The New Orleans Times-Picayune May Reduce Frequency of Publication -- NY Times

Interesting story about the reaction:

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/05/times-picayune_changes_bring_s.html#incart_more_business

 

Photo from the staff meeting tells it all: http://media.nola.com/business_impact/photo/tims-picayune-nola-mediajpg-9053d5c58026e16c.jpg

 

That's roughly the number of daily subscribers they currently have.

TP has about 153,000 daily subscribers. The Alabama trio has about 360,000 current daily subscribers.

 

My goodness.

 

Some good quotes in there, and I give the writer props for noting this:

I've yet to work in a newsroom, no matter how small, that doesn't have someone making a "re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic" comment.

Of course, they're doing more than just re-arranging in New Orleans. They're steering straight for the iceberg.

 

Guys,

I'm currently working as a corro for the Times-Picayune, there is a grass roots effort by a former T-P member who has started a facebook page. It's social media time to see if they can save a paper. Click like and hopefully some good will come of it.

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/SaveThePicayune

There are some really good people in that office and I want to do my part. I've been through the layoff BS in Tampa. It royally sucks. Thanks in advance.

 

It's heartening to see that kind of outpouring of support for a local paper. I'm too pessimistic to have much faith it'll work, but at least it won't be because no one in New Orleans valued what the Picayune brought to their community.

 

Times-Picayune employees to learn their fate next week:

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2012/05/27/times-picayune-employees-to-learn-their-fates-next-week

Expect Newhouse Alabama papers to follow soon.

 

In that story it says:

"Reporters/content providers will move out of The Times-Picayune’s iconic building at 3800 Howard Avenue and into office space in downtown New Orleans, where they will file more frequent and likely smaller stories for NOLA.com, the paper’s online arm. Copy editors, graphic artists and page designers at the T-P building will then take the material and use it to construct three editions of the paper each week, which will appear Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. There will be no content that is produced specifically for print, though the company may produce some special sections."

"The plan was presented to newsroom employees as a positive change, “freeing” them from being concerned about how their work would appear in the newspaper edition in terms of word length and story elements."


So ... post more, be mobile and nothing will be specifically produced for print. Does that mean the print editions will be nothing but fluffed-up "content" from the dotcom? Advertisers should love that, the few that stick around for three days.

 

I expect the three print editions will have MORE advertising, not less. Seven days worth of ads to shove into three editions.

 

Until the advertisers start pulling out that is.