"Playing offense" with canned copy and canning local copy

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"Playing offense" with canned copy and canning local copy

Submitted by olympianwatch on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 7:54am.

olympian watch

The most depressing part about the story a week or so back about the most recent buyouts at the Olympian was the horn tooting by the paper's publiser about how they're fighting back the tide:

The paper is pushing its advertising and circulation departments to drive revenue and it recently launched Vitality411 — http://theolympian. vitality411.com — a new health care Web site, Miller said.
“We’re not just playing defense; we’re trying to play offense as much as possible,” he said.

Vitality411, to put it nicely, isn't a local product. It may have listings for local resources, but by and large, it is a canned copy product the Olympian bought from MediResources, a company from Toronto that describes itself here:

We are at the forefront of creating new technologies that deliver health content. We differentiate ourselves from others, as we don't just create health information or just develop technology, we do both. This has allowed us to have a unique perspective and create more technologically innovative ways to deliver information that effectively improves health.

The copy that the Olympian is buying from Canada isn't even exclusive to the Olympian. This column on dancing is also available here and here. Actually, now that I think of it, the Idaho Press-Tribune's health website looks exactly the same as the Olympian's, minus the masthead of course.

Instead of paying four newsroom employees in Olympia, they're paying for Canadian content. They may not be playing defense, but their offense looks a lot like giving up on being a local newspaper.

olympianwatch's blog
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Interesting.

Submitted by Rick on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 8:03am.

I appreciate this reporting. Nice work.

Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt

Slow Death

Submitted by Bert on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 3:12pm.

It's sad to see the decay of The Olympian newspaper.

The Olympian has such an infrastructure, and such potential to be a positive force. It makes me wonder why it is being driven into the dirt. Is anyone benefiting from this? If so, whom?

Is it bad management? Or is there a conscious effort toward destruction?

It has nothing to do with The Olympian,

Submitted by FRESH on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 3:33pm.

The decline of print media has been well documented over the years as internet usership has risen. This is yet another example of the struggles the larger newspaper companies are having. It's the market at work, it's neither sad nor joyous, in my opinion, it's just natural. The internet offers a better quality, more responsive product to consumers, so they naturally use it instead.

The News Tribune (TNT)

Submitted by Bert on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 6:32pm.

The Tacoma paper seems to be doing okay - especially the online content. It seems like a highly functioning model of adaption to the new environment. Hopefully The Olympian can turn it around and work toward becoming an appreciated local news source.

The Olympian could make some changes, and it could become more valuable to the community.

It'll be interesting to watch.

The Trib and the Zip are both owned by McClatchy

Submitted by Laurian on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 9:28pm.

and both are very ill.

Reading the online Trib I came across the last column by the Trib's military reporter. He was stepping down after writing on military issues 20 years for an early retirement buyout. Losing this kind of institutional memory is bad for us all. Papers are gutting themselves of their very strength then wonder why they are doing so badly.

In addition to a declining quality of product I am also concerned about class issues when it comes to online media. Online news presupposes expensive technology and at minimum a phone line. As people make choices as to what their increasingly diminished income goes toward food and shelter will take priority over computers and an ISP.

On a macro level there are problems too. The underlying cause of the decline of this nation is we are no longer producing real goods. As this nation has moved toward an information/commerce industry jobs have gone oversees. Nothing roots jobs to a geographical area like an industrial production line and print media is just such an industry. In a much less visible version of the decline of the steel industry and the living wage jobs that died with it, the decline of the printing facilities print media depends on will have similar effects.

There are unique opportunities of web based journalism but they will come with the cost of contributing to a diminishing industrial base.

Olyblog

Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 10:19pm.

Does a pretty good job of "rooting" people to a geographical area. If Olyblog is not some sort of reflection of Olympia, I don't know what is.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."
^@^

Yes...

Submitted by The Original Yoda on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 11:51pm.

OlyBlog does a good job... I feel rooted. 'Tis true.

I Love Olyblog too but it it not paying anyone a dime

Submitted by Laurian on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 6:06am.

which is my point. 'Feeling' rooted is not the same as being rooted.

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