Monday, January 19, 2009

Big pow-wow could decide copy desk question

A meeting among the Booth publishers and Newhouse, either just held or just about to be held, will likely decide the fate of the central copy desk idea.

A lot of folks have something riding on this decision and there seems to be some reluctance on the part of Newhouse to the central desk strategy.

You have to wonder if Booth/Newhouse may at some point decide whether they need as many publishers as they currently have as well.

Stay tuned.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think eventually there might be just three papers-one serving Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Muskegon, one for Bay City-Saginaw-Flint and one serving Ann Arbor-Jackson.

Anonymous said...

Just for discussion, why not just one paper, with city editions, a la MLive? The three papers idea seems sensible, but is Michigan ready for a statewide paper with local "editions" to supplant the Detroit papers (which claim to be statewide but aren't, really).

Anonymous said...

One paper with city editions isn't a bad idea. Might have been easier to pull off under the Booth brand, which was once widely known and respected throughout the state. But the owners basically banished "Booth" years ago, except for use in group advertising sales.

Anonymous said...

Muskegon source says newsroom bigwig told them in newsroom-wide meeting on Jan. 20 that copy desk in GR might not happen for them either, which makes no sense, and if it doesn't, there will be layoffs.

Anonymous said...

Anybody know what's behind the apparent pullback on the central copy desk?