US: Orange County Register business struggles command editorial changes
Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on February 22, 2008 at 12:04 PM
The Orange County Register’s (OCR) new publisher Terry Horne is betting on free community newspapers, an enhanced online edition and a smaller sister newspaper, in order to fight back against declining revenues and heightened costs.
“The three-pronged approach is an acknowledgment that the old newspaper business model – based on a one-size fits all newspaper – is no longer viable, Horne said in his first interview since becoming publisher in September,” reported the OCR.
Horne’s renewed business approach will be closely tied to changes in editorial content. The subscription-based paper will include content targeted at an older readership. The free community weeklies will target a more general audience with a hyperlocal focus. The website will be aimed at younger audience with free content.
This could entail less news content within the flagship paper as more emphasis is put on community papers.
The OCR is implementing these new strategies to weather through struggles with its business model: ad revenue is declining, newsprint costs have increased $5 million in annual costs, and paid circulation was down 3% in the six months ending Sep. 30. Last month, the paper cut 25 jobs and consolidates its business section into the news section.
Other changes at the OCR will include a size reduction, shrinking the width of the print paper by one inch, joining a consortium with other media companies to share advertising and news content, and launching a new online portal, OrangeCounty.com, which will serve to draw a larger and global audience. The OCR is also looking at initiatives such as zoning the Local news section.
Understandably, “it's a lot for longtime Register readers to take in and some are unhappy,” reported the OCR, but the "the better choice was to have less content but with as high a quality as possible," said Horne.
Source: Orange County Register through journerdism
“The three-pronged approach is an acknowledgment that the old newspaper business model – based on a one-size fits all newspaper – is no longer viable, Horne said in his first interview since becoming publisher in September,” reported the OCR.
Horne’s renewed business approach will be closely tied to changes in editorial content. The subscription-based paper will include content targeted at an older readership. The free community weeklies will target a more general audience with a hyperlocal focus. The website will be aimed at younger audience with free content.
This could entail less news content within the flagship paper as more emphasis is put on community papers.
The OCR is implementing these new strategies to weather through struggles with its business model: ad revenue is declining, newsprint costs have increased $5 million in annual costs, and paid circulation was down 3% in the six months ending Sep. 30. Last month, the paper cut 25 jobs and consolidates its business section into the news section.
Other changes at the OCR will include a size reduction, shrinking the width of the print paper by one inch, joining a consortium with other media companies to share advertising and news content, and launching a new online portal, OrangeCounty.com, which will serve to draw a larger and global audience. The OCR is also looking at initiatives such as zoning the Local news section.
Understandably, “it's a lot for longtime Register readers to take in and some are unhappy,” reported the OCR, but the "the better choice was to have less content but with as high a quality as possible," said Horne.
Source: Orange County Register through journerdism
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I've often thought of doing something similar... starting a small local neighborhood publication and sell ad space then expand later if it worked out. Of course an established news source could just go for it from the beginning.