Jackson Jambalaya

Clarion-Ledger Executive Editor Ronnie Agnew finally mentioned the fact the Gannett newspaper laid off several employees. (This news was reported by WLBT and The Jackson Free Press.):
"I love the profession that I have chosen, even as I know that it is in perhaps its most transformative phase. Layoffs abound, including here at The Clarion-Ledger, where a souring economy forced us to say goodbye to 20 wonderful people. As much as I would wish it, I'm not sure that the transformation is complete. The economy is still too rattled.
It may be weeks or months away, but the day is coming when the economy will work its way out of its funk and newspapers will once again put to rest the idle talk about their demise. We perform a public service that cannot be duplicated. The public has an expectation that we will be there for them. And we will."

Effective leaders take responsibility when problems inevitably occur. Unfortunately for the employees and readers of The Clarion-Ledger, Mr. Agnew has chosen to abdicate his and instead blame the economy. His weak excuses are symptomatic of bad management, which rarely involves critical self-examination. Contrary to Obama's wishes, there will always be a business cycle and effective leaders know how to deal with it.

The management of The Clarion-Ledger violated several fundamental principles of business as they became a fount of red ink for Gannett. It's no secret the public is getting more of its news from the internet. The Clarion-Ledger, as did other newspapers, committed suicide when it decided to offer their entire online content FOR FREE.

What other business survives by offering a better version of its product FOR FREE to compete with its weaker version for sale? On the newspaper's website, one can read stories, view .pdf files of court documents, photo galleries on ONE story, video coverage, and comments by readers. If I buy the print edition, I am buying a newspaper with almost none of these features. Why should I pay for an inferior product when there is a better free version? What ivory-tower idiot ever thought of that scheme? Yet Mr. Agnew chooses to blame a "rattled" economy for their problems.

The Clarion-Ledger should instead move to a subscription-based online model as newspapers in Little Rock and Lake Charles have done. Charge $5-7 a month or $50 a year for online subscriptions. Follow the lead of The Wall Street Journal and offer some free content but place all the bells and whistles on the subscription side. A reader wants access to photo galleries, .pdf files, and the other media toys, make him pay if he wants to play. As Blackberries and I-phones become more advanced, people will read the news more and more on these devices. Why should it be free when the newspaper is spending money creating a mobile-based edition for their convenience? While some people will shriek over their perceived right to enjoy free newspapers online, such a strategy will probably stop the bleeding now taking place in two areas: a website that is costly to run and a declining print-subscription base.

The Clarion-Ledger also misses other opportunities because of its poor business model. The CL should allow its sportswriters to offer personal blogs with real inside "scoop" on the college football teams they cover. College football fanatics will spend a great deal of money on Rivals, Scout, and team websites. The newspaper gets NONE of that huge stream of revenue. The beat writers for each time could be true revenue generators for The Clarion-Ledger, if Gannett would allow it (and heaven forbid they should actually allow the reporter to make, gasp, MONEY, as a percentage of Ole Miss or USM blog subscriptions sold. Give the beat reporter a financial incentive to grow his personal Ole Miss blog and provide better coverage than Rivals and the message boards.) Each beat writer for a college team should be allowed to operate a blog that requires its own subscription. Offer it at the same time as a single subscription or as part of a higher-priced overall package. Guess what Ronnie? Sports nuts are no different than hunting nuts: regardless of how badly the economy is, they will STILL spend money.

An improved business model however does not hide an inferior product. The repeated and frequent errors in coverage, basic rules of grammar, and other areas have been pointed out by this blog, The Jackson Free Press, and other media sources. The Heather Spencer story showed how stories are constantly rotated among reporters (FIVE different reporters covered that story). Thus the story does not receive good coverage as the reporter fails to acquire true subject matter knowledge, as the story is constantly handed off to someone else who must start from scratch. The editorial page, instead of leading and offering true, informed opinion, follows a model of giving more room to reader feedback. Only one national column is offered per day, placing the newspaper on the level of those in Vicksburg, Hattiesburg, and other burgs. The ad rates are very expensive, driving away potential customers. Restaurant reviews are written by the restaurant owners as critical words are rarely offered. If the Clarion-Ledger is to survive, it must quit looking at the economy and instead start looking in the mirror.

It's sad to see many good employees at The Clarion-Ledger lose their jobs. As someone who has worked for large corporations, I can imagine the tension existing among the remaining employees. Unfortunately, Mr. Agnew's blaming the economy will only ensure more of the same will continue. Someone should remind the ostriches that crabs, notsolutions, are found in the sand.

Related story: http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?s=8800961