Tale of Two Cities: From Daily to...
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Posted by Peter M. Zollman
It's happened -- two more dailies have converted to weekly publication. And the two announcements are textbook examples of brilliance in publishing, and "less than brilliance" (to say the least).
First, The Gilroy (Calif.) Dispatch. The "top small daily newspaper in the state for the third consecutive year," is no longer daily -- it's now twice- weekly. But it has an absolutely stupendous Web site, one of the best I've ever seen for a small daily.
Interactive features are everywhere. Community-building products are studded throughout. Restaurant discounts are accompanied by a user-review section. The first time you click on the site, you're greeted with a showing a curtain, "Welcome to the premiere of the all-new Gilroy Dispatch."
In his , and in the strong coverage of the switch to twice-weekly, publisher Steve Staloch effectively and eloquently lays out the reasons for the change: "The newspaper industry is in transition as readers and advertisers commit more time and money to alternative methods of getting their news and communicating their messages. We're not immune to these trends but we are certainly not abandoning our 140-year tradition of serving Gilroy. The printed Gilroy Dispatch has survived the birth of radio, television and now the Internet. Its credibility and relevance to the community is a legacy that, without question, will endure for generations to come."
Bravo! It isn't the first daily, and it certainly won't be the last, to reduce its publication frequency. But it'll be a tough act to follow.
By contrast, there's the Ocean County (N.J.) Observer, which is converting from daily to weekly. Note the coverage of the switch; the lack of any substantial mention of the paper's Web site, or improvements to it -- granted, it's pretty good already; and the essential elimination of the hometown feel. When you visit the paper's site, you see this note:
"New home for Ocean County news. All the news you've come to expect from the Observer will now be found on the Ocean County hometown pages of APP.com. To find your regional page, click on one of these links: Toms River area or Ocean County overview.
Clearly, the situations are not analogous, and I shouldn't imply they are. One daily competed with a nearby daily owned by its parent company; the other is owned by a small group that publishes only one other daily. But the difference in treatment of the change, and the caliber of the new Web site at GilroyDispatch.com, is remarkable.
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Based in Gilroy, CA, MainStreet Media Group LLC publishes community newspapers and alternative weekly publications in some of the fastest growing and demographically attractive areas in California including communities south of San Francisco, in North County San Diego, in the Sierras and along the Central Coast. MainStreet publishes both paid and free newspapers.