Boston Globe Strengthens Rhode Island Coverage

[LanceyHoward]

The article discusses how the Boston Globe just added three former Providence Journal staffers to beef up coverage of Rhode Island.

The Boston Globe's move into Rhode Island is a bet that the last newspapers standing will have a bigger footprint

The articles states that the Providence paper is down to less than reporters. So how much would it cost for the Globe to staff up to provide comparable coverage of the state? If the Globe goes ahead and hires 15 people that costs maybe $100,000 a reporter or 1.5-2 million. The Globe charges $30 a month for an electronic subscription so if they get 5,000 additional subscriptions in Rhode Island they make money when electronic advertising revenue is included.

The Globe has about 112,000 electronic subscribers in a market of 4,600,00. The population of Rhode Island is 1,060,000. So 5,000 subscriptions seems to be a goal that can be achieved. And one of the wonders of electronic publishing is that every damn near every additional subscription revenue drops directly to the bottom line. So if the Globe gets 20,000 subscribers they will have hit a gold mine.

And if I live in Rhode Island and the Globe and the Journal offers about the same local coverage I subscribe to the Globe because I will get their excellent sports section, national reporting, critics, etc. And I have never used the Providence Journal website but I bet the Globe site is much easier to use.

If the Globe captures a large share of the electronic market in Rhode Island they will deprive the state's papers of electronic revenue, leaving them with the declining print market. This will force these papers to shut down.

And if the Globe makes money doing this they will go after other papers in New England such as the New Hampshire papers.

 

[britwrit]

Having "fewer" than 15 reporters on staff is a sad commentary for the Journal. But is sending three people - no matter how talented I'm sure they are - south going to make much of a difference?

 

[LanceyHoward]

Having "fewer" than 15 reporters on staff is a sad commentary for the Journal. But is sending three people - no matter how talented I'm sure they are - south going to make much of a difference?

I am not sure but the marginal cost of a dozen more is not that much, I would guess roughly a million dollars.

 

[justgladtobehere]

The ProJo used to have a great sports section. MIght have been better than the Globe.

Something about the OP made me think of this. The newspapers need to combine with the local public radio places, at least in Boston. The two big public radio stations in Boston do good local reporting and take stuff straight from the Globe. Public radio has outlets everywhere and you could create a network that would fill in for a depleted newspaper.
I'm guessing the accounting would be a mess, if not impossible, even if the paper went non-profit.

 

[wicked]

Globe already does work with New England Center for Investigative Reporting, which is allied with WBUR or WGBH, forget which.

It's really sad how far the ProJo (well, and most every paper) has fallen. It probably was New England's second best paper. Gatehouse finished the destruction that began in later years under Belo.

WBUR has teamed up with one of the inner-city weeklies to share content and set up a bureau there, and it's a smart move for both parties.

 

[Severian]

Public radio has outlets everywhere and you could create a network that would fill in for a depleted newspaper.

The Miami Herald and WLRN are an example of this.

 

[Twirling Time]

Good on them for looking to expand. Last paper I worked for that recognized potential was in 2000. (Another one recognized it since then after I pointed out to the publisher that we were throwing hundreds of papers in a school district we were neglecting.)

 

[Sports Barf]

Bill Reynolds in his prime was a better columnist than anybody the Globe would throw out there. Facts

 

[Batman]

This sounds kind of similar to what happened in New Orleans, no?
The Advocate in Baton Rouge jumped into that market when the Times-Picayune cut its publication schedule to three times per week. And we just recently saw how that ended.

 

[sgreenwell]

Biased because I worked for a reporter in RI the past 12 years or so, but I thought it was a smart move by the Globe with a nice potential ROI. Like, if you're going to cherry pick a couple reporters, those are the three you want. And as usual, Gatehouse doesn't seem to have much of a cohesive plan for the state - They bought the Newport Daily News, but seemingly didn't have an interest in The Westerly Sun, which would have given them three dailies in three areas across the state. Each quarter, they've had to do layoffs at the Projo and NDN. The Projo still kind of tries to cover the whole state, but their county bureaus closed around 20 years ago, and I always thought it would make more sense if they just focused all of their coverage on state government and the legislature, which does effect all of RI.

 

[Fredrick]

Will the Herald do the same? Is the Herald defeating the Globe?

 

[LanceyHoward]

Will the Herald do the same? Is the Herald defeating the Globe?

I doubt if the Herald is winning. The Globe appears to be the have the most successful in-line, local paper in the country. The Globe claims to have well over 100,000 on-line subscribers at $30 a month. I believe if they are truly getting $30 a month per subscriber I wonder why they continually besiege me with an introductory rate of $4 a month.