Scribblings

This is what happens when I go on a relaxing vacation for 10 days.

Make It Rain

I anticipate the greatest challenge of Project Goldfish will be finding a way to make it profitable. Obviously that’s the challenge of any business but it is especially true in journalism, a field that has for far too long relied on advertisers. Consumers, whether subscribers or newsstand readers, never paid the bills for newspaper companies. It is the fault of media management that readers were conditioned to pay as little as 50 cents for a wealth of news, sports, comics, horoscopes and coupons.

I never understood why it took – and continues to take – newspapers so long to catch up with the digital age. Aside from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, newspapers have failed to enhance news coverage through their news sites and, aside, from the WSJ, almost all have failed to monetize content in any real way. In the fall quarter, I had a professor point out that it was difficult for traditional media companies to drop what they were doing and move their operations to the Web because of sunk costs and existing infrastructure, such as printing presses. When there are millions of dollars and hundreds of employees invested in a production plant, it is difficult to switch courses.

Then there is debt. The Tribune Company is in bankruptcy. It seems there are weekly updates on plans to pay creditors, pay bonuses and cut costs. At the same time, the company is profitable. Yes, the Chicago Tribuneand Los Angeles Times make money. They just don’t make enough money to keep up with the debt payments.

The good news for Project Goldfish is that it doesn’t come with any of that baggage. I’m starting from scratch, without debt and very little overhead. I’m starting from a place where the answer to every question is: “There’s no money for that.” This philosophy will force me to decide what is a need and what is a want. It will also force me to get creative. Perez Hilton’s office was a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. He may be onto something.

In “Clues in the Rubble: A User-First Framework for Sustaining Local News,” Bill Mitchell lists a variety of funding and payment options. They are:

Advertising: Behavioral Targeting; Advertisers as information-providers

User Fees: Memberships; Metered use

Foundation Help: News Services; Direct Subsidies

Government Help: Policy Changes; Direct Subsidies

Crowdsourcing: Donations; Story-funding

Partnerships: with Competitors; Users; Government; Foundations; Universities

Related Businesses: iPhone apps; Books; Info services; Events

Mitchell quotes the 2008 State of the News Media study from the Pew Research Center as saying consumers “still care about such traditional journalism values as accuracy, fairness and independence.” Well, that’s good; at least we haven’t lost everything. What I think this shows, however, is that our financial decisions should remain aligned with these values. “Independence” seems the most likely to be jeopardized. This is why the suggestion of government intervention continues to be, in my opinion, a terrible suggestion and one I hope never comes to fruition. If the “media elite” are already accused of being biased (left or right), just imagine what would happen if there were given direct government subsidies. Actually, look at what people say about PBS and NPR. Both are fine news organizations that are dinged for real or perceived political bias.

The first order of business is to determine what it would cost to start Project Goldfish. Then, what would it cost to maintain the business on an ongoing basis? Only after I’ve answered those two questions can I tackle the equation that will keep Project Goldfish online.

Notable Quotable

"There's something fundamentally important about being supported by the community you're covering,"

-- Mary Morgan, publisher of The Ann Arbor Chronicle, a two-person website focused on local government in Ann Arbor, MI.

This Is How It Starts

I am finally – officially – starting work on an idea that has been brewing in my mind for more than a year. A good 60 percent of my life, time and brainpower are spent on journalism – reading it, writing it, thinking about it, criticizing it and praising it when appropriate. Prior to returning to school, I worked as a reporter for a wire service in Los Angeles. I mainly covered county and city politics during my four years there, although there was the occasional Academy Awards ceremony and celebutante DUI case. I sat through countless committee meetings, council meetings and news conferences. I read thick reports on LAPD misconduct, listened to angry transit riders protest MTA fare increases, and watched Betty White and Bob Barker duke it out over the treatment of an elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo. It was great.

But the times they are a changin’ in the field of journalism. It is not enough to write a story. Reporters need to think of ways to improve their stories through videos and online elements. The Internet provides instant feedback on stories, often in the form of lame comments at the end of stories. But the possibilities! What if someone could break down the mental and design barriers of putting newspapers on the Web? What if we could completely redesign the appearance, flow and usability of news sites? There are all sorts of online communities; why can’t there be a news community that does not descend into partisan, vitriolic madness?

These thoughts led to the birth of what I’ll refer to as Project Goldfish. It is my independent study project for the summer and something that I hope can become a reality in the not-so-distant future. I know that for some students, independent study is a breeze – there’s no class to attend, you write your own syllabus, and you even get to decide how you’re graded. Easy, right? Not if you're a crazy person ... like me. There are three parts to my study:

-- A business plan that includes a:

Positioning statement

Company description

Organizational and management structure

Market analysis

Financials

-- Project prototype with:

Photoshop mockups

Website

-- Blog:

Two blogs per week

Yes, writing this post is an assignment! I will also be reading:

We the Media by Dan Gillmor

Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky

Newsonomics by Ken Doctor

Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel

And any other books or articles suggested by my advisor.

I had two offices when I worked as a reporter. The first was in the L.A. County Hall of Administration. It had lime green walls, metal furniture and a front row seat to a bird’s nest, which was fairly X-rated in the springtime. My second office was messy, comfortable and provided access to the mayor’s private elevator. To go from that to a classroom, surrounded by 24-year-olds checking Facebook and GChat during lecture was a major shift – much more so than I anticipated. This summer I am back in an office of sorts. I have desk space in the journalism school. For me, it’s easier to stay on task when there’s not a television or window with a view nearby. Check out the sweet setup:

This project is going to be challenging, exciting and fun. As I get things underway, I imagine this blog will be a reflection of what I’m reading and how it applies to Project Goldfish. It will also be a way to see how the project changes and evolves over the next 10 weeks. I can’t wait.