A Newspaper Investigates Its Future

Our new publisher (David Hiller) at the Los Angeles Times is wasting no time by assigning several reporters and editors the assignment of finding innovative ways at increasing circulation at the Tribune's top money earning asset, the Los Angeles Times.

I say take it a big step further by having all Times employees involved in increasing our circulation.

Allow me to share an experience I had seven years ago. My girlfriend at that time was a single mother of one child, this little girl would not eat much of what her mother prepared to eat, so she would often cave in to this little girls crying for fast food. BUT, when she would bring her daughter to my home, I had this child help prepare our meals, and she never complained about anything I served. Her mother said to me "Edward, how did you ever get her to eat everything she won't eat for me?" By involving this little girl in preparing her own food, she was eager to consume everything she helped prepare.

Here's an excerpt from the New York Times regarding Mr. Hiller's plan.

Newspapers are all looking for ways to gain readers, and many have hired consultants to help them. In an unusual twist, The Los Angeles Times is looking to chart its future by using its own reporters and editors, who rank among the best investigators in the business.

The Times is dedicating three investigative reporters and half a dozen editors to find ideas, at home and abroad, for re-engaging the reader, both in print and online. The newspaper’s editor, Dean Baquet, and its new publisher, David Hiller, plan to convene a meeting today to start the effort, which is being called the Manhattan Project. A report is expected in about two months.

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