Big Doings in Dallas

What you're doing if you eliminate gamers -- and note the subtle difference -- is CLINCHING that they're going to pull up the stats via the Web, read live-blogs and watch Sportscenter. At this point, they have another option, and it's an option which they grew up with.

 

See, here's the thing, though - Sure, you're 18-35 demographic will be web savvy, and get their news from the Internet, cellphones, etc. But Mable and Stan, enjoying their retirement, aren't in that group (as well as many others in that demographic). Like others, they read their paper in the morning with the coffee, eggs and bacon.

 

There is a helluva difference between trying to catch up with the technology curve by putting more stuff on the web quicker, blogging more, puting live video on the web, getting younger voices in the paper, ect., and completely gutting your coverage to save money because your business side is full of liars, thieves and yes men. Don't confuse the two.

What Dallas is doing, if it is in fact cutting its college coverage completely, doesn't have a damn thing to do with saving the newspaper industry. That's just nonsense. If they said, "We're going to still have game coverage and some features for Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma, but our enhanced coverage of those schools (daily notes, daily features, daily press conferences, stats, photos, audio) is only going to be avaliable on the web to subscribers" then that would be a newspaper trying to do something different. If they said, we're going to have all that stuff, but a lot more of it is going to be done by freelancers, and to save money on newsprint, it's going to go on the web instead, maybe, maybe, I could shrug my shoulders and maybe understand. But it doesn't sound anything like that.

The only thing this guarentees is that:

1. The paper will suck.
2. Fewer people will subscribe.
3. There will be more cutbacks and more buyouts in two or three years.
4. See 1 through 3.

It's the equivelent of a doctor saying to a heroin addict: Well, I'm not sure how to treat your addiction, so I'm going to cut of your arms and make it more difficult for your to jab a vein.

The heroin addict comes back a month later and says, "Doc, I've been holding the needle in my teeth and shooting up through my toes. Can you help me?"

"OK," doc says. "I'll chop off your legs. But don't come back here in a month and ask me to cut off your dick."

 

What is it with the inevitable heroin addiction comparisons on threads around here?

 

Crystal meth rots the teeth, and we don't wanna visualize that. So heroin it is.

 

Are you saying this thread is worthless without pictures?

 

Any pics with this thread would have to be of a Bootsian nature. So, it wouldn't be worthless without pictures.

 

If this is all true then the Star-Telegram should be licking its proverbial chops.

 

maybe we should wait and see exactly what the DMN is going to do before jumping to a bunch of conclusions about that newspaper's demise.
right now, it's strong rumors.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Check on their website, and here's an ironic twist -- SportsDay is celebrating its anniversary. In one little chart, it provides dates of upcoming stories related to its celebration. Near the end for an upcoming paper ---

"July 30: How sports news will arrive in future"

 

After talking to some of the affected DMN staffers, this is what I've been able to piece together. National beats are going away, ie NHL, NBA, golf, motorsports (didn't Texas just get a Chase race last year?!). Probably MLB, maybe NFL but only as a last resort because Rick Gosselin is bigger than life there and amazingly productive/accurate. NFL GMs quote him, for gosh sakes. College travel: gone, at least outside the Big 12. They don't travel with any colleges other than UT and A&M anyway. The so-called national beats will be covered GA, but only an occasional Big Event (U.S. Open, Indy and Daytona 500s, All-Star Game). And don't expect those to last long. Cowboys beat is the only untouchable. I mean, they're stupid, but they're not idiots.

I just hope they don't make their soccer guy swim back from Germany after the World Cup.

 

All I can think of to say about all this is ... Holy shit.