Lee Abrams Speaks, and Speaks, and Speaks....

THINK PIECE: 15 POINTS THAT'LL GROW NEWSPAPERS

Two months in. There are consistencies I see in every newspaper. Here are 15 things that I strongly believe can GROW newspapers. It's of course not this simple, but I see these as fundamentally critical from a content perspective. Points I've discussed before, but are becoming glaring:

1. COMPARTMENTALIZING: Want baseball scores? It's all there on the baseball pages of the Sports section. Market report? It's all there on the stock market page. But why aren't other important categories compartmentalized?? In LA, I noticed that the entertainment business stories are there...but they are scattered around the paper. I believe, as an example, the LA Times could OWN Entertainment Business information, IF it was all on one page (es). Right now, you find a story on it...then turn a few pages and there's another story...then turn the page, and another story, it's kind of all-over-the-road. The content is there, but it's not consolidated. The result is that they are not getting the credit or ownership. Same thing with literally ANY important category. Consolidate Crime, environment, gas etc....Newspapers generally "kinda" do this, but as with literally everything, it's so underplayed that it's not noticed. Again, think 10pm News on TV. It's organized. It's consistent. Newspapers are not--or at least not to the point they NEED to be in 2008. If grocery stores were organized like newspapers, you'd wear out your shoes looking for vegetables, as carrots would be in aisle 6, tomatoes in aisle 8, etc...

To read the entire 1,421 words from Lee Abrams, click on Kevin Roderick or title.

SOURCE: Kevin Roderick

Editors Msg. The question of why I post messages intended for ALL Tribune Employees from Kevin Roderick, Jim Romenesko, and Tell Zell has come up once again. I am not trusted by my Tribune leaders with an email account for fear I will hack into the main frame at Times Mirror Square. I know this sounds odd, but after reading this you'll understand whom I'm dealing with. Two weeks ago I mentioned to a Tribune boss that the senior vice-president of production was suspected of leaving anonymous comments on this blog, which prompted a quick response from him "IMPOSSIBLE, he's out of the country". Enough said, I rest my case.