My entry in the Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists blog ring for January. The topic asks:
Do you think it will be the “old” news organizations that achieve the radical transformation they need, or is it more wise (as a journalist) to invest your time in a “new” news startup?
I want to think about this question from the perspective of an investor considering buying a newspaper and implementing a drastic turn-around plan. Or perhaps, with the same money that investor could go off and finance some people to start a competitor. What should they do?
What value do you get out of buying an existing operation?
- A trusted brand name
- Established base of readers and visitors
- A newsroom of talented journalists
- Equipment, computers, office space, etc.
- Content archive
What downside is there to buying an existing operation?
- Piles of debt
- Institutional inertia
- High operating costs
What value do you get from starting fresh?
- Innovative attitudes not burdened by “the way things have always been done”
- Online only focus from the beginning
- Low operating costs
And what downside is there?
- Need to invest in new equipment and software
- Need to build traffic and viewers
- Brand name non-existent
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