Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville to publish three days a week

[Read and weep]

While this news is disturbing, I found something else equally disturbing when checking out the al.com site. They actually have a thing on their high school sports page called "Be a reporter" where they ask citizens to report high school scores, stats and standings. If this is how they compile their information then maybe they really should just give up. Can just see Johnny Smith's dad reporting on Johnny's varsity baseball game: Johnny Smith was 8-for-8 and pitched his 10th perfect game of the season. He also made several outstanding plays in the field. Give me a break. Looks to me like these "news" organizations have already given up.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

How much resources does annarbor.com devote to Michigan coverage? Are they traveling like the paper would, or staying at home for everything except maybe football?

They travel for football and most basketball. Don't think they traveled outside Michigan for hockey.

Michigan is playing Alabama in softball today. Not sure if they sent a reporter to that.

Any of the Olympic sports, they pretty much link to the UM athletic web site.


The other D-I A college in the area, they MIGHT staff home games, but not always.

 

[TigerVols]

I feel sorry for Andrew Gribble, who left a great gig in Knoxville to go cover Bama 3 days a week.

 

[BillyT]

These websites are fabulous, and free, right now.

What will happen?

 

[dixiehack]

Well, they're free. Fab is only if you want to burn out your retinas.

 

[Alma]

These websites are fabulous, and free, right now.

What will happen?

They can't stay free. No way. Not possible.

 

[Luke Brietzke]

I feel sorry for Andrew Gribble, who left a great gig in Knoxville to go cover Bama 3 days a week.

Gribble will be fine. These beats won't be covered three days a week. The reporters' bylines will be in the newspapers three days a week, but there will be new stories on AL.com every day.

Reporters won't stop reporting on a daily basis.

 

[slappy4428]

This is more like the rest of the Boothies such as Flint and Grand Rapids, rather than Ann Arbor. The fine folks at Newhouse shuttered The Ann Arbor News, then created a new print product. They cut back, but didn't close, the rest of the papers.

 

[dixiehack]

But if history is a guide, they'll do it with a pay cut. And if they won't, dozens of people are lined up behind them who will. Quality doesn't tickle the spreadsheet.

God I'm glad spnited didn't have to see this day.

 

[dirtybird]

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.

Which Madison?

I think Mizzou means Ann Arbor. And, there's no way they're rolling in cash on that site.

Wisconsin State Journal... The Madison paper. I'm pretty sure they've been printing only on Wednesdays and Sundays for some time now...

I don't think so. You're probably thinking of the Capital Times, Madison's former afternoon paper, which went online primarily in 2008 with two print editions a week. And I believe that paper is now just the weak half of a JOA. No online only success there.

 

[JackReacher]

I feel sorry for Andrew Gribble, who left a great gig in Knoxville to go cover Bama 3 days a week.

Jesus. He won't be covering Bama three days a week. This ain't that hard.

 

[Alma]

I feel sorry for Andrew Gribble, who left a great gig in Knoxville to go cover Bama 3 days a week.

Jesus. He won't be covering Bama three days a week. This ain't that hard.

No it's not...though it will be a pain in the ass, aggregating Monday and Tuesday practice/presser/injury stuff into one Wednesday story. You have to write an online version to keep up with the competitors, and a whole different print version so as not to look like you missed a day with Saban and Co.