Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Advance touts its Online market
These numbers sound good for Advance. What I don't know, and what is not explained, is how this is translating into dollars for the company. I do notice that they have hired back some pretty decent writers (at least on a free lance basis) who I used to work with. So that is good.
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Sure, MLive President Danny Gaydou characterized the audit as an industry "gold standard" now, but as soon as the numbers dive he'll be calling the audit a pack of lies that fails to understand MLive's brilliant online business model. As for Jim's former colleagues being hired back on a freelance basis, I wonder how many of them have complained on this blog about how bad the Flint Journal has become and whether they'll keep complaining now that they are paid content aggregators, bloggers or whatever. If enough are hired back and all is forgiven while everyone holds hands and sings kumbaya at the FJ's rockin' coffee bar, maybe this blog will go the way of seven-day printed papers. Forget about no-dissent or hush clauses, putting a bunch of mostly fixed-income, social media-awkward retirees back on the FJ payroll, and allowing now I'm mad, now I'm not ex-reporters turned authors of history books to cozy up with FJ editors during official FJ events, may prove the most effective ways yet to silence critics of the "paper."
WTH since I no longer read the print version and rarely ever look at the Mlive version of the FJ can someone tell me which of the retired/downsized "now-I'm-mad, now-I'm-not" ex-reporters are aggregating, blogging and/or freelancing for The FJ? Since Jim prefers no names, how about some initials? Jim?
OK, I know I saw a recent freelance story by ES, who recently published a book on Wolverines in Michigan and then I saw another byline by CM, who I believed had gone to work for Patch.com. So not sure if he is doing both or if he has made the switch back. I'll keep you posted on any others that I see.
Jim
AnnArbor.com's trio of "innovators"—now down to one—told citizens that the new online site would be audited by ABC. Kraner, Dearing and Champion then chose to use an audit service that makes 200 phone calls and then extrapolates market penetration.
It's a bad deal for advertisers, but most are not savvy enough to understand that MLive/AnnArbor.com are making this stuff up as fast as they can to prop. up a money-loser.
I would argue that just as old style newspapers had issues with their rate cards and truth in circulation, AnnArbor.com and MLive have carried over this fine practice to the online product. There are no circ. guarantees offered at AA.com, and the online "numbers" are a fantasy extrapolated rather than audited. The print numbers have fallen by 40 percent since 2009, when the news site launched.
If you tell a lie enough times you mat believe it too.
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