Saturday, August 20, 2005

A Staggeringly Brilliant Idea By Andrew Hoshkiw

Swank Home


Hoshkiw’s Home


I've got it. Instead of making more newspapers in Prince Rupert, what they should do is have completely online publications.
   
Think about it. The costs would be *much* lower. There'd be no printing, no shipping, no distribution expenses.
   
For staff, they could put out a really good, quality product with an editor, three reporters, a designer, three sales people and a couple admin people.
   
Rather than putting out a single issue once a week, they could update it with two or three new stories every day, plus constant news-briefs and calendar updates. That would keep people coming back every day.
   
They could even have discussion forums.
   
And it would be a better, less wasteful product. People who would want to read it could do so, and those who wouldn't want it would not have to put up with it being stuffed into their mailboxes every week.
   
Here's a really crazy idea. For the advertising, rather than the gaudy ads they're accustomed to now, they should strictly go with the Google style of text ads. It would look a lot more elegant and professional, and at the same time would greatly reduce production costs.
   
Of course, they'd have to, for a change, hire sales people who are literate.
   
The big drawback to this is that you can't claim everyone reads it. But honestly, that was never the reality. Sure, they claimed all 60,000 people in the region read it, but most people didn't even get it and a lot of those who did either threw it away or used it to line their litter boxes.
   
This whole idea I know will fall on deaf ears. But it's worth suggesting. Hell, it's even worth considering returning to Prince Rupert, finding a few good journalists, and trying to do it myself.

No comments: