A MARSHALL PLAN FOR THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY?
Tom Mohr, who used to run Knight Ridder's digital efforts, calls out the newspaper industry in Editor & Publisher.
He posits that the newspaper industry needs the equivalent of a "Marshall Plan" and needs to get over its internal disputes and work together.
"To win, industry leaders must adopt a Marshall Plan embodying two key objectives: the migration to common platforms, and the acquisition of the ability to sell top-quality online product to our advertisers."
"It is instructive that after twelve years of the consumer web, not a single example of breakthrough online innovation has emerged out of a newspaper company.
Not in recruitment.
Not in auto.
Not in classifieds.
Not in shopping, directory, new ad models, or content aggregation."
He imagines a company, Switzerland Inc., that works on behalf of all newspapers.
"But what if 2/3 or more of the U.S. newspaper industry sits on one platform, managed by Switzerland Inc.?
What if Switzerland Inc. decides to deny Yahoo! and perhaps Google access to newspaper industry content for three months, followed by a negotiation for better terms?"
UPDATE: I asked Tom Mohr, "Why KR didn't try some of your recommentations?"
His anwser: "Great question. We should have; and would have if we had had the time."
Well, time goes by and newspaper companies are missing important trains.
Again, the Knight Ridder is going to be a historical tragedy in the US newspaper future.
Tony Ridder lost the train, for sure.
He posits that the newspaper industry needs the equivalent of a "Marshall Plan" and needs to get over its internal disputes and work together.
"To win, industry leaders must adopt a Marshall Plan embodying two key objectives: the migration to common platforms, and the acquisition of the ability to sell top-quality online product to our advertisers."
"It is instructive that after twelve years of the consumer web, not a single example of breakthrough online innovation has emerged out of a newspaper company.
Not in recruitment.
Not in auto.
Not in classifieds.
Not in shopping, directory, new ad models, or content aggregation."
He imagines a company, Switzerland Inc., that works on behalf of all newspapers.
"But what if 2/3 or more of the U.S. newspaper industry sits on one platform, managed by Switzerland Inc.?
What if Switzerland Inc. decides to deny Yahoo! and perhaps Google access to newspaper industry content for three months, followed by a negotiation for better terms?"
UPDATE: I asked Tom Mohr, "Why KR didn't try some of your recommentations?"
His anwser: "Great question. We should have; and would have if we had had the time."
Well, time goes by and newspaper companies are missing important trains.
Again, the Knight Ridder is going to be a historical tragedy in the US newspaper future.
Tony Ridder lost the train, for sure.
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