategy by the suits who don't have the bodies to cover cities thoroughly as in the glory days before hedge funds. Ever meet a suit that disagreed with a decision from the higher ups of the hedge fund? LOL.

 

What if a Men’s Warehouse that also sold IKEA held a grand opening and served Chik-fil-A sandwiches in their restaurant?