Problems at Patch.com

I just want to point out that YGBFKM just made one in a long line of useless posts attacking somebody rather than addressing the point.

 

Nobody has displayed more irrational bias on this thread than you. I have no idea what the source of that bitterness is, but we all see it. I'm sorry you can't admit it, but that's your problem, not ours.

We understand what a brand is just fine. We just also have a much better idea how journalism works than you do, particularly what resonates with readers. There is no way in hell that a reader in New York gives a damn about one messed-up Patch site in Connecticut. Most likely, they won't know about it. If they did, they wouldn't care. They care what goes in the Patch in their area.

Patch is a start-up. That means even if it does succeed, there are serious missteps along the way. I also think it means they have had to reach for some personnel who just don't belong. Maybe they will grow beyond that, or maybe they will fuck it up.

I think part of the reason they haven't pushed the marketing yet is they want to get the bugs worked out first. I could be wrong, but that seems to be the point. They know they have to work on the product.

The comparison to the grocery store bulletin board just too ignorant to even bother arguing with.

 

Well, to be fair, I've made several statements and asked multiple questions along the way.

I do appreciate your genuine responses.

But, I guess that I would say that the roasters I deal with don't consider themselves to be in the same business as the folks who market Folgers.

Sure, they're both coffee at a basic level, but "specialty coffee" is an industry of its own.

And a brand like Illy or Stumptown or Intelligetsia is so different than that of Folgers.

It's like comparing a chef at a four star restaurant to a short order cook at the local greasy spoon.

 

Patch is definitely competition for community newspapers, both daily and weekly. It doesn't claim to be The New York Times, or competition with it. Few papers or websites could make such a claim legitimately. But Patch can still be source of very well-targeted local news.

 

I wasn't attacking you, just pointing out your total lack of self-awareness and hypocrisy, which you proved immediately in your next post. Next up, oop tells me to work on my reading comprehension. Stay tuned!

 

We could be talking about Cogswell Cogs or Spacely Sprockets. The product doesn't matter.

Journalism is a product. It's a commodity. I know you think its more, but it's not.

The principles that define what a brand is aren't exempt because we're talking about journalism.

 

It isn't nearly as important how the people in the business perceive it, it's how the customers perceive it.

Without doubt the high-end roasters sell a much higher quality product. But to most people it's still coffee — good coffee vs. crap coffee, but coffee nonetheless.

Patch.com vs. N.Y. Times? Same thing - Hyperlocal, done-on-the-cheap local news vs. high quality newsgathering. And both are still news.

 

OK. Look, have I employed some hyperbole, yes.

This has been my basic point all along. My comment that Patch wasn't "in the same industry" as the times is what released the hounds.

And, it's not. It's a completely different animal. It's goals are different and its standards are different. Its brand is different.

And, I'm not looking to burst bubbles, but the younger folks who think they've gotten their foot in the door by landing a job at Patch are mostly kidding themselves. The odds of it being a stepping stone to a broader career in journalism are remote.

But Kevin Mitchell was discovered playing softball and Ron LeFlore was playing for a prison yard team. So, while it's possible, they're the exceptions to the rule.

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative or reply just to be a pain in the ass, but does news=journalism?

I'd agree that they're both news. I don't think that's the same thing as journalism.

 

Go back and read the dictionary definition I posted.

 

seven APSEs over here and, yes, Patch meets the definition of journalism.

The quality varies greatly and there's without a doubt some really bad journalism on some of their sites, but it is without question journalism. And I've seen more good work than I expected as I've browsed their sites.

(For those in the coffee pot selling biz, APSE is Associated Press Sports Editors, they run an annual national sports writing contest. It's pretty much BS, but hey, just establishing my credentials here.)

 

Funny. On the Patch.com thread, I'm now getting ads for shoffee.com, "the webs favorite coffee shop."

And, no, I've never heard of it before. They've got some brand building to do.