I've been meaning to write about the local newspaper for the last couple of months, but I'm just now getting to it.  Anyone who's read this blog over the last few years knows that in the past I've been somewhat critical of how the newspaper has approached competing the modern information era.  Well I'd like to take a moment to give them kudos for two recent changes:

1. Unlike some folks I like their redesign to the smaller format. I find it easier to read and I like the new fonts and layout as well. It's purely a personal preference, but the redesign definitely works for me.
2. I think combining the hard news into one section and focusing on local news in the front is a good move. National news is easily available from other sources (cable news, national news websites, etc.) and the one competitive advantage that the Journal has is in-depth local news and they need to emphasize that.

I also think the Journal is trying hard with their online efforts.  I'm a fan of some of their blogs, Dan Collins' in particular, and they're even trying some live online chats.  Unfortunately the live chat with Mayor Joines to discuss the Dell situation seemed to have attracted about four people judging by the number of people who submitted questions (I think there were two of us) and I don't sense that many of them get a lot of active engagement. 

What I'm hoping is that the paper will keep plugging away and somehow find gold in the online hills, and do it ASAP, because their print circulation is looking pretty dismal.  Numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulation show the number of M-F subscribers for the six months that ended 9/30/2009 to be 67,169 and the number of Sunday subscribers to be 82,959.  As those print numbers continue to plummet so will the advertising revenue derived from them, and unless it's replaced with revenue from some other function I don't think the paper will be a viable business for many more years. 

Unfortunately I think the Journal gave up its greatest competitive advantage years ago when it started laying off reporters.  I'm not saying that the folks at the Journal did it light heartedly or without a great deal of consideration, but those very same reporters would be the people that could create the locally focused product unique to the Journal whether in print, online, or written in chalk on the road for that matter.  That content could then be packaged and sold, whether to advertisers or directly to consumers, and would hold what I consider to be the best opportunity for the Journal to survive or even thrive.  Unfortunately that horse is long out of the barn and it's a little late to shut the door.

My friends, the demise of the Journal would be bad for all of us because local newspapers have traditionally been the most effective watchdog of local government and without them we'll have a vacuum to fill.  Sure, we could have "citizen journalists" step in and do some of it, and local TV will do whatever it can in two minute chunks, but local newspapers offer a level of expertise that will be very difficult to replace in the short term and as we've seen recently here in Winston-Salem, even the best intentioned and most respected politicians need some looking after.