Steve Faguy, a local blogger and freelancer for Montreal Gazette, has a great piece about the current problems with newspapers:
- they lose their strenghts by imitating what’s done in new media,
- their revenue model is screwed but they are still clueless,
- they save costs by cutting down on foreign bureaus and copy editors – even though that’s where they really can differentiate from new media
For instance, I really don’t understand what’s happenning at La Presse, Journal de Montréal or at the Montreal Gazette. Even though they have bright reporters and all the ressources to back it up, their online properties really pale compared to the print edition. The only newspaper who seem to get things done online is Le Devoir. It’s clean, neat, with accessible content.
Steve is focusing on newspapers, but I think this transition can be extended to other media too. There is a mass switch to the web, the younger generation don’t watch tv anymore, the radio is left for the baby boom generation and for niche music.
The race is now. Those who weren’t aware will loose their audience. Only the most innovative and those who bring value most will survive. And that’s what every media publisher in Montreal and in Québec should be aware of.
Comments
Fagstein June 11, 2007
I think the major difference between the Devoir site and those of the other newspapers is that the Devoir is independent. It doesn’t have a network of websites it’s trying to tie together. It’s just a newspaper, and it’s focused on being that. Le Journal doesn’t have a website; its stories are picked up by Canoe. Ditto La Presse and Cyberpresse.ca. The Gazette, meanwhile, is “part of the Canada.com network”, and is only really starting now to develop a web presence of its own outside the CanWest monolith.
It’s “portalism” exemplified.
Heri June 12, 2007
hi
my opinion on this is that the gazette, la presse and cyberpresse are diluting their brand. i prefer to have something like montrealgazette.com and let the montreal gazette shine there, with its own specific values and style.
Pierre June 12, 2007
Speaking of copy editors, it’s “lose”, not “loose”, in this particular context (if you have a loose nut, you might lose it on the floor). ;-)
Heri June 12, 2007
thanks. corrected
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