I didn't see another post on this, but if there's one somewhere I'm missing, I apologize.
Anyway, any thoughts on the redesign of the Times-Union?
Personally, I think it's dreadful, Just absolutely, positively dreadful. A few months ago, if you would have asked me if it was possible to dumb down the Times-Union anymore than it already was, I wouldn't have thought it possible. Guess I would have been wrong.
As a reader, it is just so ridiculously insulting to have my intelligence thought so little of as to suggest that what I'm truly looking for in a newspaper is less coverage, moronic blurbs in 96 point font, colorful pie charts for EVERYTHING, half page photos, etc.
Nice to know that Carl Cannon considers the average Jacksonville citizen's reading level to be roughly that of a 2nd grader.
Jacksonville is just dying for a rival newspaper to wake those at the T-U up from their sloppy, lazy monopoly on this city.
I don't think anyone is dying to get into the newspaper business right now though.
I agree, newspapers are on their way out....and so I don't foresee anyone wanting to step up to that plate.
Actually, there have been new newspapers started lately in Jax with the most popular one being The Resident which services Riverside/Avondale/Ortega/Murray Hill. They have a different business model than the T-U however. I do not agree that newspapers will disappear anytime soon. I think they are still viable media outlets but they have to be done properly.
As for the T-U redesign, it is horrible. The redesign adds a cartoonish quality to a newspaper which was already largely devoid of substance and original intelligent journalism. I do wish we had some adults in charge over there on Riverside Ave.
How does their business model differ? Is it more like Folio?
The Internet killed the newspaper. And, I think cable didn't help the newpaper either. Beside, do we really need to waste all our natural resources on advertising. Who here has a script to the T-U? I actually, liked the Jacksonville Journal back in the day, but the T-U killed that. I pick up USA Today sometimes on Friday, and usually when I travel my hotel gives it to me. I grab it when I can but don't pay for it usually.
Just as an FYI...Carl Cannon retired as publisher and executive vice president of the TU at the end of December.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS204225+07-Dec-2007+PRN20071207
Quote from: Lunican on January 21, 2008, 05:35:42 PM
How does their business model differ? Is it more like Folio?
More like a more dignified, less radical version of Folio. Basically, the model for The Resident is free newspapers mailed to residents and distributed free at local restaurants and other venues with all revenue coming from advertising. So, the newspaper in this case has become sort of a direct mail advertisement with a host of pretty good articles to draw interest. Newspapers have always been at least in part venues for ads with the articles designed to bring in readers. Hence the sensationalized "news" in many cases. See also television news.
I wholeheartedly disagree with any talk that the newspaper industry has been killed, or is on its way to being killed. Circulation is down, yes, but it's overly simplistic to lay the blame solely on the internet. Just as much blame can be placed on poor journalism, corruption, and laziness in the newsrooms of many major newspapers, especially over the last decade or so. At the end of the day, as many polls have shown, Americans just don't trust their local or national papers to deliver unbiased, special-interest-free information anymore. The most basic business rule of journalism is that if you present your information with total honesty and respect, the readers will come, and advertisors will have no choice but to follow. If you throw together a rag like the Times-Union -- all cheap sizzle, no real steak -- full of generic wire stories, little objectivity towards their obvious friends, stupid cookie-cutter op-eds (golly, that wacky Liberal and stubborn Conservative can't seem to agree on NUTHIN!), even more foolish regular columns (see: Laura Cap. goes on Spring Break, Laura Cap. types up all the juicy information she learned on Access Hollywood, or my favorite, the unquestionably offensive/racist/sexist/homophobic/alienating to every reader who isn't a white male "Dare to Ask" column) , the overly cutesy, sentimental "One of Us" feature documenting the local worker at the donut shop, or the baritone in the local church choir, etc. The paper really should change it's motto to "The Florida Times-Union - We Truly Say Nothing."
But still, the fact that such an unbelievable mess of a newspaper could still have a circulation of 214,572 according to the most recent (2007) numbers should be an indication that the industry isn't going anywhere. There's a traditional, tactile feel of opening up the morning newspaper, holding it in your hands, reading the days news and features, thumbing through the previous nights box scores, etc. that the internet just doesn't, and isn't meant to provide.
When people blame the internet for the decrease in newspaper circulation, I like to point to Japan. Japan is widely considered to be the most technologically advanced country in the world. Broadband is near ubiquitious in the major cities. There are internet cafes on every street corner in cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. The majority of their cell phones enable instant web browsing on the go. In short, major Japanese cities might be the easiest place in the world to go online. Yet these very same cities still account for 7 of the top 10 newspapers in the world, circulation wise. Japan only has 125 million residents, a little more than a third of the population of the United States, but newspapers like Yomiuri Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun still manage to do circulations of over 10 million for their morning and evening editions, despite the overwhelming presence of the culture-destroying internet.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly believe that the internet has had a small effect on newspaper readership in the United States, but compared to the damage the industry has done to itself, it's miniscule. Couple that with an American public with an increasingly smaller attention span and an increasing aversion to reading in general, and you've got yourself some circulation problems.
Death of the industry though?
Never.
NEVER I SAY!!!!!!!!
;D
I'm going to have to go buy a paper today. To be honest, I didn't even realize that they had changed the format. I check jacksonville.com multiple times a day, but I rarely read the actual paper.
What changed?
How old are you Ken?
I'm 26 and as Steve said, didn't even know that the format had changed. I too frequent the web for my news and have only seen quick blurbs on the front page of the TU while passing by a pile of them at the quickie mart. I'd have to believe that the other 20 somethings and younger primarily rely on digital media for their news and rarely if ever pick up a newspaper (much less buy one) to get up to date.
That is to their detriment then, Jason. You can never get enough information. :)
They really should have redesigned their website as well.
I read the times union everyday online, I havent picked up the fish wrap in years. The internet has forever changed the newspaper though, Gene Frennett (sp?) was just promoted to lead sports columnist and one of his new jobs include....you guessed it, internet blogging on the times union website.
Quote from: RiversideGator on January 30, 2008, 05:43:19 PM
That is to their detriment then, Jason. You can never get enough information. :)
I don't think they are any less informed, they (we) just get the news through digital outlets versus the paper.
I probably consume as much, if not more, digital news/media than anyone I know. My morning, afternoon, early evening, night, late night, etc. wouldn't be complete without frequent refreshes of Reuters, CNN, Fox News (good to keep tabs on the enemy), Reddit, Digg, ESPN, you name it. For instant news bytes and quickie stories, I totally agree that digital media is the way to go. Further, for straight news that hasn't been put through the corporate/mainstream media meatgrinder, the internet rules.
But sometimes I think us tech savvy young folk forget that our voracious appetite for digital media, scouring dozens of our favorite websites daily, isn't the norm just yet. To use a topical analogy, we are the Ron Pauls to the John McCains of America. The older folk, and even some of the younger folk, like tradition. Maybe even more importantly, they like to have all their information in one place.
In opening up a quality newspaper you instantly have in the palm of your hand:
- In depth coverage of the major news stories happening in the world.
- Exclusive coverage of all the top local stories in your area.
- Detailed local weather reports.
- A complete rundown of the previous day's stock market activity.
- Local and national sports results, box scores, schedules, and columns.
- Well written, edited letters from local citizens voicing their opinions on the week's hot issues.
- Quality reviews of the week's newest movies, books plays, exhibits etc. from people who are qualified, educated and experienced enough in each field to give a fair review.
- Hard hitting, often controversial editorials on local or national news (NOT yet another moronic spin off of LiBeRaL vS. CoNsErVative.
- Witty political cartoons.
- Weekly reviews of the areas top restaurants by, again, competent critics
- A calendar or list of notable events taking place in the city
- Movie showtimes
- TV LISTINGS (never underestimate how important this is to a newspaper)
- Horoscopes, a Crossword Puzzle, maybe a Sudoku grid (certainly passes our days at work a little quicker when things are slow)
Say what you want about the USA Today, but every evening when I get home from work, I grab my USA Today and walk around the neighborhood for about 30 to 45 minutes reading it. By the time I get back, I know all the major bullet points for the day's top stories, what Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson's field goal percentages and total lines were for the previous night's game, how my stock portfolio is looking, what movie I'm taking my wife too over the weekend, what book I need to go out of my way to read, and what I'm watching on TV after dinner. All information gleamed from the bajillion media sources out there in the universe and folded into a nice, comprehensive, easily managed stack of papers in my HAND. Pardon my excitement, but to me, that's a beautiful thing. A newspaper is something that can lay on the break room table in the office and be thumbed through by 40 people in a morning. It's something than can sit on a chair at Starbucks and be read and re-read throughout the day by innumerable people. Everywhere you go -- the gas station, the grocery store, the pharmacy, the street corner, your favorite lunch spot -- the newspaper is there staring you in the face. You don't have to plug it in. You don't have to track it down. It's a ubiquitous part of life.
Further, a great newspaper has a wonderful way of unifying and giving a sense of identity and purpose to a city.
If you ride the Subway in New York or the BART in San Francisco on a weekday, you'll see thousands of people of all different shapes, sizes, and classes, people from every walk of life, holding the Times or the Chronicle under their arms, awkwardly reading it in a cramped corner seat, or discussing an op-ed they feel particularly strong about. That synergy is priceless and gives a city a single, unified backbone and pulse that 5,000 internet websites and blogs will never be able to provide.
I've always felt that the quality of a newspaper is in some ways a reflection of the quality of the community. The Times-Union, sadly, seems especially fitting for Jacksonville. It's an insecure publication that would rather focus on empty sizzle than take the time and effort to fix what is fundamentally broken. I guess it's the rough equivalent of the city proving how great it is by blowing five million fucking dollars worth of fireworks into the air at every opportunity while ignoring a riverwalk slowly sinking into the river, doing nothing about aggressive vagrants and a fundamentally broken parking system driving business out of downtown, and building bigger and better pocket parks while allowing the existing parks to rot away to nothing.
If the Times-Union is the public face of our city, no wonder so many people have such an inferiority complex about Jacksonville.
A great newspaper could do truly great things for the morale and quality of life in Jacksonville. I'm convinced of it. And I'm also convinced that if a quality newspaper were to be produced in Jacksonville, it would fly off the newsstands.
The time has never been better either for a rival newspaper to emerge.
The T-U still has a relatively strong circulation, but that has to be out of habit and need, not because it's a good newspaper. We all know it's shit. Pardon my language, but it's fucking trash. It really is. You open up the Times-Union, look at all the colorful headings and massive bullet points and dumbed-down coverage and immediately think, "Whoever produces this newspaper believes that I, the reader, am literally retarded." I never joke about retardation, it's a very serious issue, but there isn't any other way to describe it. It's just garbage. Like Ronald Fucking McDonald was writing a newspaper about Happyland. If the T-U is to be taken seriously, everything that happens in this city is either wonderful. Mayor fights the crime problem by spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on a big prayer party? Wonderful! Bus Rapid Transit to cost Jacksonville over a billion dollars over 20+ years, no other options seriously considered. We can't waitl! Restaurants, plays, local artists, performances, galleries. They are ALL winners! It's like someone is grinding up somas and putting them into the water coolers at the T-U. Like the Times-Union was written for Mothers to smile and read to their first graders at night.
We need an honest newspaper written for intelligent adults. We need strong, objective, intelligent opinions on local issues, not this middle-of-the-road, pandering bullshit from the T-U. We need local involvement. An op-ed from the mayor on what the hell has caused his courthouse to balloon to nearly half a billion dollars, why a vertical plan that would allow sell off of some of the land isn't being seriously considered, or why this entire mess has taken so long, coupled with an op-ed from somebody on the other side of the fence. Readers can be trusted to make up their own minds. Community involvement is key. How about UNF English Professors doing guest book reviews, JU Theater Directors doing guest play reviews, etc. There's got to be an experience, freelance food critic in Jacksonville who can do weekly restaurant reviews. Two restaurant reviews every Wednesday -- one casual, one upscale -- with star reviews, would just go so far in rewarding and exposing some of the great restaurants in Jacksonville. Objectivity is key. It keeps everybody striving for perfection.
No reason we can't have something akin in quality to the (great) St. Petersburg Times here in Jacksonville.
No reason at all.
I'm dead convinced that it would do more good for this city than just about anything else possible.
Sorry to rant, I just love me my newspapers.
Are your fingers bleeding after having typed that response? :)
Question, Since you and I have grown up doring the internet revolution what do you see in store for the future of printed news? Our children will most likely follow in our footsteps and could be easily passified by simplicities of digital media.