Sunday, August 23, 2009

Newspapers moving online

The Ann Arbor News has been around since 1835. Last month it shut down and went completely online. There are a few fundamental changes in its approach that came along with the move. It now has greater focus on creating content. It is involving the local community in its content creation efforts. It has also broken down the rigid structures that were typical of an old establishment. This is not to say it has found the winning combination. But it is definitely trying to adapt to the changing times. Guess where the competition is coming from: a 2 member team comprising of husband and wife.

The choice in online market is so varied that there is very little scope for a newspaper to indulge in propaganda. Why would the reader opt for a propaganda machine pretending as a balanced outlet when the real deal is just as easily available. If I wanted to hear the communist worldview, I might as well visit cpim.org or rednet.org with just the same amount of effort as it would take to visit thehindu.com. In fact, the content is much more straightforward as they dont have the hypocritical urge to show off balanced journalism.

Chindu's new website is definitely a move in the right direction. But it would also do well to recognize the dynamics of the online world. Its 125 year history, the qualified journalists, editors and copywriters, the strong agent network and its brand, they all might give it a good base to compete in the online market but they hardly give it a head start. The importance of quality content cannot be emphasized enough.

That’s all folks! See you online - Times Online
Kraner said the new venture has a fraction of that number, but employs more people creating content, 37 compared with 30. He has also signed up 80 bloggers to contribute to the site and hopes to triple that number.

2 comments:

kuttychathan said...

But HF... Chindu's intentions are different. As all of us know, the traditional constituency of chindu has been "conservative hindus". No newspaper owner in his/her right frame of mind would dare to alienate its constituency. Incredibly chindu adopted a hindu-bashing, left-jehadi-evangelist sucking policy,several years ago.

Even after alienating its core constituency, chindu manages to thrive probably with handsome hand-outs from its left-jehadi-evangelist masters.

So, don't expect chindu to adopt a saner policy for its online avatar. Money is no problem for them. Their masters will take care of that.

Hindu Fundamentalist said...

kuttychathan,
chindu is riding the wave based on its current loyal customer base. but the new generation hardly has the same kind of loyalty towards it. its sustained propaganda has driven quite a few away, including yours truly. the attrition is even faster online. without a sufficient readership base, how attractive will chindu be to china? with chindu already being branded as chinese mouthpiece, how long before it invites scorn from general public? i am not saying chindu is dying anytime soon. more likely, it will be pushed to irrelevance if it continues along its present path.