"Reflections of a Newsosaur: The daunting reality facing newspapers"

"Advertising - Some Recovery in Ad Spending Forecast for 2010" - NYTimes.com

On The Media: Transcript of "Talk is Cheap" (December 4, 2009)

"For Search, Murdoch Looks to a Deal With Microsoft" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

"Advertising - Online Ads Are Booming, if They’re Attached to a Video" - NYTimes.com

"Sober Mood at New York Post as Circulation Spirals Lower" - NYTimes.com

"The Media Equation - Nonprofit Site, Texas Tribune, Begins as Big News Hits State" - NYTimes.com

"Newspaper Hopes Could Be Old News" - WSJ.com

"National Post of Canada May Close on Friday" - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com

I think we are going to look back 5 years from now and ask ourselves why we did not realize that the newspaper business is falling apart all around us and respond with the emergency creativity that the crises demand.

"Local News Web Site in Washington Will Start with 50 Journalists" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

"Reflections of a Newsosaur: Newspapers, the mass-less mass medium"

"This Dying Medium Has Plenty of Life" - Barrons.com

"Newspaper circulation falling fast, down 10.6 pct " - AP

Numbers don't get much worse than this.

"Advertising - Newspapers May Face Ad Difficulties on Web Sites, Too" - NYTimes.com

"Real-time, Relevant Ads Matched With Real-time News? What a Concept!"

I think there is much to be said for this idea.

"Newsday Plans to Charge for Online News" - NYTimes.com

By doing this, we'll all get a chance to see what happens!

"Times Says It Will Cut 100 Newsroom Jobs" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

The seriousness of this moment in the history of US newspapers cannot be overstated, and this action by The New York Times is a vivid reflection of so many newspaper crises.

"The Media Equation: How To Pay For News When Nobody Wants To Pay For News" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

This is a very good summary of where things stand, and I worry that too many newspapers still believe that we are just working our way through tough times and tomorrow will be like yesterday. Add this to the mix as well http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/media/19carr.html?ref=media

"Newspaper Trade Fair closes on successful note, despite economy" - Media Update

Still, that looks to be down from 8,800 last year.

"Le Quotidien du foot dans les kiosques mardi" - Le Figaro

It is encouraging to see any new newspaper initiatives during these crises. In France, Tuesday saw the launch of something we've never seen in the US - a daily newspaper devoted entirely to soccer! It costs about 1.50 USD per copy, is 24 pages and hopes for a circulation of 50-80,000 copies. It was first promised in Jan 2009.

"Once Again, Some Newspapers To Get Thinner, Literally" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

One of the problems that printed newspapers face around the world is that almost no consideration is gvien to how a consuming customer now uses the paper beyond reading it, or what might be offered that would increase the ways - beyond reading that the newspaper might get used.

I am not speaking of bird cage lining or fish scaling.

What I mean is that a huge amount of effort goes into preparing the pages of any printed newspaper. When a person looks at the front page, and then turns to other pages, she or he winds up being drawn to things of interest, whether it is editorial content, advertising or anything else. Once attracted, the customer decides if it is worth consuming beyond a cursory glance.

Here is where it gets important and is overlooked.

How does the person who invests his or her time in going beyond that cursory glance then make use the actual newspaper space occupied by whatever prompted the closer look? Or is the medium just the repository for the ink and message and nothing more?

I think it can be much more and during these crises, it is a time to rethink that list of what all it could be. Is it easy to clip a story and share with a family member? Is it easy to use the printed ad to pursue a newspaper provided option online connected to the ad? Is it easy to clip a coupon valuable at a store? Can something in the newspaper be scanned and used to earn a discout somewhere? Does the printed content lead the customer to more newspaper-provided content?

The list is long and the attention it is getting is virtually non-existent. That's a shame.

"Newspapers won't be abandoned, but they need to change" - Editors Weblog

I think I would have written a more alarmist headline.... something like:
"Newspapers fail to transfer brand from paper to digital, and they are losing the survival battle"

"Guardian looks to bloggers to fill local news gap" - Editors Weblog

I think this approach has tremenedous potential; the issue will be management of the content. It will go out with the Guardian's brand and the Guardian needs to gear up, as they may be doing, to be able to make sure what is offered is consistent with that brand. If they do, this could be a real winner....provided they make the right judgments (what people want and need in their daily lives) about what to cover. If they get that wrong, this will fail miserably, and if anyone should get it right, on the other hand, it is they!

"WAN - World Newspaper Publishing Expo Opens on Optimistic Note"

"Reporter Resurrects Career - Buys His Own Paper" - NYTimes.com

The future of newspapers?

"Conde Nast Focus on Magazines Ended Up Costing Gourmet" - MediaWorks

"USA Today Likely to Fall To No. 2 in Circulation" - WSJ.com

"AP, News Corp bosses say pay up" - AP

"Replace editor-in-chiefs with 'content directors', says Mecom CEO" - Journalism.co.uk

"What The Rise Of Demand-Side Ad Networks Means For Publishers" - paidContent

"Google’s Schmidt Says The Economy Is Bouncing Back In The U.S.—And In Europe" - paidContent

"My changing media habits (or: there is no crisis!)" - The Hannibal Blog

"MaCartePresse" lancé à Marseille pour acheter les journaux moins cher - Actualités Medias sur Voila Actu

This strikes me as an overly complex solution to the wrong problem.

"Canada's largest media company seeks bankruptcy protection" - Journalism in the Americas

Customers - Health is pretty essential, no? - "A New Web Tool to Take Control of Your Health" - NYTimes.com

Which newspaper anywhere in the world is meeting the health needs of its consuming customers?

Customers - Meeting essential information needs - "Pew Research Center Study:Bulk Of Reporting Covered Wall Street And Government, Not Regular People"

This goes to a key point I have tried to make in recent months. Newspapers need to refocus much of their energy - I would say the majority - on serving the "essential" needs of their consuming customers. If newspapers do not do that, they are destined to become even more marginal, more elitist, and less successful.

Technology - I'll have a tablet with my coffee, please - "The Quest Continues for a Tablet PC" - NYTimes.com

This article raises the most important question - how will tablets fit into the lives of consuming customers? How will they actually use them?

Confidence - How do newspapers earn it in goods and services? - "On the Internet, Everyone's a Critic But They're Not Very Critical" - WSJ.com

For the crisis of "confidence" I would suggest that newspapers need to work harder to define why it is that consuming customers ought to be able to trust what a newspaper provides over what comes from the who-knows-who in the internet. This article talks about how the current free-for-all system is resulting in misleading high ratings for too many.

Compensation - How much is right? - "The Media Equation - With Tribune in Bankruptcy, a Tone-Deaf Request for Bonuses" - NYTimes.com

In recent days, there have been several stories about compensation to people working in the news and newspaper business. The other principal one has been ProPublica, the non-profit supported primarily by the gift of one man, where they claim to be paying salaries commensurate witht he private sector....although seemingly too high. In all of these cases, there is a need for a "reality check", a sober reflection on whether the business of news can support such high pay anymore. If we are looking for a way to have a sustainable newspaper business, I doubt almost completely that we will find that plan amidst salaries for editors and reporters well over 300,000 USD.

Competition - How will Chinese media development impact newspapers in other countries? - "China Hopes to Create Its Own Media Empires" - NYTimes.com

There is always China to worry about as well!

Customers - What exactly do newspapers think that customers expect to get out of their newspapers? - www.figaromedias.fr

This is a refreshing line from Le Figaro in France. On TV and here in the website, it says to the marketplace "s'informer pour decider" or inform yourself in order to decide, or learn in order to decide. That's a nice strategic description of what a newspaper ought to help its customers do.

"Giraffe Forum » Surviving information-seeking sickness"

My Irish friend, Gerry McGOVERN, manages to hit this giraffe right on the head. He would have been a great addition to our London program and I commend him to anyone reading this.....

"With information galore, we need news judgment" - latimes.com

Competition - There sure is a lot of it.... - "Grands sites mondiaux méconnus" - Journal du Net

While this is in French, it is easy to follow - showing the top 50 sites in the world in terms of traffic. Without quibbling over the exact numbers, take a look at all of them. This report suggests that we probably have never heard of 12 out of this group. I think they are right!

"Gary Hamel: What Really Kills Great Companies: Inertia" - Gary Hamel’s Management 2.0 - WSJ

I don't know if you can access this piece without a WSJ subscription but it echoes very succinctly so much of the good advice shared at the London conference. If you want access to it, I may be able to e-mail you a link that will work without a subscription. Otherwise, you will have to subscribe? How awful would that be?

"Google CEO Eric Schmidt On Newspapers & Journalism"

"Huffington Post proves newspapers aren’t dead, yet"

"Best Buy Plans a Very Twittery Christmas" - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Perhaps few newspapers will be following in Best Buy's Christmas footsteps.

"Hybrid Books From Publishers Like Simon and Schuster Add Video and Web Features to Reading" - NYTimes.com

"BlackBerry or iPhone: Which is Better for Journalists? - Poynter Online

"Think Different"

Here is the Think Different video we saw at the Apple offices....

"Summit takes hard look at future of journalism"

"Reflections of a Newsosaur: Berkeley Media Tech Summit goes live"

Might be worth watching....

Technologies - Pumping up print - "The Daily Beast Seeks to Speed Up the Publishing Process for Books" - NYTimes.com

Another fusion of print and electronic offerings.....

Alliances - Have newspapers explored all of the possibilities? - "Partnership for CBS News and GlobalPost on Foreign Reports" - NYTimes.com

Newspapers can learn from this experience, for better or worse.

Revenue - Is asking "will they pay?" the right question? - "Only 5% in UK would pay for web news" - Reflections of a Newsosaur

These are pretty discouraging figures, but context is everything, not to mention the importance of how questions like this are posed. Of special importance are the various ways in which charges can be assessed less directly, of course, and, as in the traditional newspaper model, born by others.

Technology - Twittering up - "An Infusion of Another $100 Million Is Seen for Twitter" - NYTimes.com

Newspapers might want to consider reflecting on Twitter in different ways. What is it that newspapers can learn from the significant number of people who have taken to the idea of these short messages? Surely that has an impact on how newspapers serve existing and future audiences, no? What is that impact?

Financing - Can newspapers tap "non-profit" model/interest? - "A Nonprofit Local News Site for San Francisco Is Being Created" - NYTimes.com

How does a newspaper manager tap this interest and willingness to provide financial support for much of what newspapers historically have done?

Technology - How can newspapers profit from wikiwoes? - "Wikipedia: A 'Victim Of Its Own Success?'" NPR

How can newspapers refill the void?

Competition - Delivery people can deliver a lot of advertising - "Advertising - U.P.S. to Begin Testing Direct Marketing Service" - NYTimes.com

There is lots of innovation out there among companies that did not seem to be newspaper competitors. Now they are.

Technology - Newspapers seem to have stopped innovating a while ago in this area, no? - "Google Unveils Tool to Annotate Web Sites" - NYTimes.com

What was the last really creative offering from a newspaper that allowed for the posting of comments on individual stories? I get the feeling that it is like so many things, once there is a comment capability on the newspaper's website, that job-to-do can be checked as completed....when it really ought to just be the beginning?

Innovation - Prime the newspaper pump with a contest? - "Netflix Awards $1 Million Prize and Starts a New Contest" - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

Is this a model for the newspaper business in seeking innovative solutions to today's crises?

Technology - A newspaper coming to your TV? - "Hybrid Internet-TV Makes Progress in Europe" - NYTimes.com

Surely worth discussing in London?

Diversificaiton - Debates organized by newspapers? - "Good Riddance to Mainstream Media" - Intelligence Squared US

There was a story about this effort in the NYT today. Why aren't newspapers offering these kinds of debates?

Revenues - The belt gets tighter - "Newspapers Have Not Hit Bottom, Analysts Say" - NYTimes.com

Well, I suppose it could be worse.

News - Understanding how it works - "Link by Link - The Amish Paper The Budget Explores a Move Online" - NYTimes.com

There are so many places and experiences from which newspapers can learn so much.

Marketing - Why restrict it to the marketing department? - "Atlantic Blogger Andrew Sullivan Makes Pitch for Supporting Print" - NYTimes.com

I think this is a much bigger story than this brief item suggests. Why? Because if a newspaper is going to succeed today amidst all of these crises, it is going to have work unbelievably hard and creatively to interest customers and surpass competitors. If there is not a team commitment to success, the efforts will not be successful.

What should a good newspaper manager do today to unleash the marketing power of his team? What's the best effort undertaken so far by a newspaper to increase revenue using the entire staff as a marketing team? I think there is a way to do without compromising editorial integrity. If a newspaper employee does not use the newspaper for which he or she works, they ought not be working there. If they do, why not ask them to talk about why they do?

Customers - Newspapers as teachers - "Newspaper offers journalism classes" - SouthCoastToday.com

This is "small potatoes" by many measures, yet an interesting notion of one area in which newspapers might choose to move?

Diversification - Time to think about new ways to serve local advertisers and others? - "Will Amazon Become the Wal-Mart of the Web?" - NYTimes.com

Think about how Amazon began and where it seems to be going. Then thinking about newspapers and the local markets that most serve. A company begins selling books; another begins selling newspapers. One moves in one direction; the other?

Technology - Are landlines the phone company's printing Presses? - "Verizon Boss Hangs Up on Landline Phone Business" - NYTimes.com

Newspapers have more to learn from all this than may be obvious on the surface. There was a time when the phone company was seen as the biggest potential competitor for newspapers on the horizon. How each has evolved since is worthy of considerable study and reflection.

Customers - Understand me and my computer, understand me - "Taming the Digital Distractions That Make Your PC a Time Waster" - NYTimes.com

This may not be a newspaper crisis, but it surely is a personal consumer crisis. If newspaper managers don't try to understand what's happening here, I don't see how they can make sound decisions about the future strategies and business development for their newspapers.

Update on the conference......from WAN-IFRA

"Only few places left!Jacques Rosselin, the French publisher whose "Vendredi" turns web content into print revenue, has joined the programme of the Managing the CrisisConference to be held at the Frontline Club in London on 28 and 29 September.

The conference, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and NewsPublishers (WAN-IFRA), is designed to provide information and ideas to helppublishers emerge stronger from the recession. Mr Rosselin's presentationwill focus on exploiting new technologies and new media, something "Vendredi" does in a non-traditional way.Mr Rosselin's weekly publication is a "best of the web" on paper. Although the information comes from the Internet, "paper provides a unique readerexperience", he has said. "When you search on the net, you can get lost andwaste too much time searching for pertinent information. And people don't necessarily have three hours a day for that. When we read a newspaper, we nolonger have everything, but we opt for a selection of organised information". Mr Rosselin is also the founder of Courrier International, the French weeklythat publishes a selection of stories that have appeared in the foreign press. Vendredi is based on the same concept for blogs and other web material; is put together by journalists who select and edit what is often non-journalistic content.

The conference has already attracted publishers, CEOs, editors-in-chief andother senior newspaper executives from 17 countries in Europe, North Americaand the Middle East. There is still time to register: full conferencedetails can be found at http://www.ifra.com/managingthecrisis.

A "Managing the Crisis" blog can be found at http://managingthecrisis.blogspot.com

Because all publishers have been affected by the recession, the conferencewill encourage exchanges between the speakers and participants, not only inround-table discussions but also during the presentations.

Presentations include:- "Capitalising on new audiences", by Maeve Donovan, Managing Director of The Irish Times;- "How to profit from the crisis", by Reiner Esser, Managing Director of Die Zeit in Germany;- "Boosting ad sales in a slowdown", by Theo Blanco, Senior Sales and Marketing Director at Upsala Nya Tidning in Sweden;- "Emerging stronger from the recession", by Reiner Mittelbach, Joint CEO of WAN-IFRA;- "Alternatives to Google", by Moritz Wuttke, Founder of New Media Initiatives, based in China and Switzerland;- "Leading in crisis - Getting the upper hand in a down economy", by Richard Wellins, Senior Vice President for Global Marketing and Business Development at US-based Development Dimensions International;- "Innovation success in the age of turbulence", by Anna Kirah, a Design Anthropologist with Denmark-based CPH Design;- "Defining the crises (as if one were not enough)", by Terry Maguire,Principal at US-based International Media Development & Counsel;- and "Cost savings or how to manage an earthquake: Lessons from the Russian media", by Vasily Gatov, Strategy Director at Media3 in Russia.The conference will also include panel and round table discussions on four main topics: people, money, customers and technology.

For the evolving conference programme, please go to: http://www.ifra.com/managingthecrisis"

"Cracking the Spine of Libel" - Olivia Judson Blog - NYTimes.com

As a media lawyer by profession and background, I have not wanted to focus too much here on legal issues. Since Managing the Crisis will be in London, however, I think this is one of the exceptions to my rule. In an era when so much in the electronic media world is perceived to be free, and so many views are being expressed, it is easy to conclude that laws restricting what can be said, or, most often, punishing what was said, are not relevant. This is a good discussion of why that is not the case. Any good newspaper manager has to remember that the newspaper usually bears utlimate responsibility for what it publishes in any medium, and the higher the profile of the newspaper, and the more determined the complainers, the more likely it is that litigation will happen. It may not be a crisis, but that's only because there have been enough people opposing the worst of it to keep it under control. If there are fewer media enterprises able to object, for various reasons, mostly economic, that may not continue to be the case.

Alliances - The Google partnership idea, once again - "Google Fast Flip"

I guess this is part of the answer about whether Google can help newspapers. See The New York Times story yesterday profiling this new offering, in which the Times is participating. Is this a good thing and will it stick?

When I searched on "newspapers", here is some of what came up:

Customers - How creatively can a newspaper link its customers and Facebook's? - "Facebook Says Its Finances Are Looking Up" - NYTimes.com

What is the most creative link with Facebook that a newspaper anywhere has developed, and has the newspaper managed to make it profitable?

For example, here's a Linked in connection for The New York Times:

Is there a Facebook version of this?

Customers - Queueing up for newspapers? - "MediaPost Publications Upswing: Newspapers' Online Traffic Doubles 2004-2009"

This is impressive but how did we get here from there? In other words, what explains this increase? What are all the underlying data?

Are the crises getting worse?

Here are three items in today's New York Times that I think are worth reading together.

The first is not a newspaper story, but it tells a publishing story that should concern any newspaper manager.

The second is a newspaper story, and like the first, we'll know more tomorrow, it appears.

Finally, one of the sources of these crises.......

Revenue - Connecting new media dots to earn more money - "An Advertising Shift Helps Blogs Survive as Businesses" - NYTimes.com

Part of the crises picture for newspaper is the challenge of understanding how some of the established principles of newspaper advertising networks have morphed into revenue for new technology competitors without newspapers playing much, if any, of a role.

Technology - What can newspapers learn from government and the people they share as customers? "‘Athens’ on the Net" - NYTimes.com

In many ways, newspapers are in the same situation as are governments - long-time venerable institutions facing rapid changes in their constituencies brought about largely by technological innovation. As such, I'd argue, they have lots more to learn from one another than they so far realize.

Customers - Do newspapers make good teachers? - "At Your Fingers, an Oxford Don" - NYTimes.com

I, for one, see huge opportunities for newspapers in the world of learning. Newspapers teach us about our communities and our world everyday, and why shouldn't they play an even more active role in the educational process. The Washington Post Co., exceptionally, would surely agree, although you would not know it from their newspaper or newspaper website.

Target Stores, newspapers and customers

Today in The New York Times (print edition), there are two full pages of paid advertising from Target Stores, one of the largest US retailers and a substantial newspaper advertiser across the country. The text begins "On May 31st, we published an invitation in this newspaper: "Tell us what more we can do for you."" It continues, "627 of you e-mailed and we responded to each of you with a personal reply."

That got my attention.

The ad text then goes on to talk about some of the 627 suggestions and what Target is doing in response.

But what I kept thinking about was this -- a full page (I believe) ad, prepared by a professional advertising agenc, appears in one of the largest and most respected US newspaper. The response is only 627 people?

What's wrong with this number, perhaps this medium, and what can the current crises provide us in terms of an opportunity to fix some of the problem?

Human resources - Hire the free? - "You Be the Reporter, Photographer, and Videographer" - Share with Us at MyNC.com

The price is cheap. Is it worth it?

Competitors - How to compete with more popular Tweeters? - "Who has the most Followers on Twitter? (Top 100)" - Twitterholic.com

What is especially interesting about this list is that I see only two newspaper listings in the top 100. One is for the NYTimes at an impressive # 19 spot and another, a blog on the NYTimes website, at # 67. Is this wrong, right, or irrelevant to the crises newspapers face today?

Customers - Choosing on whom you rely - "Social Media's Growing Influence" - NPR

Surely there are more creative ways for newspapers to insert themselves into this evolution as the trusted voice and source amidst so much that is so questionable.

Revenue - Has the process started to find a solution? - "Ideas for Online Media Pay Wall Create Buzz" - NYTimes.com

While these initiatives are well worth following, and are important, this New York Times story sprinkles just the right amount of salt on them. There is a lot of bragging competition underway among some of the players, and newspaper managers have to discount all of that if they can.

Technology - Is there still a chance that Google could help newspapes" - "Google Plans Tools to Help News Media Charge for Content" - NYTimes.com

A creative response to Google may be in the best interests of newspapers, no?

Crises - Some are bigger than others? - "Turkish Media Group Critical of Government Is Fined $2.5 Billion" - NYTimes.com

Can you imagine the crisis management needed in the face of this?

Content - How to make even more of it? - "'Spinning the Times' - 1st Irish Festival Offers Plays Inspired by Media Reports" - NYTimes.com

What's so interesting about this story is the suggestion that there are so many other actions and activities that flow from an item in a newspaper than just reading it. Is this not a time - amidst so many crises - when newspapers should focus on that laundry list of possibilities and help advance them in positive directions more creatively? It might be to encourage dramatic works to be created, or it might be to sell groceries, or it might be to affect public policy, etc.

Commissioned investigations?

Today I heard a report ont he BBC about a study "commissioned" by the BBC on immigration trends. The subject was not as important to me as was the process. I thought about the few times that I hear those words - commissioned study - used to describe something that a newspaper has professionally undertaken to do. Why is that? Sure, there is expense to do massive studies, but there is little expense in doing small studies very well. It is, it seems to me, something that could distinguish a newspaper better from the pajama-clad blogger than is now the case, no?

Customers - Shouting is more fun than thinking - "The Media Equation - Obama’s Challenges Reaching a Public Ready to Pounce" - NYTimes.com

Put the specifics of the very US-focused debate aside for a moment. What's at issue here is the communication of information that triggers a response among a significant number of people. How does this apparent fact affect, or how should it affect, the way newspapers conduct their business? Newspapers have both a role that they believe they should play generally and yet an unavoidable need to understand how people are reacting to what news and information they receive. If newspapers want to come out these crises successfully, they are going to have to mount an effort that takes this sort of like-it-or-not reality into account, no?

Customer input - Couldn't newspapers organize this really well for stories? - "A Book That Lets Readers Handle the Footnotes" - NYTimes.com

We are still at the experimental stage on all of this, aren't we? Imagine this in the context of a newspaper. The challenge is to collect all of the good stuff from readers that a newspaper can, incoporate the best and most useful and be sure to share it again with everyone. Imagine, for a moment, a process whereby newspapers publish stories seeking comment, via footnotes or otherwise, take all of that into account offline and product a final version of the story. Those who offer comments would get a first look at the finished product which might be preceded by a little discussion of the comments received and what was done with them. There is ample precedent in how to do this in the procedures used for more than 50 years in the US when federal goverment agencies publish proposed rules and actions, seek public comment, note the comments and discuss them, followed by publication of a final action. Why isn't that something newspapers might try?

Customers - How best to use the women's entrance? - "Yet Another Facelift for iVillage, NBC’s Site for Women" - NYTimes.com

Arguably half of any newspaper's market is made up of women. In some cases, it is more than that and in other cases, less. What makes this story about iVillage valuable is that here is a media company - NBC - trying to reach as many people as it can, and using as part of its offering a site focused on women. Not many newspapers seeking to reach the broadest audience do this; in fact, I don't know of any that do. Some have women's sections or others with a special appeal to women, but none have their own women sites. So, learning from what NBC has done and is doing can help with the management of, as I suggest, possibly one half of a newspapers' customers, no?

Evolution - Are there newspaper building blocks here? - "Turning to Hollywood Tie-Ins, Lego Thinks Beyond the Brick" - NYTimes.com

Newspapers and Legos are both pretty well established ideas in the minds of most people. If you think about how Legos have evolved in recent years, chart that, and put newspaper evolution alongside it, what would the similarities and differences be?

Public policy - Is there something to be said to ending endless anonymity? - "China Web Sites Seeking Users’ Names" - NYTimes.com

In a global marketplace, these sorts of government actions can never really be taken in isolation.

Advertising - Editing the ads? - "Magazines Run Ads, but Now They Create Them Too" - NYTimes.com

Has the time arrived for newspapers to become significantly more involved in the creation of the advertising they carry in print and online? Who would benefit? Start with advertising and reader customers.

Technology - Putting the internet to work for customers - "Google Advertising & Marketing Index" - Google Finance

This is an interesting set of charts from Google which may or may not mean anything in the end. What Google has done, however, is to make them easily accessible and comparable with major indices. And it had done so for a broad cross-section of the consumer economy. What's a good example of something of equal value to a newspaper market that has been launched by a newspaper?

News - Who is the better news organizer - a newspaper or Google? - "Google Shines a Deeper Spotlight on News" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

How good a job are newspapers doing today - generally - in providing their customers with the same kind of added-value content?

Customers - Reading by a strap - "The Joy of Reading in the Subways of New York" - NYTimes.com

And where are the newspapers?

Books - What, exactly, are the differences between books and newspapers? - "Abroad - Beleaguered Bookseller Knows Whom to Blame - Oxfam" - NYTimes.com

The demise of bookstores is a sad development for anyone who values words. What can newspapers learn from what has happened to so many? How can those failures be turned into newspaper succeses? What I mean is that these are businesses whose offerings, almost exclusively, are words and pictures, printed on paper, and so have been newspapers; where book purchasers and readers go is much more complicated than a new electronic reader or website, and so, too, for newspapers. In the same edition of The New York Times comes this news of another bookstore failing in New York City, albeit a store speciailizing in French and other non-English language publications.

Customers - Who is offering the best outlet for self-expression? - "BBC World Service - Documentaries - Citizen journalism - democracy or chaos?"

To a large extent, most newspapers are simply letting this battle play out. One could hardly accuse many newspapers of trying to manage the evolution, even in a minor way, to make its outcome a better one. Many of the entities that create opportunities for non-journalists to share their writings claim to have high-minded ideals and seek to make the world a better place. Even if one accepts that, don't newspapers have a lot more to offer than they are now doing? Couldn't good newspaper managers develop a means by which the opportunities for people to express themselves increase more quickly than in the rest of the marketplace? Is it impossible to think that newspapers could take the lead on some of this to help move it in a direction where core values and the apparent desire to express oneself can both be better served?

Customers - Will they read a rain-soaked newspaper? - "Tesco, British Grocer, Uses Weather to Predict Sales" - NYTimes.com

It's easy to dismiss this as just a food industry matter, but I wonder if the consumption and use of what newspapers provide their customers in any medium are as dependent on things like the weather as Tesco believes grocery purchases to be?

Advertising - Dusting off the crystal balls - "A Mixed Outlook for Media Advertising" - NYTimes.com

The newspaper slice of the global advertising pie is not necessarily linked to the size of the pie.

Packaging - Newspapers not worth stealing - "It’s In The Bag" - Gadgetwise Blog - NYTimes.com

Imagine that - a fake newspaper with a computer inside. A sign of things to come?

Public policy - What role will privacy play? - "Media Decoder: Privacy Advocates Push for New Legislation" - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

There are many aspects to the public policy questions affecting newspaper navigation out of the crisis.

News - How do newspapers pursue access today? - "Sidebar - Shrinking Newsrooms Wage Fewer Battles for Public Access to Courtrooms" - NYTimes.com

News can be very expensive, especially when newspapers choose to fight government and/or private interests to obtain access to information, records and/or people. Being forced, it appears, to spend less on this today goes to the heart of what separates a professional news organization from a blogger in her or his pajamas. How do we resolve this not just for the good of the public but for the sustainability of newspapers as institutions with distinguishing characteristics?

Customers - What can newspapers learn from magazines? - "Advertising - Most Magazine Sales Plummet at Newsstands" - NYTimes.com

If a newspaper manager reads this, thinking about the range of content in most newspapers, is there some hope to be found in any of these numbers? What would a good newspaper manager do after reading those magazine - at least short term - trends?

Managing - Investigative outsourcing? - "The promise of a newspaper’s investigative spinoff" - Nieman Journalism Lab

Is this a good management decision or just a very temporary fix?

Conference - Early apple harvest? - "Apple to Host Media Event September 9" - NYTimes.com

Managing the Crisis starts off with a visit to Apple in London.....

Managment - Meet or make? - "Craigslist: A Company of Makers" - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com

Is this a time when there should be more or fewer meetings inside newspapers?

Finances - Newspaper bankruptcy becoming the "expected".... - "Owner of Orange County Register May File for Bankruptcy" - NYTimes.com

We have not seen the end of newspaper bankruptcies in the US.

Customers - Pool of "creators" grows - "The Count - An Online Outlet for Creating and Socializing" - NYTimes.com

The percentage of a what are called "creators" here is higher than I would have expected, and I wonder - consistent with an earlier posting here - whether newspapers are working hard enough to come up with creative ways to help manage and advance some of this creativity. It's a lot more than just providing an opportunity to comment on articles or even to create a blog.

Revenue - Morphing free into pay - "Ping - Evernote, a Free Storage App, Seeks More Paying Users" - NYTimes.com

Is this "free" strategy one that newspapers need to be considering even during these crises?

Customers - Connecting kids to their interests - "The Future of Reading - ‘Reading Workshop’ Approach Lets Students Pick the Books" - NYTimes.com

One of the truly fundamential crises facing the historical notion of a newspaper is reading. How creative are newspapers becoming about introducing the value of reading the content presented in print or online by newspapers to young people as profiled in this story?

Competition - Is the BBC eating newspapers? - "Murdoch son BBC threatens independent jo..." - Euronews 24

This strikes me as a potential discussion note for Managing the Crisis given that we will be in London.

Customers - Have newspapers tried to organize bloggers like cornflake makers do? - "Mommy Bloggers Pregnant With Potential" - NPR

Have newspapers been as creative as they might be in working to bring together all of those who choose to speak in the digital world, on all subjects? It seems to me that too little has been done too slowly ot keep up with the market. Why, honestly, shouldn't newspapers lead this?

Competition - Is the US Postal Service delivering a good prediction? - "As Internet Booms, the Postal Service Fights Back" - NYTimes.com

The time begins in the US, it appears, to watch carefully some of the emerging assumptions about what the climb up the other side of the financial crisis may mean for media.

Technology - How do newspapers think outside the coupon? - "Coupons You Don’t Clip, Sent to Your Cellphone" - NYTimes.com

Surely there are ways that newspapers can incorporate this thinking into what they offer their customers. What I mean is that the whole coupon world, both print and electronic, is an "action" activity for the customer. While many coupons have been, are and may be in the future distributed by newspapers, is there not an application for this kind of activity beyond getting a few cents or more off the price of an item in a store? It's part of the creativity crisis that confronts newspapers.

Technology - Wikipedia a simple idea doing what newspapers ought to do - "A War of Words Over Wikipedia’s Spanish Version" - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

I continue to believe that newspapers have a huge amount to learn from the Wikipedia phenomenon. Can newspapers take the best of what they are doing, avoid the problems, and make the core idea more central to the service newspapers offer their customers? I don't know.

Models - Some signs of investor interest in creative plans? - "PRISA Brings Talos as Investor to Unite Forces and Expand a Retail Media Network"

Have we all learned as much from PRISA as we might?

Technology - Is the internet scarier than a deserted street on a dark night? - "Editorial Notebook - Time to Be Afraid of the Web?" - NYTimes.com

Newspapers have to worry about a lot of environments in which they operate. One of the biggest has always been the streets traveled all over the world to bring printed newspapers to vending machines, vendors, homes and businesses. The dangers lurking there have been varied and at times immense. Now, newspapers have to confront new dangers in the internet world, and I wonder if the crisis of confidence that shakes so many people when they read something like this has really sunk in with newspapers. Are we assuming too blithely that the internet will simply work fine and our only job is to make money using it, or more altruistically, use it to disseminate great journalism to a hungry world?

Advertising - Will it ever come back or is it gone forever? - "NAA: Ad Sales Down 29% in 2Q, Biggest Downturn Yet"

What if newspapers don't recover? Where is the alternative industry plan? Where are the individual plans?

Competition - When to ask government to blow the whistle? - "Italian Regulators Investigating Google" - NYTimes.com

Dealing with competitors involves many choices. Some are simply to compete harder. Occasionally, there are other remedies involving laws and policies. Deciding among all of those choices is especially difficult in the midst of all of the crises.

Crises - "The newspaper and media industry's leading trade fair in times of crisis - why is it so important for our sector at this difficult time?"

It looks like the crisis theme will be carried over to Expo 2009 in Vienna in October. Managing the Crisis in London at the end of September would be good preparation!

Customers - Is buying or reading newspapers enough? - "Advertising - Comedy Central Tries to Gauge Passion of Its Viewers" - NYTimes.com

Do we ever measure the "commitment" of newspaper customers? Maybe we should?

Customers - Why is anonymity running rampant? - "Is It O.K. to Blog About This Woman Anonymously?" - NYTimes.com

This may seem like not such a big issue until one realizes that trends like anonymity go to the very core of information and opinion exchange and what could be more important to newspapers? It is a huge management challenge of expectations, professionalism, effectiveness, and good judgment.

Customers - How to manage a newspaper market of Tweeters? - "Who’s Driving Twitter’s Popularity? Not Teenagers" - NYTimes.com

Are newspapers missing the Twitter boat?

Customers - Managing readers - "Newspapers Use Readers To Break, Analyze News" - NPR

Managing the evolution of what reporters and editors do and what customers do is tough. We have much to learn from all that is happening with this everywhere.

Promotion - Can we promote ourselves out of this? - "The Multi-Medium"

There are lots of bells and whistles here in this website for newspapers sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America, and perhaps this has been well-received. It's been supported by full page newspaper print ads and perhaps some online.

Choices - Cover the news or pay the electric bill? - "Hey, Media: Where's The Afghanistan Coverage?" - NPR

These kinds of issues really go to the core of what newspapers have always thought was important - the coverage of the world in places like Afghanistan. Allocating resources to this is a tough call for almost all news organizations, and it raises tough questions about what level of journalistic activity will be financially possible in the future.

Models - Wikinewspapers? - "Wikipedia Will Limit Changes on Articles About Living People" - NYTimes.com

Do newspapers and Wikipedia wind up meeting some place in the "middle"? Isn't the Wikipedia model, with the modifications that continue to be implemented, getting closer to what might be an ideal blending of journalistic professionalism and social networks?

Content - Does it make it better when Meryl STREEP says it's good? - "Meryl Streep: Still Cooking on Behalf of Newspapers"" - NYTimes.com

What a great time to be bringing back Meryl STREEP with the popularity surrounding Julie and Julia, the film.

Coverage - Well, I guess this is one of the new limits? - "Slate Is Switching From ‘Today’s Paper’ to a News Roundup" - NYTimes.com

Slate is owned by the Washington Post Company.

Government - If (the US) government listens only, that's ok, but more than that? - F.T.C. to Look at News Industry’s Future - NYTimes.com

Such a hearing in many countries would not seem at all unusual, but here in the US, this is extraordinary. I doubt anything will come of the program, other than an exchange of information, but that is not all bad.

Innovation - Niching our way out of the hole? - "New York Observer Starts a Paper on Real Estate" - NYTimes.com

It's nice to see a newspaper trying out an idea at time when so many are closing their innovation files.

Customers - Words are everything - "The Media Equation - Tyler Brûlé and Monocle, a Travel Magazine, Blur Ad Lines" - NYTimes.com

Something to be learned here?

Coverage - What are today's newspaper limits? - "Fanbase Aims to Be a Wiki for Sports at all Levels" - NYTimes.com

One of the new limits that newspapers must consider today is just how much information on any topic or topics does a 2009 newspaper commit to collect, report and retain? Where is the line between what a newspaper sees as its news and information role and where the newspaper cedes terrain to other?

Customers - How doe they "feel" about what newspapers give them? - "Sentiment Analysis Takes the Pulse of the Internet" - NYTimes.com

This - measuring "sentiment" - would surely be a ground-breaker for newspapers if they tried the same approach. Should they?

Advertising - Someone has to pay to give it away free - "News Corp. to Stop Publishing The London Paper" - NYTimes.com

This should spark some discussion at the conference, especially in view of other strategic shifts that have been reported recently at News Corporation.

Photos - Smile, you or an altered you, may be on Candid Camera! - "Faked Photographs - Look, and Then Look Again" - NYTimes.com

It is surprising to me that issues of credibility, reliability and accuracy have not played a really big role in the evolving nature of newspapers, their competitors, the public and others. The crisis of credibility remains however, and in the new digital world as we have known for so long, the ability to change content whether it be words or pictures is unlimited, with policing a chancy proposition at best. How does a newspaper manage to keep an eye on these issues along with all the others?

Sources - A radio program worthy of a computer-linked listen - "On The Media: This Week"

I am adding this link for a couple of reasons.

One, the program may not be generally known outside the US. It is an excellent and very thoughtful and witty discussion of events in the media world each week. This week's program includes a fascinating array of stories all of which relate in some way to the crises newspapers confront today. The last two items this week - one dealing with non-profit news models and the other dealing with these models that came out of a university in New York - are especially pertinent.

In addition, I'd commend the link on the right that allows you to see a short video about a book published this month by one of the show's hosts, Bob GARFIELD. He has an approach to where we stand that is both entertaining and incisive.

Crises - Evolution is a messy process - "Poynter Online - NewsPay"

This is a very good discussion of some of the conflicting and some of the constructive developments and events relating to all of the crises that newspapers face today. For me, perhaps the most interesting item here is the one attributed to Marissa MAYER at Microsoft. Her question as to why newspapers do not work on encouraging their customers to "DO" something after they have consumed some content is about as central to confronting crises as anything I can imagine. Why is it that newspapers are so bad at this in both print and online?

News - Are we saving "news" or "newspapers"? - "'Losing the News - The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy,' by Alex S. Jones" - NYTimes.com

Here is a British newspaper person's take on Alex JONES' new book. That's a good combination in preparation for Manging the Crisis in London.

Solutions - There are many, but who will choose? - "Reflections of a Newsosaur: How publishers can make web content pay"

Here is the third in the series, albeit with a bit of acknowledged self-interest on the part of the person writing these.

Ownership - Are there limits to how much newspaper owners are prepared to lose? - "Philly Newspapers File Debt-Free Bankruptcy Plan" - NYTimes.com

While the newspaper may survive for a while, these are not numbers that would leave anyone optimistic about the future.

Location, location - Newspapers are getting out-twitted; how embarrassing! - "Tweets Will Soon Come with a Dateline" - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

A good argument can be made that newspapers ought to have perfected this way ahead of Twitter - for every story in the printed and online newspaper. Surely, there are ways to blend those two so that people can visualize additional layers of a story starting with where it was filed.

Models - Can you build a wall in a swamp? - "Reflections of a Newsosaur: What stops publishers from charging for news"

Here is the second installment of the piece to which I posted a link yesterday. We are down to some serious economics on the one hand, and I think some serious need of rethinking the whole idea why it is that people engage their newspapers. My feeling is that we will learn that it cannot be divided between pay and non-pay sides of a "wall", nor can it be divided on the basis of great news stories v. fattening school lunch menus. What newspapers are missing is the chance they have to be more like local Wikipedias than the normal ad hoc collection of what the reporters and editors think turns out to be today's news. If there ever was a time when we needed context to our lives, this is it. Paying for access to disorder which is how one would have to generally describe a newspaper's printed front page today (in terms of content) is not likely to fill many piggy banks; paying for access to order and value in one's life is another matter. We need to get more creative juices thinking imaginatively; it is distressing to see how locked into formulas we are that "may" have come out of the print life of newspapers (and still not realizing that people buy newspapers mostly for reasons unrelated to what would be on the paid side of these proposed walls).

Sports - Another pie to be divided - "Leagues Restrict Access as Fan and Financial Interests Intersect" - NYTimes.com

In a real sense, there is also a sports crisis for newspapers today. Where does a newspaper and its sports prowess fit in a world of restrictions from sports teams and venues, and a world increasingly full of people who do their own reporting for any who care to read, listen or watch? If newspapers put more creativity into seeking a long term solution to these problems, might they be more successful than with first-aid agreements with sports organizaitons that build more on the past than on the futre?

Revenues - Stepping backward 45 years to jump ahead; can it happen? - "Newspaper Industry Ad Revenue at 1965 Levels" - CJR

This is an especially important analysis of where the US newspaper business stands in the midst of all the crises. It stands where it stood almost 45 years ago. Now, newspapers outside the US may dismiss this as just a US problem. But I think they do so ill-advisedly. The sectoral change at work in the US is spreading elsewhere, already has in many cases, the solutions tried so far by newspapers are not reversing the trends. What else can be done?

New services - Shouldn't a newspaper be the "knowledge" center of its market? - "New York Times Knowledge Network"

One of the sectors that often does well when the economy is in bad shape are education and training. People often find themselves in a position to use "down" time to improve their skills. This service from the The New York Times may fall into that category. As newspapers confront their many crises, are there other initiatives designed to expand the newspaper value proposition in areas which may responde better or quicker than others as the financial crisis continues? Are these areas that can strengthen the value of the newspaper to its market over the long term?

Consider this study that says that online learning may be more effective than face-to-face. Does that open up new opportunities for newspapers?

Viability - Can we learn from "sustainability" initiatives? - "Inhabitat » Germany Unveils World Class Sustainable ECO CITY"

One of the terms that I do not hear used very often is "sustainable newspaper". In seeing this announcement from Hamburg, it struck me that maybe it was worth giving it a little thought. Yes, the "sustainable" label usually gets used today to describe environmental initiatives but the whole point of those efforts is to make places viable and successful in all respects, not just in terms of the environment. One could say many of these same things about how newspapers need to attack the crises they confront. How, exactly, do we construct or reconstruct sustainable newspapers for years to come?

Revenue - Where are the blueprints for the "pay" wall anyway? - "Why aren’t we paying for news?" - Reflections of a Newsosaur

This series of three postings should prove to be useful as we think about newspaper revenue streams and the changing height, thickness and location of whatever imaginary wall there may be between what newspapers think they do that is of value to customers and how customers value that offering from their pocketbooks.

Many outside the newspaper business, of course, are making the same sorts of calculations as this report underlines.

Journalism - How are we going to keep what's best? - "Alex Jones On 'Losing The News,' And Why It Matters" - NPR

Alex JONES has an important message here for anyone involved in tackling all of today's newspaper crises. It is well worth listening to the interview by one of the best radio interviewers on air today in the US.

Hyperlocal - It seemed like a good idea at the time - "Washington Post Ends Hyperlocal News Experiment" - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com

There is so much yet to be learned about what the market will accept, what it can be taught to accept, the resources required, and the revenue to be earned.

Multiple media - The day is so short, the tasks so many - "Marketers Vie For TV Viewers Who Web Surf" - NPR

It may be time to rethink some of the core relationships betweeen the physical newspaper - and, sure, its website too - and the consumer. What do we know about what other tasks people are likely doing when they are in newspaper "space" of any kind, including online?

Acquisitions - Balancing lots of newspapers against big competitors - "How did newspapers lose Everyblock?" - Reflections of a Newsosaur

The need for newspaper creativity in responding to the crises is not going to met only by individual newspapers. Some amount of collective ingenuity is needed as well.

Magazines - Are the issues very different in the end? - "Reader’s Digest Plans Chapter 11 Filing" - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com

There is much to be learned from what other media are doing in these times. Here's a venerable magazine with a rich heritage - doing generically what many newspapers do in reprinting wire service stories akin to Reader's Digest articles (i.e., not written by the newspaper itself) - which may or may not have a future and which is succombing in any case to the demands of lenders.

Markets - Understanding the little ones - "Blogger Stirs a City by Suggesting That a Florida Couple’s Murder Was a Contract Killing" - NYTimes.com

Each newspaper's market is really a series of micro-markets, some concentric and some completely separate. One might revolve about an issue in the news while another might surround a full page advertisement for a product or service. Still another might be focused entirely on employment advertising.

The linked article reminds us that the traditional newspaper is often not at the center of individual customers' own micro-markets of interest. Instead, it could be a friend, or in this case a blogger, who could be at the center or at least play a greater role than the newspaper does. We need to understand these smalle markets from the standpoint of the customer, and find creative ways to work the offerings of newspapers into those markets.

Government - What's the right policy? - "Howard Kurtz Media Notes: News Business Must Save Itself, Not Turn to President" - washingtonpost.com

In some countries, there may be a consensus that government action is not the solution to newspaper crises, but in others, it's a different story.

Innovation - Are auctions newspaper advertisers or newspaper services? - "On the Auction Site Swoopo, Paying to Place Each Bid" - NYTimes.com

Surely, newspapers and newspaper people are plenty smart enough to come up with all sorts of services that add to the lives of their customers by making them richer, less poor, healthier, better informed - of course, as well as finding jobs, homes and food. The innovations that I see at most newspapers seem too often to be some distance from the core of that mission. I'd hope, anyway, that each newspaper has a good multiple media answer to each night's customer question - what did you DO for me today?

Alternatives - Can a think tank save journalism? - "News Publishers Debate Journalism's Future Live at Aspen Summit" - The Huffington Post

This should be of interest to anyone planning to attend Managing the Crisis in London.

Revenue - Better walls good customers make? - "Financial Times Feels Vindicated by Web Strategy" - NYTimes.com

Is this an answer to one of newspapers' crises?

Protecting content - Is this a finger in the dike? - "Here’s the AP document we’ve been writing about" - Nieman Journalism Lab

Will this work in the US and/or anywhere else in the world?

Ownership - When new owners get unhappy.... "Creditors: We have reorganization plan for DN, Inky - with new bosses" - Philadelphia Daily News

As newspaper ownership moves to people and places where it did not used to be, problems arise. The people who helped moved the newspapers are finding themselves asked to move as well.

This is not limited to Philadelphia. One of the biggest US newspaper sales ever is also facing huge changes.

New services - A votre santé! - "Seeking Revenue, New York Times Company Creates Wine Club" - NYTimes.com

Think about it.....the idea of reading your newspaper with a glass of wine in hand. Maybe that's what The New York Times has in mind as it launches its own wine club. (Coincidentally, in today's printed copy of the Times came both this story and an unusual four-color insert: an ad for the Wall Street Journal's wine club!)

So many newspapers around the world - print and electronic versions - are used while doing something else, often eating and/or drinking. Have we given enough thought during the crises as to what "goes" best with a newspaper and how to make the most of it?

Alliances - How does an editor dress up for television? - "Fired by WRAL-TV" - newsobserver.com blogs

There are lots of opportunities for newspapers to partner with other media, and creative ideas ought to be pursued. What needs to be avoided is the belief that reporters talking about the news are going to appeal to a mass audience. Something more is surely needed in order to make these initiatives work. In this case, that was absent.

Alliances - Will it work? - "Journalism Online says 506 publications have signed letters of intent to become affiliates" - Poynter Online - Romenesko

This is a semi-ambitious undertaking that's probably worth watching. It strikes me that the predicted revenue stream is a pipe dream, but I look forward to being proven wrong.

The point for the London program next month is that we all need to look very hard at projects like this and separate out the hope, the egos, the reality, and the revenues. In this case, that's especially hard to do.

This column does a good job of laying out some of the uncertainty surrounding this initiative.

And this fleshes it out even more.

I'll await some more confirmations and, most importantly, some demonstration that this is what the marketplace will accept and use.

Human resrouces - Fire in the face of competition - "Another Round of Layoffs at San Diego Paper" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

San Diego is another US market well worth watching. Here you have a highly-regarded and successful previously family-owned newspaper in a much-promoted market in Southern California that has now moved to ownership by an investment firm, continues to cut employees and is facing wave after wave of new electronic competition. Managing its way out of where the newspaper finds itself is going to be a challenge of monumental proportions and well worth studying.

Following that news, here is some optimism from San Diego.

Channels - Can/do newspapers hope ever again to be gatekeepers? - "As Studios Cut Budgets, Indie Filmmakers Go Do-It-Yourself" - NYTimes.com

Historically, newspapers stood between the portion of their customers responsible in some way for the content of tomorrow's newspaper and the people waiting to consume that paper. That is still the case for the classic printed newspaper. But the developments are clear all around that paper island -- showing that for better or worse more of the people on the input side want to be controlling the output as well.

Newspapers have much to learn from what is happening in other media, like film, and in other fields. We hope to discuss some of this at Managing the Crisis. Managers have critical decisions to make about whether to shift to a system that removes the barriers and provides only the means to publish, retain the historic approach, or creatively blend the two together.

Human Resources - Fire, then hire? -"The Journal News Cuts 70 News and Ad Sales Jobs" - NYTimes.com

Cutting these positions is a desperate move by Gannett, but there may be some transfiguration in the wind. How to do this is what will distinguish the good managers from the great, and the others.

Priorities - Do newspapers know what they don't know? - "A Nascent Debate in Germany - Research or Manufacturing?" - NYTimes.com

It occurred to me that the same choice, when you get right down to it, confronts newspapers today. Will they charge off to "manufacture" all that they can on multiple platforms or will they temper that with significantly more research and development investment then newspapers traditionally have made?

Advertising - Where are newspapers in the coupon game? - "Yahoo Gets in the Coupon Game" - Brandweek

Electronic coupons of one sort or another seem to be coming from everywhere....except newspapers. The newspaper offerings that I have seen or tried to use have generally been hard to use and of little value after expending the effort to get "there". Are there good examples of how newspapers have used advertiser or other coupons as a way to confront the financial crisis facing so many customers?

Customers - Different digital strokes for different folks? -- "Seeking New News Formulas, ABC Tries A 'Quick Fix'" - NPR

One of the opportunities that electronic technologies present to newspapers, and always has, is the chance to publish far more than a single newspaper. Alas, the same is true for every media organization than enters this world. Each is able to publish whatever it chooses to whatever small or large audience it chooses to reach. The truth is that newspapers and other large media organizations forget this all too often and go only for a mass approach without fully developing and deploying more targetted offerings. That's what makes this piece about ABC Television in the US so interesting. Think for a moment about which newspapers are doing something similar?

Advertising - How big will "blog" advertising be? - "Notice Those Ads on Blogs? Regulators Do, Too" - NYTimes.com

The term "blog" has stuck far longer than I expected it would. It's simply a way of posting more quickly to the web and not much more, but persist it has. Many newspapers have adopted this technology and they have watched others do the same. Advertising on blogs has always been a little light, to say the least, with so many "bloggers" finding the compensation of simply "publishing" on the web to be ample. But that is changing as the technology merges with other technologies and new products result.

In the midst of the crises, what should a newspaper be doing either to tap this market or to monitor the market's impact on advertising placed in various newspaper offerings?

Revenue and "membership" - What is on your calendar of newspaper-sponsored events? - "Goodbye Guardian. Hello the Guardian Experience" - The Guardian

It strikes me that there is a lot of merit in what Simon JENKINS writes here. At the very least, this whole issue of "club" or "experience" is one that ought to be discussed at Managing the Crisis. It's partly new revenue opportunities, as he notes, but it's even more about customer loyalty and interest; it's the question of the very significance of a newspaper today in the life of its customer or hoped-for customer.

Technology - Will virtual newsstands be more successful than the real thing? "My Digital Newspaper"

Here's a new launch in the midst of the crises. Maybe we can get them to join us at "Managing the Crisis" to talk about how to resolve one crisis or another with this virtual newsstand, as they call it.

Technology - Can you make a sail out of newsprint? - "Prototype - How Old-Technology Companies Can Extend Their Lives" - NYTimes.com

This is a very thoughtful essay by a professor at the Harvard Business School. In it, she talks about printing technology evolution and business planning, among other technologies, and suggests in conclusion that "selective, intelligent innovation in the old may just hold the key to the future". Surely, that's an idea worth debating at Managing the Crisis. It would be so helpful if we can include the experiences of companies in other sectors, as she does in this essay.

Size - What will happen as local news sites become sustainable? - "Small is beautiful (and successful) for newspapers" - The Associated Press

While smaller newspapers may be weathering the financial storm better than larger papers, are the smaller ones immune from the crises? Will local communities rely on paper and small-town reporting by a newspaper or will they, too, turn to online competitors both local and national who find a business model capable of covering " chicken dinners"?

Survival - How do newspapers respond when readers try to build a life raft? - "Save The Birmingham Eccentric"

Are support groups made up of readers and customers the way to go?

Leadership - Talking over the options - "Media Executives Share Job Headaches" - NPR

London is not the only place where newspaper and other media leaders are getting together to talk about some of today's crises. Read more about the Columbia University program here.

Evolution - Paper up and so is electronic successor - "Seattle Times Finds Resurgence as Solo Act" - NYTimes.com

Seattle will be well worth some discussion at Managing the Crisis.

Customer habits - Fitting in amidst all the other choices - "For Families Today, Technology Is Morning’s First Priority" - NYTimes.com

Where does a newspaper and all that it offers, and can offer, customers fit into the lives of those customers? It is getting much more crowded and the traditional newspaper "slot" risks being cut to shreds.

Technology - Will they app their way to newsppaers? - "Big Media Companies Navigate Free Content and Apps" - NYTimes.com

During such challenging times, is it the moment to join the army of apps?

Photography - Who will snap newspaper pictures? - "Lament for a Dying Field" - Photojournalism - NYTimes.com

Perhaps we are leaving out a slice of the crises pie - photography? Are we taking photographs as a stape of newspaper content seriously and creatively enough?

Here is news about newspaper photographers in San Diego. Are they an endangered species?

Customers - Will we recognize who is buying newspaper advertising? - "Microsoft Sells Razorfish Digital Agency to the Publicis Groupe" - NYTimes.com

For many newspapers, advertising agencies historically have not been especially important for a variety of reasons. The advent of electronic technologies, however, has changed that. Now, in addition to everything else, the evolving shape of the advertising agency business, and especially its online players, has to be a key part of any newspaper's assault on various crises. The emerging leaders are going to be making a lot of decisions in the future that will mean large sums of money, or not, for newspaper advertising space in all media.

Print viability - The city of "brotherly love" is losing its love of newspapers - "What’s a Big City Without a Newspaper?" - NYTimes.com

Is a city without a newspaper like a town without textbooks? See the previous post.....

Print/electronic - Is digital everything inevitable? - "As Classrooms Go Digital, Textbooks May Become History" - NYTimes.com

Is a school without textbooks like a town without a newspaper? Are they both inevitable?

Revenues - Is what goes down likely to come back up? - "David Montgomery's Mecom posts 75% fall in operating profits" - guardian.co.uk

This is a very grim picture, and the question for discussion at Managing the Crisis is not just how well this is being managed during the crises, but whether there is a forseeable upside coming out the other side. In other words, will lost revenue find its way back to newspapers or is it gone for good?

Customers - Do you need two rulers to measure a newspaper customer? - "The stickiness of UK newspaper sites compared" - Online Journalism Blog

Is this analysis of data about use of the British newspaper websites relevant to a newspaper still primarily in the printed newspaper business? I'd argue that it is not just because of the impact on website operations. In addition to that, what assumptions are newspaper managers making about how readers of their printed products actually consume the copies in their hands. Surely, advertisers want to know this.

Evolving models - Making print PLUS electronic a winning combo - "Politico’s Washington Coup" - vanityfair.com

No matter whether it is a traditional newspaper or not, there is something to be learned by newspapers by any organization that is balancing print and electronic offerings. So, too, with this analysis in Vanity Fair of Politico in the US. Are newspapers yet at the point where they can objectively assess the value of their print operations to longterm viability of the overall newspaper enterprise?

Revenue - Can newspapers stem the free tide? - "Murdoch vows to charge for all online content" - FT.com

We'll certainly be able to talk about this strategic choice at Managing the Crisis in September, and we'll be doing it in a city - London - where Rupert MURDOCH's newspaper decisions have a big impact.

Innovation - Telling customers what you're doing - "Innovations In News" - WashingtonPost.com

This section of the Washington Post site is worth noting for a couple of reasons. One is how the Post is reporting here on the new things that it and co-owned Slate are doing - 4 of them in July alone. The other is that they have gotten a quite logical sponsor for this page, the Toyota Prius. That's a nice combination of innovation and revenue all around.

Technology - Can newspapers measure their customers? - "Advertising - Geomentum Aims to Measure Ad Results Down to the City Block" - NYTimes.com

Are newspapers getting this good at measuring how their content is being used or valued by customers?

Personnel - Can a new kind of "bean counter" save newspapers? - "For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word - Statististics" - NYTimes.com

Newspapers may need to be thinking about a whole new class of "number crunchers" as newspapers figure out how to get on the other side of today's crises. Has it become essential for newspapers to employ people who really understand what Google and other companies our doing in using statistical measurements to define product offerings and marketing?

Public policy - What role for government in online advertising? - "Fresh Views at Agency Overseeing Online Ads" - NYTimes.com

Is it inevitable that there will be more government regulation of what appears on line? Or will the internet retain its legendary ability to act on its own, free of regulation?

Technology - Who is watching what you publish and what are they doing with it? - NYTimes.com

The number of entities following, studying, using, reorganizing newspaper and other content, and either profiting or not from their efforts, continues to expand. Media Cloud is but one of them, but in the midst of crises, newspapers need to follow at least some of these trends.

Smaller circulation newspapers - Are they going to recover first? - Editor & Publisher

The length of the crises and whether, for newspapers, they will ever end, is critical question for managers. What are the most useful positive signs that newspapers can expect to see?

Non-profit model - Someone has to pay the bills - Boston Herald

Understanding the non-profit newspaper option is very important. Many have commented on the idea, mostly supportive, not really understanding as is pointed out here that nonprofit status does not in any way guarantee success or viability.

Niche newspapers - Are they the best bet? - guardian.co.uk

There is quite a contrast between the Guardian, in which this story appears, and the Financial Times. What lessons are to be drawn from the difference?

Crisis communications - What does a newspaper owe the world in explaining the crises newspapers confront? - Editor & Publisher

During these crises, it is easy to forget the importance of communicating in some fashion, or not, with various constituencies. What is the message that newspapers ought to be sharing about themselves with customers of all kinds?

Customers - Access more, pay less? - LeMonde.Fr

The pervasiveness of the internet, and internet use, has reached new levels in Europe, Le Monde reports in this piece (in French) about a report issued today in Brussels. LeMonde notes the aversion to paying for content, and that remains one of newspaper managers' most challenging problems as today's various crises evolve. Here is the report , which is headlined "Digital economy can lift Europe out of crisis, says Commission report". And for newspapers?

Predictions - Which way do the big media numbers seem headed? - NYTimes.com

There will be a lot in this report to consider at Managing the Crisis.

Managing - Guardian Group loses a bundle - Press Gazette

One can only hope that there will be better news emanating from London and elsewhere before the end of September. News like this certainly is discouraging.

Program - Google and Apple, competing - NYTimes.com

We'll have a chance to ask Apple about this on the first day of the conference....

Revenue - Can "free" possibly win the battle when we all have to eat? - The Independent

Sometimes newspapers are best viewed by thoughtful people from slightly outside the business. David SIMON, writer of the television series, The Wire, has taken on those who somehow believe that free is the only way forward, mysteriously overlooking the human need to be compensated in order to eat, among other things.

Technology - How to manage newspapers consumed on electronic readers? - National Public Radio

This story talks about some issues - especially from the personal user vantage point - related to using electronic devices to read books. Newspapers are not mentioned, yet they are a small part of this world already.

How does a newspaper manager figure out the proper response to the apparent growth of this technology, learn from the experiences of other non-newspaper publishers, and - perhaps most important - relate best to the evolving preferences of customers in turbulent econonic times?

Alliances - YouTube? - NYTimes.com

Newspapers partnering with YouTube? For newspaper management, the unimaginable becomes at least an agenda item.

Newspaper model - Is the Boston Globe viable? If so, how? - NYTimes.

What happens to the Boston Globe will say a great deal about the state of the crisis, or crises, in the US newspaper world. This is a venerable institution serving as "the" daily newspaper for the Boston market, and for much of New England.

Having been acquired by the New York Times Co. for a very large sum from the family that owned it for generations, it has proven to be a very poor performer for the Times.

The attached talks about two possible bids, one from a group that prefers a more non-profit or civic approach to running a newspaper, and the other from a member of the family that used to own the paper.

What is important here for managing the crisis is what ultimately happens and how do we get to that point. Will the Globe be a newspaper in any sense of that word in the future? Will it simply die? Will it become entirely electronic? What role will journalism play in its future? How will the market be served if there is no Globe? There are many "learnable" questions here and the next several weeks bear close scrutiny so as to learn from whatever happens.

Profit and loss - Is the Washington Post making money? - Huffington Post

In considering how other newspapers are doing in the midst of the crisis, the nature of many newspaper companies gets in the way. The news of these numbers from the Washington Post Company is a good example. While the parent company wound up reporting a profit for the second quarter of 2009, the newspaper division sales dropped 14%. This is so because many years ago, the parent company went into the business of providing educational training and test preparation services for young people and that has turned out to be the most successful part of the overall company. So we must remember to look at newspaper performance in addition to overall successes and failures.

Technology - Understanding and using what gets collected about newspaper customers - NYTimes.com

For traditional newspaper advertising, there has been little concern about specific newspaper customers and what newspapers could tell advertisers about those customers. It just was not possible. The customized newspaper in print never materialized.

In the web, the technology is racing to provide that information in an increasingly comprehensive manner. Newspaper managers have to learn a whole new lingo and a new way of relating to newspaper customers and advertisers.

New models - Microsoft/Yahoo! and the question of scale - NYTimes.com

Many newspapers are very large businesses, but compared to what Microsoft and Yahoo! are putting togeter, most look quite small. How does a newspaper manager best come to grips with the immensity of an undertaking such as this and the whole concept of scale when it comes to the world of the internet?

Financial - The risk of false hope and missed crises - Reflections of a Newsosaur

Alan MUTTER does an excellent job of deflating some of the enthusiasm that followed a few financial reports from newspaper companies recently.

My concern is that most newspaper people believe we can "get through" the crisis that newspapers now face, but they are missing, in my view, the fact that newspapers face multiple crises, as MUTTER points out, and while the economy is bound to improve, the evolution of the other crises does not appear to be in newspapers' favor.

Whether I am right about this or not is one of the key conversations we hope to have at Managing the Crisis.

Customers - The Harry Potter Effect? - Baylor University

This study from Baylor University in the US suggests that the millions of young readers of the Harry Potter series may have been led away from newspapers by what they read. Just as newspapers need to solve the crisis of who is coming into the field, so, too, do they have to confront of the challenge of growing new readers. What actions could a newspaper manager take to deal with what this study concludes?

Alliances - BBC? - BBC

Perhaps "Managing the Crisis" will provide an opportunity in London to talk with some of the BBC people directly about this move to share video content with newspapers.

Alliances - Microsoft? - Telegraph.co.uk

Alliances have become a much more important part of newspaper life than they ever used to be. In this article, several tough choices are presented for newspapers at least in the UK as they confront both MSN's site, but also the emerging combined forces of Yahoo! and Microsoft.

How does a manager sort through these options and stay ahead with so much of the marketplace being shaped by others who often throw merely self-serving bread crumbs in the direction of newspapers?

Shifting revenue - How to manage online revenue growth? - paidContent

As managers search constantly for new newspaper models, this report caught my eye. If correct, 67% of revenue within the FT Group now comes from online businesses. That's a remarkably high number, especially when added to the report that this revenue is growing once again.

Understanding customers - What can newspapers learn from Walt Disney? - NYTimes.com

Newspaper managers have much to learn, even during a crisis, from unexpected places. In the midst of everything else, recognizing the importance of what Disney is doing seems to be quite important for newspapers (and others). How to assign something like this an appropriate management priority?

Changing revenues - Is circulation income really growing? - Columbia Journalism Review

How to manage revenue stream changes during this crisis?

Public policy - Can changes in law or policy affect crisis management? - Poynter Online - Romenesko

As always, part of managing through any difficult period includes the need to consider public policy and law and always to ask the question whether changes in either can help address the crisis or what follows it.

"Fleet Street goes out with le whimper" - GlobalPost

Here is one reporter's take on the national newspaper scene in London, led by the exit of Agence France-Presse from Fleet Street, the last news operation to leave that part of town, the reporter writes. It is hard to read this and not think how big the crisis, or at least the challenge, is today for newspapers of "yesteryear".

"Marketing Small Businesses With Twitter" - NYTimes.com

One of the challenges in managing the crisis is the continued evolution of new technologies that, either positively or negatively, impact newspaper operations and cusotmers. Take Twitter, for example, a newspaper manager needs to be following not only how it directly affects the newspaper in so many ways, but also how people at that newspaper are using it individually, and how customer are using it -- as reported in this piece.

"Investing in blogs" - Financial Times

How many blogs have been created within a newspaper enterprise and developed to the point of where they contribute significant revenue to the newspaper organization, or have become attractive enough that they have been sold at a profit to others? If one were to think of the organizations best equipped in any market to launch new blogs or other websites that ought to be successful, wouldn't newspapers figure prominently on such a list? If not, why not?

"Money Talks: The Low-Profit Solution" — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

Some people talk a lot about other models for newspapers, taking the view that if less money had to be made, newspapers could continue to be as they have been. This radio discussion today talks about one variation on that theme.

Sources of investment for newspapers are more important than ever today. The open issue is, however, whether levels of profitability have anything at all to do with the sustainability of newspapers.

The issue may be much deeper than this, and it is for managers during this crisis to figure out whether this is where the problem lies. For example, why would anyone believe that a non-profit newspaper would attract more advertising revenue than a for-profit newspaper? If it does not, then what will be the source of financing to support the parts of newspapers that proponents of these ideas most embrace....i.e., quality journalism and analysis?

"Times Company Turns a Profit in Quarter" - NYTimes.com

This may be good cost-cutting management, but is there any good news here beyond that?

"Realtors repudiate newspaper ads" - Reflections of a Newsosaur

There is something left out of this picture and I think it is highly relevant to managing newspapers during this crisis.

Yes, new ways of advertising real estate have emerged, they are cheap or free, and they seem to work.

Yes, this has resulted in newspapers losing a treasure trove of traditional advertising revenue.

Yes, many newspapers have attempted to provide an oline advertising option for what they have long done in print; these efforts have not stemmed the loss of dollars or confidence.

So, what's missing? It's very much rooted in where we sleep. In addition to knowing which properties are on the market, we need to know so much more both as part of any transaction, but in so many more ways, each day we sleep in a place we own or rent or each day we spend planning to do so.

In other words, rather than trying to go ofter what has proven to be the most vulnerable, shouldn't newspapers be trying to manage themselves toward that which requires their capabilities and reach in order to accomplish? Shouldn't newspapers look at the real estate sector not simply as a sales and rental activity, but as a daily living sector? If they do, are there not tremendous opportunities for newspapers to make themselves so much more important to people as they live in real estate, or plan to acquire or sell it? Bring all of the information and services together for that - in a way that taps traditional newspaper expertise and does not rely blindly on a computer program, and maybe there is hope yet for the "real estate" sector.

How does a newspaper manager today steer the newspaper in new directions like this? How does the manager avoid the risk of devoting too much time lamenting the losses and chasing the elusive, and focus primarily on using strengths and abilities to offer something more valuable?

"Musicians Find New Backers as Labels Lose Power" - NYTimes.com

Employees and others contributing to newspaper content and services read articles like this one, and wonder what their direct route to readers and customers might be.

Managing people who have so many options for their newspaper talents is difficult. A newspaper does not want to lose people, but it also cannot afford to monitor all that they do, in most cases.

Striking the balance is part of the challenge of good human resource management, especially when so many newspaper people fear the future and feel a need to test themselves in independent waters. Some will succeed there, but surely not all who are considering taking that plunge.

Keeping not just the best people, but nurturing the "right" people is key to effective newspaper management at this time.

"Yahoo’s Profit Rose Nearly 8% in 2nd Quarter" - NYTimes.com

During this crisis, people tend to be hungry for information of importance to them. That leads them to do many "searches" to get what they need.

Unfortunately, today, most people do not think of a newspaper as a place to search for answers to their most pressing questions. Instead, it is the web, most often Yahoo! and Google.

How, during the management of this crisis can newspapers begin to chip away at that? What can newspapers do to bring more searchers to their sites because the newspapers have provided better answers to questions in certain categories, for example?

"In Washington, Roll Call Is Buying Congressional Quarterly" - NYTimes.com

Sure, there is a lot of crisis management involved when publications owned by newspaper organizations are sold under unfavorable economic conditions. This deal is relevant because it involves two organizations with outstanding management reputations - the Economist Group and the Poynter Institute.

While the weekly publication at issue - Congressional Quarterly - is a niche publication serving those with a sinificant interest in Washington affairs, its owner - the non-profit organization that owns the St Petersburg, Fl Times and runs the Poynter Institute in Florida is generally regarded as one of the most committed newspaper operations in the US. It is committed to quality and extensive journalism and public service in many aspects.

As management assessed the economic downtown on their operations, it appears to have become clear that a sale of this asset was in order.

Was this a desirable move or just a necessary one?

How do newspapers manage their slightly related assets in such a way that it helps the core newspaper get through the crisis, fundamentally changed or not?

"McClatchy doubles Q2 earnings" - San Francisco Business Times

A good manager can look at this story and see at least four elements in figuring out what to draw from this report.

One is the question of how much different does the McClatchy debt make in assessing how well it is managing the crisis?

A second is whether these cost-cutting measures, and resulting profit, are masking more critical measures of performance dependent upon external market choices and trends rather than good management?

Third, therefore, is whether there is anything here that suggests that the crisis is one simply to be gotten over as opposed to forcing radical changes in operations and the business itself?

The fourth, in sum, therefore is whether managing the existing business to cut expenses and people is the right longer term antidote for the crisis that is upon us?

The case of McClatchy is well worth attention because it is a company made up of newspapers, some of which have rich newspaper histories, ferocious commitments to quality journalism, legendary for innovations with technologies and approaches to newspaper operations, and yet in the state it is in today. Did it manage or mismanage itself into this position, or has it failed to be flexible and innovative enough to make the monumental changes in what a newspaper is becoming that are demaded for both survival and success?

Those are incredibly tough management decisions, and making them today is more difficult than it has ever been!

"The Day: Your Ad Here - The Local - Maplewood Blog" - NYTimes.com

One of the many management challenges of today is learning how to manage people and operations who really have no affiliation with the newspaper, and over whom a newspaper manager have very little control. The number of these people and organizations contributing to what others then draw from newspaper offerings has grown dramatically in recent years.

It used to be only traditional advertisers who played this sort of role.

Over time, it has expanded to all areas ultimately reflecting in content of some sort provided to customers.

This is a good example of one of those moves - The New York Times attempting to get out of the middle to some extent between local advertisers and advertisements on portions of The News York Times website. In this case, they call is self-service advertising.

But that does not mean that it is outside management's responsibility. How to exercise management for this sort of offering, and how to evaluate its potential and actual cost-saving is a big part of using technological opportunities to their fullest during the crisis.

"In London, Where the Writers Read" - Globespotters Blog - NYTimes.com

I am posting this for two reasons. One, the September event appears to be just a few days (24 Sep) before the Managing the Crisis program in London in case anyone lives there or is getting in early, but the main reason for adding this is to pose the question whether during the crisis, there is a need for newspapers to do more things that bring readers and customers together.

There is no better way to give life the dead trees and smeared ink that is a printed newspaper than to provide a way for the real and exciting people who created it to be "pressing the flesh" with customers of all kinds in informal settings. Newspapers have often organized events from discussions over coffee, through allowing readers to sit in on editorial discussions, to hosting events at newspaper offices. But I have not seen may initiatives that are designed to bring people together in the name of the newspaper as part of a management plan to stem losses and rinvigorate what is offered by newspapers and the demand for it.

"Charles Warner: The NY Times Made Me Do It"

More that relates very well to the challenges of managing (expectations) during the crisis......

"What Price Journalism?" - TIME

How do we manage customer - and our own - expectations in these times?

In other words, with so much talk of newspapers and journalism standing at death's door, what do our customers expect? How do we manage their expectations.

There is an old ice hockey comment that says you want to know where the hockey puck is headed more than where it has been. So, too, here, we want to know where we want to go so we stand at least some chance of getting there.

In addition to our customers, there are also all of those people who depend on newspapers for their livelihood. How to manage what they think and expect as well.

This is all the more reason why managing the crisis is such an important issue right now. There is so much more to manage today than simply the incredible process of producing tomorrow's - and continuing today's - newspaper however they may appear.

"The Times Agrees to Sell WQXR Radio" - NYTimes.com

Part of managing the crisis is trying to figure out what to keep and what to sell. Institutional structures, long tied to newspapers in many places, are being dismembered. Can this be avoided? Where does it all go?

"Magna Forecast: Ad Recession to Drag On" - Editor & Publisher

Which prediction should a good manager believe?

"How healthy are community papers? The sudden death of the Eagle Times" - Nieman Journalism Lab

This is a useful story about a small community daily newspaper in the US that has gone, suddenly, out of business. The article asks the question whether other small newspapers in the US are in danger of arriving at the same fate.

Do you suppose that there is merit to the argument I read earlier today that we are now living with the last generations of newspaper purchasers and on-paper, or at least "for-pay", readers?

The delicate business model for newspapers everywhere that includes significant costs to be offset by some consumer contribution and some advertising, plus revenues from other sources, seems badly bruised at the moment.

How does a good manager tell the difference between an illness that will pass and a disease that may or will be fatal? During a crisis, one never knows for sure, but assumptions must be made and operations must continue, in most cases. How to manage all of that?

"Newspaper to Begin Charging for Online Access" - NYTimes.com

This debate goes on seemingly forever. Is this the right management decision to be making at this time?

"AP to tag all news stories with Media Standards Trust's metadata format" - Journalism.co.uk

How does a newspaper manager decide how important something like this in the midst of other crisis priorities? Imagine the opportunities tagging presents for newspapers who want to manage their content as opposed to just posting it and hoping for the best.

"Approval by a Blogger May Please a Sponsor" - NYTimes.com

There was a time when the lives of people working at newspapers were neatly divided into two pieces - one was the time they spent working for the newspaper and separate, entirely, from that, was the time they spent on their own. Conflicts were minimal and it seemed to work fine for the most part.

Now with the electronic world around us, that line of separation has fallen.

How does a newspaper manage its employees and contractors in such a way that their actions away from the newspaper do not detract from the success of the newspaper? It is, of course, even more challenging than that. How does a newspaper manager successfully shape what is said and done in opinion-oriented pieces of newspaper offerings to avoid the same problem? How to manage with transparency and with what rules?

During this crisis, the pressures are enormous and arguably the need for managers to pay attention is greater than ever.

"Delivering Letters to Your Inbox" - NYTimes.com

The "in" box has taken on all sorts of new meanings in the electronic age. It is still the physical mailbox for most of us, in part, but it is so much more content delivered to real and virtual inboxes that we construct quite effortlessly in so many places.

As newspapers try to manage the current crisis, what are some of the ways that a newspaper can get people to rank what the newspaper has to offer higher than other items in the inboxes of each customer? Is this a time to be rethinking how the value of a newspaper - in all of its elements from journalism through all advertising - can be delivered to customers more successfully?

We see many newspaper experiments in this arena and how do we manage those experiences into the crisis management task at hand -- so as to emerge not just where newspapers were but considerably better positioned to succeed over the longrun?

"Howcast, a Video Start-Up, Charges Into the ‘How-to’ Web" - NYTimes.com

As newspapers attempt to manage themselves out of the current crisis, what do good managers do when they see a phenomenon like Howcast? How does a newspaper sort out its own role in explaining how the world works and how each customer do what she or he needs to do in life? Is this merely one of those interesting internet world stories or does this suggest that another pillar of what used to make many newspapers more essential is facing rapid erosion? What, exactly, ought to be the role of a newspaper in helping a customer fix a leaky faucet? Is that somehow "below" what a newspaper thinks its role ought to be?

"Inquiry Begun on Hacking Cases at Murdoch Papers" - NYTimes.com

Part of managing during this crisis is making sure that any newspaper is not damaged by the actions of some who may feel a desperate need to demonstrate some sort of success. That may not be the case at all here, but it does suggest the issue and it is one that is well worthy of discussion -- i.e., how to manage all staff to be hardworking and aggressive but be sure to stay within the bounds of good newspaper practice.

"Stories from the downturn: ex-newspaper journalists struggle to make a life online" - Gordon's Republic - Blogs - Brand Republic

Many of these efforts have a laudable purpose - to save what is best about newspapers and recast the medium in a new offering. That said, there are many assumptions about just how this can happen, what an existing newspaper can best do to respond and, even better, to anticipate.

One of the key assumptions is that the trends noted here will continue. Will everyone choose to consume news and information in a hyperlocal manner? Will advertisers find that their customers and prospects are all following that route?

Early numbers, initial successes and failures, do not tell us the future, and at this time of such limited resources, newspaper managers need to think through very carefully how to manage not just their entry into more localized content, some of the content for which is beyond the control of the newspapers, but the core decision about whether this is where the future will be.

"'Printed Blog,' Curiosity that Piqued Newspaper Industry Interest, Folds" - Editor & Publisher

One of the eternal challenges of newspapers is deciding what to print and what not to print. That is the essence of the newspaper process. With the arrival of electronic technologies, other means of "printing" emerged and now the opportunities are virtually limitless. That said, in managing a newspaper today, there is still the very tough "call" on what to include.

The failure of this new print venture does not mean that printing what we find on line is not of value to those who want to see content delivered to them on paper. The experience of the Printed Blog is, however, one of those experiences that any newspaper manager during today's crisis ought to be noting. Is the idea of the Printed Blog a viable opportunity for newspapers or is yet another approach to today's challenges that newspapers choose not to pursue, rightly or wrongly?

"Macy’s halved newspaper spend since ’05" - Reflections of a Newsosaur

The crisis facing newspapers is made all the more complicated because there are so many changes occurring simultaneously. The attached analysis of how one of the largest newspaper advertisers in the US has changed its advertising over the past several years is a reflection of more than the economy and more than the technological revolution we are witnessing. In this case, the advertiser, having acquired a number of other properties, decided that television is a better medium for the advertiser to use in reaching its customers and potential customers.

For newspapers, staying on top of these trends is a job all by itself. What is more important, however, is how newspapers can react to this most successfully, and how management can guide a newspaper toward either finding new ways to serve an advertiser such as this one - Macy's - or find new sources of revenue to replace those being lost to television.

Managing our "knowledge" of the crisis is a subject to be discussed in London.

"Daily Show Iran | Colbert Report Iraq" - Global Post

During any crisis, it is easy to overlook other developments that do not appear on the surface to be relevant....in this case, to how to manage newspapers during this period. In the case of this story about two US "fake" news programs and their recent coverage of Iraq and Iran, the relevancy to "managing the crisis" is the need to understand why these programs resonate so well with so many people and what it is that newspapers can do that serves everyone better. Is there something about the truths that seem to emerge out of this kind of coverage that is even more important for newspapers to do themselves in a creative way in crisis times?

"Washington Post Cancels Series of ‘Salons’ Charging Lobbyists for Access to Its Staff" - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com

Managing the crisis by crossing important "lines" is probably not very good management, but in London in September, we'll certainly look forward to hearing from anyone who disagrees with that proposition!

"Reader Complaints Drove 'Hartford Courant' Design Reversal" - Editor and Publisher

In an era where there seems to be so much focus on involving customers in so many decisions, the management of that involvement during the crisis is of prime importance. How to decide, as in the case of the Hartford Courant, to ask readers to vote on a new design for the printed newspaper after receiving negative reaction to an earlier redesign? How does a newspaper manager measure the need for that, and the value that doing so contributes to the enterprise? During a crisis, the use of resources to deal with such issues becomes even more expensive, and so making the right decisions is so much more important. Managing is, after all, what managers are for!

Move newspaper production to the customers?

Managing the crisis involves making a lot of decisions about doing things that newspapers perhaps have never done. In Nice, France, the local regional daily - Nice Matin - today moves a reporter, editor and some production people to one of the largest supermarkets in the area - a Carrefour - inviting the store's customers to mix and mingle with the newspaper people as they produce a part of tomorrow's newspaper. They will be there for several days.

Alas, there is nothing on the newspaper's website about this (nor on that of the supermarket itself), but it is an interesting idea, and according to the newspaper, the first initiative of its kind in France. They will be doing additional editorial coverage of the shopping center and area around the supermarket and there may be some advertising sales as part of the package as well.

We'll surely discuss in London how to assess and implement the best ideas of this kind during the crisis when resources are even more limited than normal.

"The Fight Over ‘Free’" - The Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

One of the single biggest challenges newspapers face today is in making the management and strategic decision about how newspaper content is going to be financed. The word "free" gets used regularly as a kind of on/off switch - as in free/paid. The avant-garde technology troops discuss this a lot, but very few of them run newspapers or have responsibility for them.

In London, we hope to combine some of the discussion reflected in this article about discussions at a conference this week in the US. How do newspapers manage the criticial and often-attacked relationship between what it is they produce and those (i.e., readers/customers) who wish to have access to it plus those (i.e., advertisers/sponsors) who may wish to pay some of the cost of providing that access?

"Gannett Set to Cut Hundreds of Jobs" - washingtonpost.com

Although there is as yet no official announcement from the Gannett Co. - publisher of USA Today and 80 smaller, regional newspapers in the US (as well as others in the UK) - this report from the Washington Post (Gannett is headquartered in the Post's market) today suggests that additional staff cuts will exceed several hundred, possibly going over 1,000. Gannett has already reduced its overall staff sharply as a result of financial pressures on the company.

The critical issue of managing existing staff during this crisis will be a prime discussion subject during "Managing the Crisis" in September in London. This is a supremely challenging problem that demands creative treatment, and we'll be talking at the conference about who is handling this piece of the overall crisis most successfully so that participants can learn from what others are doing.

"RIA Novosti says improving training key to surviving crisis"

Russian news agency RIA Novosti believes that investing in training programs which improve staff skills is the most effective anti-crisis program for media outlets, the agency’s editor-in-chief said. This will be a topic of discussion in London and we will benefit from having an authority on the Russian newspaper market with us.

What is the focus of the conference?

In today’s newspaper publishing environment, leaders face an increasingly complex world in which continual and rapid change is the norm. In a period of uncertainty, asking questions and framing scenarios will give confidence to leaders in this industry to go forward.

Those who act now will be in prime position to nurture and create products and services in the future. That’s the upside of a recession – it does indeed force a different way of thinking and is a catalyst for change.

CEOs, Managing Directors and Senior Executives in the newspaper publishing industry are encouraged to attend this conference on leadership to see how they can help the industry to survive and thrive during this challenging times.

Topics for discussion:
- What external forces will have the greatest impact on corporations over the next years? How does the crisis affect society?
- How can a leader make the right decisions in difficult situations? What kind of leadership is called for in a downturn?
- How do CEOs develop a corporate culture of constant innovation?
- How to rebuild trust and motivate your staff after major cost cutting?
- How to create a profitable future? How do companies become more adaptive and resilient?
- Why newspaper publishers should continue to invest as their audiences continue to change.

Speakers from multiple fields, organisations and disciplines will offer participants innovative information, provocative research, best practices and useful skills.

Program and speakers for "Managing the Crisis"

Here is the program - with speakers - as of this posting. For the most current version, click on the link above.

Monday, 28 September 2009

16.00 h -Guided visit to Apple’s Executive Briefing Center

Tuesday, 29 September 2009

Speakers

- Dr. Andreas Wiele, Head of BILD Division and Magazines, Member of the executive board of Axel Springer Verlag, Germany

- Anna Kirah, Design Anthropologist, Psychologist and Vice- President CPH DESIGN 1 2 3, Norway

- Vasily Gatov, Vice-President of the Russian Publishers Guild, IFRA Board Member, Strategy Director at MEDIA3, Russia

- Richard Wellins, Senior VP, Global Marketing and Business Development, Development Dimensions International, USA

- Morritz Wuttke, CEO, Publicitas, China

- Theo Blanco, Senior Sales and Marketing Director, Upsala Nya Tidning, Sweden

Moderators

- Terry Maguire, Principal, International Media Development & Counsel, Founding advisor of the Monaco Media Forum, USA and France

- Dr. Dietmar Schantin, Group Director for Editorial, Advertising and General Management, IFRA, Germany

- Sarah Schantin Williams, IFRA Associate Consultant, n-able consulting, Austria