Seth Godin has an interesting post on Watching the Times struggle:

“All the News That’s Fit to Print” is the heart of the problem. It was never that, of course. It was “All the News That Fits.” The entire mindset of (every) newspaper has been driven by the cost of paper, the finite nature of paper, the cost of delivery and the cycle of a daily paper. You run enough articles to fit as many ads as you can sell.These are artifacts of a different age, one that today’s consumer doesn’t care a whit about.

His advice:

1. Use their influence and brand to enable users to spread their content

2. Leverage the op-ed page and spread important ideas

3. Build a permission asset

4. Keep score

5. Stringers

6. Create new platforms for advertisers

Do the people running the Times know more about running a newspaper or building ideas that spread profitably online? How about the people running your organization? Odds are, they’re great at yesterday’s business.

I have had the good fortune to work with some of the best and brightest in the newspaper industry. For years, newspapers have treated their websites as online versions of the print product.   I have seen newspaper management transition from treating the web as a “cool, new thing” to “money maker” and quickly becoming their future main source of distribution.    When (not if) print goes away, the baggage of yesterday’s business also disappears.   No trucks, no print production facilities, no paper, possibly no union labor.

Smart newspaper management, the grandsons and daughters of family businesses, will see that the  business they are in is no longer content creation but software development.   The Washington Post and Gannett have seen this trend and diversified.

  • Where do people spend their time and attention in their lives?
  • What is most important to them?
  • How does your software/website provide utility to what is most important?

Companies that help people find what they want (search), connect with others  (social) and drive income opportunities (networking) will succeed.   News will be created, distributed and digested at those sites.

Some will adapt.  What is your company doing?