There was an unconference yesterday in Philadelphia where the traditional journalists and bloggers were on the same side, trying to figure out how to get journalism paid for. The journalists in the room were staring up at an elephant -- the papers in Philly are up for sale, and they don't know if they'll be "allowed" to innovate. Liveblogged by Jeff Jarvis.
That smells like a business opportunity. Mike Phillips of Scripps describes it on commenting on Jay Rosen's site
There are days when I’m tempted to gather a few friends, move into a nice town with a newspaper run by one of the slower-moving publishers, start up something that’s digital and citizen-driven and make a nice living picking the big guy’s pocket.
What about the idea of buying out a paper? Buying out the San Jose Mercury News or the Inquirer? That sounds tough because you start with a high cost base, mostly going for trucks and printing presses.
I'd start cheap, like H20town. When there was a large enough ad base, then I'd start printing a subselection of the online stories and buy some used equipment really cheaply. Which is sad for the old printing press culture, but removes a lot of pressure to start.
Posted by alevin at March 26, 2006 01:59 PM | TrackBack