Gannett Takes the Lead. Yes, Gannett

Just about everybody in the newspaper business belittles Gannett as the epitome of soulless corporate newspaper ownership. But Gannett's USA Today is by far the most influential and innovative newspaper of the past 25 years (oh yes it is), and now the company is taking a bold step into the future by attempting to transform its newsrooms into "information centers" that put the Web ahead of the printing press and are trying many other radical notions of news coverage.

The Washington Post's Frank Ahrens has a story about Gannett's new ideas in actions at the Fort Myers News-Press. "Mobile journalists," tighter newsroom cooperation with advertising and marketing staffs, hyperlocal micro-sites—these is the kinds of things that make many old-school newsies cringe. On the other hand, buyouts and layoffs resulting from plummeting circulation and advertising aren't very pleasant, either.

It's difficult to get staid newsrooms to accept this kind of significant change, but Gannett's ambitious program is a big step in the right direction. After USA Today's debut, it took years for other newspapers to adopt its common-sense innovations (color weather maps, anyone?). How long will it take other newspapers to get the hint about the leading-edge stuff Gannett is trying now?

Comments

[DougKelly]

Mark - thanks for the heads up on Gannett's continued innovations. This new type of reporter is a challenge to the established, embedded ones and seems similar to the challenge that many bloggers (e.g. Josh Marshall) are posing to tradition media. Lean, mean, reporting machines -- Gannett gets it.

[Darian]

I agree that Gannett is focusing in the right direction of hyper-local. It will be interesting to see if they can:

1. afford all their stringers
2. get the rest of the staff to see the value
3. get members of the community to participate (assuming they want the community to participate--beyond the stringers)
4. Offer something on their web site that isn't simply a slighly more localized version of their print service

Anyway, hats off to them for giving it a try and fighting the good fight.

[Mr Osato]

Having news ideas is one thing, actually executing them is another. Executing and funding them properly so they succeed without damaging your other products is quite something else. When Gannett, or more specifically Newsquest, manages all three I might be impressed.

[rob]

On the contrary, Gannett's new direction has severely damaged the news content on so many levels. For example, there is no substance to the "hyper-local" news because they've removed all of the reporters who had any deep connections to the local communities. They've been replaced with lower-salaried, lower IQ'd blogger types who move from newspaper to newspaper like locusts and can't even spell. In my opinion, the "old school" reporters are still head and shoulders, and will always be, above the modern "mojo" journalist. Gannett is getting lean alright, but not in the way that will benefit anybody but those at the top. The media must be taken back from the corporations.