A conversation with a neighbor

After arriving home today, my neighbor R. greeted me as he relaxed on his front porch. After a few pleasantries, he asked, "So, how's The Sun? The new redesign is coming soon, right?"

I was startled. "Where'd you read that?" I asked.

He said he had been seeing the promo ads in the paper. Hmmmm, I thought. Real readers do see those things. That's a good sign. I told him we just got a good glimpse of what it'll look like today. A lot more visual, I said.

"Well, I canceled my subscription," he said. (Though, technically, he was still getting it through the end of August.)

Ouch, I thought.

"Why?"

And he proceeded to explain that he canceled because he got frustrated that his newspaper didn't come by 6 a.m. for about eight straight days. Some days, he commutes to work by train and he's out of the house about the same time I am (since I cover early morning news.) He wants his paper to bring with him, so he can read it on the train. For him, the delivery disruption was the last straw. He was also frustrated at how thin the Monday paper was -- why pay for that, he said, when I can get it for free online?

Sam Zell may have his own brutal economic calculus -- and I can tell you that so do readers like my neighbor, R. So many well-paid smart people diagnose the "problems with newspapers" these days as being with the content, or with "out of touch" reporters. But I'd bet a good chunk of people -- I repeat, a GOOD chunk of people -- just want their damn paper delivered on time, and not being charged more for less content.

R. is no dummy. Neither are most of our readers.

So, I pitched an idea to my neighbor: What if you could keep your subscription to The Sun, but pick up your paper at the train station? He thought about it some, and nodded approvingly.

And for the rest of the evening, I started thinking about how to make print still work for people -- after spending the past three years thinking about how to make news on the Internet work. How can we make it work for the thousands of commuters like R. who want to read the paper on the train, bus or subway? Why not deliver their subscriptions to their point of entry into the public transportation system?

Is the better model giving our product away for free (i.e. "b") or pitching our product to people in modes that are most convenient for them to access it, while we continue to make at least a little money on its actual sale. Subscribe to the paper -- and pick it up wherever the heck it is you want to pick it up. We just want you to pick it up everyday of your life.

Sure, we have newspaper boxes at train stops and bus stops and major downtown areas. But you force someone to pay full price. Sell them a subscription and give them a kiosk -- automated or manned by one or two people -- that gives them their paper at a subscription price. And guess what: you don't have to spend gas money and manpower time delivering a few thousand papers each day across the Baltimore region. Let the subscribers come to the product.

Maybe I'm naive, but is this being done anywhere? Just a thought. I probably shoulda posted it to the Tribune's Idea Bank. But maybe -- maybe -- others can share their own ideas on how to satisfy the news consumer in the 21st century on this blog. Comments away!

"I Don't Think He Gets Journalism"

"Sam Zell may be a great guy and a great businessman, but I don't think he gets journalism and I don't think a lot of the people he brought in get journalism." -- Mike Smith, executive director of the Media Management Center at Northwestern University.

Smith spoke in a video on the topic of Sam Zell and the condition of the Tribune Co., which I happened to stumble upon tonight. Check it out below. He's got some interesting thoughts and critiques, but as many of us know, we're up against certain harsh, financial conditions -- many of which we had no control in creating.




But is whether Sam Zell "gets" journalism really the point? He cares, first and foremost, about running a business for a hefty profit and servicing our massive debt. He hasn't really made a secret of his intentions and his approach. Honestly, I don't really expect Sam Zell to care about journalism anymore than I expect him to care about me or you or your colleague in the next cubicle.

But you know who should care about journalism? You.

If you're still working at The Sun, you should care. If you're still picking up The Sun and reading it -- in print or online -- I hope you care. I hope you care enough to continue to set high expectations for us. I hope you care enough to write at least an email to Sun management when you're annoyed about something -- and a kind note when you're pleased we did something right.

But we live in a pretty tough city. I wonder: if The Sun truly stumbles or falls, will anyone care?