Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville to publish three days a week

[dixiehack]

So who's next? Harrisburg? The Jersey cluster?

 

[Steak Snabler]

As one of those affected, what chaps my ass worse than anything is that the NY Times story on the Times-Picayune (and Romanesko's follow-up column) is the only reason they told the staff today. We got 23 minutes' notice of a staff meeting. If not for our fellow media watchdogs, who knows when we'd have found out?

 

[TGO157]

So what this means is, besides the random small-town dailies, the main seven-day dailies along the Gulf Coast will be Gulfport/Biloxi and Pensacola? Do either crack 50,000 circulation?

 

[dixiehack]

Depending on how broadly you define Gulf Coast, Baton Rouge would be the clear leader. (Texas and peninsular Florida are their own planet as far as the rest of the region is concerned.)

 

[Pencil Dick]

Remember the famous Newhouse "no layoffs ever" policy? You pretty much had to murder a co-worker to get fired at any of the Alabama papers.

 

[SixToe]

As one of those affected, what chaps my ass worse than anything is that the NY Times story on the Times-Picayune (and Romanesko's follow-up column) is the only reason they told the staff today. We got 23 minutes' notice of a staff meeting. If not for our fellow media watchdogs, who knows when we'd have found out?

June.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I actually think this is smart. Didn't the Madison paper have success doing this?

The online product doesn't change. The paper prints on the days when there's a ton of advertising.

 

[HejiraHenry]

A tremendous opportunity for other newsgathering organizations in the state, if anyone has the sack to step up and grab it.

I would fully expect other struggling Alabama dailies, including Decatur and Florence, to quickly follow suit and cut back to three days.

 

[dixiehack]

The Montgomery Advertiser will be the largest daily in the state. And Gannett has slashed the heck out of it for years. That's pathetic.

 

[jambalaya]

I actually think this is smart. Didn't the Madison paper have success doing this?

The online product doesn't change. The paper prints on the days when there's a ton of advertising.

How do you re-condition customers to buy the paper on three arbitrary days of the week? Or does the new business model disregard street sales altogether?

If that's the case, why not cut your losses now and go all-in online?

 

[dog428]

Yeah, this is a GREAT idea. I can't believe more businesses haven't thought of this: Dump the most profitable delivery method of your product while still in the beginning stages of determining how make another delivery method more profitable.

I'm sure it'll work out OK.

Honest to God, it's like every one who has ever ascended to the level of newspaper upper management did so by winning a glue-sniffing contest.

It's amazing to me that after all of this time, these dipshirts in corporate offices hundreds of miles away have never considered that the "company-wide approach" might not work for a bunch of businesses built on providing information for a uniquely diversified local audience. And that maybe, just damn maybe, it might be beneficial to base decisions on what's best for each individual newspaper.

But shirt, that would make sense. And who wants that?

Hate for the guys at these places. They've all done some very good work the last few years.

 

[Pencil Dick]

Classy move by Huntsville mayor.

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/05/huntsville_mayor_tommy_battle_49.html