Some more DMN stuff

It's going to look like a hell of a lot of papers, the way things are going.

 

Really, that is the way papers are going. And it's because that's what a lot of readers want, or at least it's what they tell us they want. Most readers nowadays prefer a pretty good amount of quick reads with a few long pieces thrown in. It's the way of the future.

Does it mean you can't tell a good story unless you can do it in 15" or less? No. It just means we have to find ways to package things that shows readers this story, which might seem long, is worth their time. Sometimes a byline or columnist's sig is enough to do that. Sometimes it has to be something else.

But the days that we could write a 40" story and think people will read it just because it's there are gone. Sure, it happens for some sports in some places, but for the most part it's over. Think about it; Some of the most popular sections of magazines are the little shorts in the front. People can read them and go. They save the longer stories for when they have time. The same is true of newspapers. Like it or not, people have shorter attention spans, and this isn't about just vying with other media for people's attention; it's about vying with everything else for people's time.

That doesn't mean what the DMN is doing is right. In the end, it's about money, not about finding a way to make a more reader-friendly product. But those who ridicule papers that package more breakouts and quick hits need to think about what it is the reader wants. And time and again, they've told us that's what they want.

 

And everybody in the church said "Amen"

 

So does this mean that USA Today was extraordinarily visionary when it came on the scene with its quick hits and one-jump covers? Or did it serve as the trigger for the way it is now?

And, back to the DMN front specifically, the unsubstantiated rumor on the street is the hammer is falling today in the newsroom. Anyone hearing anything?

 

And JRoyal turned on the bullshit spigot, and the bullshit flowed forth.

And the bullshit was good, at least for the chanting charlatans. They enjoyed the odor of the bullshit as it wafted forth ...

 

Yes and Yes.

Thanks for chiming in DyePecker.

 

Now, that's what I call napalming a bridge.

 

Oh. My.

Um, uh, well, ok...

So, now that we've all read this, how's everyone else feeling?  ;D

 

That's not napalming, that's a 50-ton nuclear bomb.

 

Did someone delete a post before this?

 

I don't know.

 

Never mind. I thought at first I'd missed someone burning a bridge with the DMN. Then I realized the napalm comment was just in reference to the DyePack-Designer pissing match.

Carry on.