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Globe editor: No more covering boring crap nobody cares about
By adamg on Wed, 01/04/2017 - 7:31pm
Dan Kennedy has a few specifics on Globe Editor Brian McGrory's reinvention plans, which include abandoning the "paper of record" idea (so less boring crap) and going to a more 24/7 news model (which sounds like "digital first" for you media types), complete with a new "express desk" to handle it all. Oh, and:
The old barriers separating the newsroom and business sides will be rethought. ...
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Comments
So now...
The Globe wants to be Uhub?
Of course with less intelligent commentary and commentariat!
I really hope they survive
Even though it's mostly porno for liberals, they occasionally break real stories and they have the money to defend themselves which uhub does not.
I think they could be a lot weirder, that is have more unusual people doing the reporting. The appeal to the white suburban female demographic is relentless, even the diversity pieces are there to flatter these moms' desire to appear progressive without having to do anything.
UH IPO!
It's time...
Sounds more like they want to be boston.com
And probably will work just about as well!
Let's give them some credit
The Globe still has one of the best investigative teams in the country, they still break local news, etc. But in an era of rapidly shrinking revenue caused in part by the realities of digital life (both in terms of revenue and the way people now get their news), the old model just doesn't work.
And neither does the boston.com fluff model, at least not in a serious news town like Boston (really - how many other cities have two independent daily newspapers, three radio stations with real newsrooms and some actual decent TV reporters?).
People don't want to wait until tomorrow morning to get the news that's happening right now. So the "express desk" thing makes sense - run things online ASAP and save the more in-depth quotes and analysis for the paper (or update stories continually and keep the paper as a repository for the dwindling, but still revenue-generating, home subscribers). In some ways, the Globe has actually been doing this for awhile - if the entire T collapsed, they'd report on it pretty quickly; back in the old days, maybe not. And if you have a dedicated group of editors for it, maybe you'll even wind up with fewer of the typos and glitches that now seem to plague stuff rushed online.
Why do I want to wait for tomorrow?
So the reporters can take the time to gather information (the 5 w's), synthesize it, and report it back in a way that will provide context for the event.
The internet might have changed the newspaper business, but back in the 1980s, we had a little something called television. Several of the television stations broadcast shows at noon, 6, and 11, called "the news." Somehow, even in those days, there was a place for the morning newspaper. Sure, Chet and Natalie could tell me about a fire in Brockton while I was eating supper, but the Globe was able to provide more the next day.
Yep
How many times does the 24 hour news cycle report something - breathlessly! - only to have it turn out to be false or largely incorrect? All the time.
Taking the time for the story and the facts to play out is more important to me than having the "latest" info, which is likely incomplete and subject to change.
Then.. wait?
No one says you have to read it right away...
The problem
is , that, if I am reading the memo right, is that they will be dropping the in-depth examination of who, what, why, etc.. So all we get now will be 'Well THIS just happened!" type stories and then they move on to the next thing.
I get the long stuff doesn't bring in eye balls, but it's important.
I agree with that...
Long-form is important. But, the bigger problem that needs to be addressed somehow is getting folks to read what matters, because right now, they don't seem to have time for facts and details. It's an audience problem. The few of us who read more than a fat headline or the teaser of an article shared on social media are being drowned out - no, worse, actively dismissed.
I thought the same thing
Express Desk = uHub
Edit: They should just forward all the uHub content to the Globe site and start paying Adam a handsome salary. Problem solved!
The old barriers separating
Does that mean more advertorials, like their shitty, unresearched, promotion of Indy?
At Last!
That quote explains Shirley Leung being praised, rather than unemployable as a journalist.
I feel a sense of relief. I couldn't figure it out. Industry partnership. Got it.
That's exactly what it means
Full-page articles explaining why Ernie Boch is the best ever.
No more of the worst of deceptive advertising!
No more of the worst of deceptive advertising!... for example mattresses and automobiles.
You know they keep the paper going
Newspapers need ads. Jus' sayin'.
Paper advertising is doomed
The papers are getting more heavily into search engine optimization, which means you pay for blog posts that get your business higher on the google.
Most of the little features in the lifestyle section are probably paid content. You simply hAve to do this these days, my return from online advertising was 20x what I got from print last year. I'll never buy a paper ad again.
Maybe try covering the news without liberal bias
McGrory could have limited his lengthy reinvention plan to one sentence. Stop covering the news with liberal bias. I'm exhausted inquiring about how many subscribers (like me) canceled after the fake front page trashing Donald Trump. With over a million Trump voters in MA, I wasn't surprised when the lovely woman answering the Globe's "Dorchester" number in Manila, Philippines told me "many, many" had canceled that day. We have shows and columnists in this city whose duty is to cover media issues but to my knowledge, nobody has asked how many left the Globe that day. I'm sure that means it was fairly tragic. Layoffs were announced soon after.
The bias continues today with a story on boston.com about massive layoffs and store closings at Macy's that omits any mention of President-elect Trump who tweeted, "those who believe in tight border security, stopping illegal immigration & SMART trade deals w/other countries should boycott Macys." This was after Macy's cut ties with Trump over his call to end illegal immigration. Similar to the Globe, when I called to cancel my Macy's credit card, there was a very long wait on hold. Sad that many good people at the Globe and Macy's are losing their jobs due to the liberal bias and incompetence of "the suits."
You sure don't seem to be exhausted
On the contrary, your obsession with this seems to be tireless.
Call it obsession or extreme interest in Globe cancellations
Call it obsession or extreme interest in Globe cancellations after the fake-Trump Globe front page but yes, I'm tired of waiting for someone credible in the media to report how many subscribers were lost and what a disaster it was for the paper. After all, the fake Globe front page became a national story if not laughingstock. I can only infer from the layoffs, buyouts shrinkage and this latest realignment that it wasn't pretty. Instead of apologizing and firing the editorial staff, it's the pressmen, mailers, driver's and others who suffer. Sad.
I didn't mind the fake Trump page
...but it's way too easy to find overt liberal snark and panic-mongering on the web for free. Who needs to pay for the paper copy?
The bias to me is deeper, a reliance on social science as an explanation for everything, when in fact those disciplines of sociology and psychology are conceived in opposition to religious tradition and humanism.
worse than fake front pages
Are fake cops. Go away, liar.
Extreme Interest
Your interest does not extend to the, shall we say, more plausible reasons that the Globe may have hypothetically lost print subscribers, such as increased preference for digital media, or the delivery service fiasco of last year. You are also assuming without evidence that a yuge number of the Trump supporters living in MA were Globe subscribers who righteously cancelled their subscriptions in response to the issue you keep referencing. If that did happen, aren't those former subscribers and their knee-jerk actions in response to a single issue that upset them to blame for the suffering of the workers you claim to care about?
Where have we seen this before?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie
What conservatives are there
What conservatives are there at the Globe?
Jeff Jacoby.
Jeff Jacoby.
With friends like anti-Trump Jacoby, who needs enemies?
---
The post-election wreckage (at the Globe) is looking pretty good right now.
Well.....
I guess no other stores are having problems with sales. Sears looks really strong.
Good news, everybody
The Dedham Sears is not included in the newest rounds of Sears closings.
Did'ja notice?
They stopped selling TVs and replaced that area with mattresses? I guess everyone already has a TV, but mattresses do wear out (but then so do TVs.) Must just be a higher mark-up on mattresses.
Noiced this a few months ago...
... when the Home Electronics section was still virtually empty. Rather a shock...
Liberal Bias
Suits. Macy's.
I didn't know that the Suits at Macy's were made of fabric that was cut on a Liberal Bias.
Is this a bad thing? I mean, bias cut can make for interesting plaid or stripe matching arrangements or simply the ability to better drape, conform to, and move with the human wearing it.
Liberal Bias Suit? Conservative Bias Suit? You decide!
You're gonna get hurt...
You're gonna get hurt if you keep clutching your pearls so hard, petal. I wish you your well-deserved exhaustion if you invest your energy into something as stupid as repeatedly asking for information that is none of your business, and trying to use your "canceled subscription" (which, in the doubtful event that it ever existed, is gone now) as an utterly meaningless threat to extort it.
tl;dr: you're several kinds of dunce; don't brag about it.
read the herald if you want
read the herald if you want to get your news with a conservative bias. freedom of choice, what a concept!
That's what the Herald is for
Conservative bias. We've got a nicely balanced 2-newspaper town.
Donald J. Trump Signature collection
Did Trump's call for the Macy's boycott have any impact on the sales of his Donald J. Trump Signature Collection line of clothes? (None of which were made in America, natch.) Or was his outsourcing production of those clothes part of his SMART trade deal?
How dare the Globe mock up a cover predicting that Trump
would do all the things he was promising on the campaign trail to do as President?
Damned liberal media: quoting politicians on the things they actually said, and projecting they would live up to those words. It's outrageous!
I and millions like me must cancel our subscriptions immediately! Never mind how weird it is that we subscribe to a newspaper that we have always found completely biased and fundamentally at odds with our conservative values.
If by liberal bias, you mean
If by liberal bias, you mean reporting based on facts and data rather than fear and emotion, I'm glad the Globe has this bias.
"Relentlessly Interesting"
Is this their new corporate slogan? It's repeated at least twice in the memo (and I've only read through point 6 of the rough map.) And this gem of circular reasoning:
Translation
Like People magazine, but with even more exclamation points and random boldface!!! Hot goss about Beantown's own dishy celebs!!! Breathless articles about Tom and Gisele and the latest hijinks of their lovable sidekick Gronk!!! Listicles of hot business no-fails from Shirley Leung!!! Kinda-correct explanations of the latest tech from our own why-the-fuck-is-this-guy-still-employed Hiawatha Bray!!! Wag your finger in shame along with the Meredith Goldstein crew!!! And don't forget our ever-popular comment sections featuring crowd pleasers like Thoughtful Lib, Globe-drools-Herald-rulz, Why-can't-things-be-exactly-the-same-as-they-were-in-1963?, and Click-submit-a-few-more-times!!! Even more articles about opiates, babies, and what's on TV!!! And much, much, more!!!!
In defense of Hiawatha
I always like his stuff. He understands the big picture in technology, but can also explain complex tech things to a lay audience (me) without talking down.
So
Now the Boston Herald will be the newspaper of record for Boston?
I mean, they could go the Washington Post and try to be a better paper, but whatever. Boston moves to the Herald.
Well
They could always start their own version of Lucky Scratch Wingo. That might improve circulation.
You joke
But after what happened to Boston.com, don't count it out.
This is just sad now
Reminds me of a Weekly Dig/Media Farm piece way back about then-editor Marty Baron publicly ridiculing a young staffer for suggesting that they target younger folk like him-- a demographic that's looking at 40, breeding, and in the suburbs now-- which they failed to do. Too late now I suppose.
Bullet point 1 was amazing: Staffers will be asked 1. if they like their jobs, 2. whether they covet someone else's job, and 3. if they, you know, have any super-awesome ideas for a new beat (which is an admission, however unintentional, that they're out of ideas). How does a staffer answer that, other than trying to guess at a job that _won't_ get cut?
"Express Desk". Jesus. What's the over/under of that going the way of Crux and "Beta Boston"?
"Expand on our excellence in projects". Double Jesus.
And hate to agree with O-Fish-L higher up, but even as a relatively liberal person, the Trump cover was embarrassing, unprofessional, and probably worked in Trump's favor. So maybe the Globe shitting the bed (or rather, continuing to do so) would be a good thing.
Thanks for the kind words Suburbanite...
Having had some success in the private sector after police work, I would suggest the Boston Globe hire one or two conservative columnists who sometimes agree with President-elect Trump. Not Jeff Jacoby, who embarrassed himself predicting disaster for the Republican party as late as October. Some new reality-based columnists and editors might bring a few of the 1,000,000+ MA Trump voters back and add credibility. Although I couldn't get behind the paywall after canceling after the fake Trump front page, I can still see portions of it. Some columnist by the name of Michael Cohen, in addition to others far better known, had anti-Trump columns every day. It's certainly John Henry's right to go all out against Trump, but not my idea of a good business plan. Phillips Old Colony House might not be the only vacancy on Morrissey Boulevard.
Although I disagreed with his politics, I give credit to Steve Mindich, publisher of the former Boston Phoenix. He made no secret of the paper's liberal politics right up until going out of business, although the exploitation of women on the sex pages sometimes seemed at odds with the feminist agenda. John Henry should come out and admit what his paper is too. Keeping 25 like Cohen and one Jacoby offers neither cover nor concealment.
counting
being arrested for drunk and disorderly doesn't count as police work, faker
Rob Eno would be perfect, but
Rob Eno would be perfect, but he moved away.
Check out the recent back and forth between Rob and Scott Lehigh.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Robeno/status/816675335391551488
Now if only uhub could stop
Now if only uhub could stop posting boring crap..
Expand on that
What would you have me stop writing about? And what should I cover instead?
Well, to start with....
How about a list of the top 10 pizza places??
/sarcasm
Start with this
All your headlines should rhyme
all the time.
That would be fine.
A website you'll love
https://wordpress.org/
Buyer's Remorse
Drat. I just resubscribed to the Globe and now I find out that they're not going to be doing the articles I wanted to read anymore.
In some ways
It's a reversion back to when there were multiple editions of the paper per day, with a digital twist.
I tend to think that this business model isn't going to be wildly successful - why is the Globe any better than the plethora of additional outlets doing more or less the same thing?
I do think that there's a role for the investigate reporting portion of the Globe - the sex abuse scandal work amongst others, but I'm not sure what the business model is - those stories are expensive and long.
No one cares
On one hand, we have today an exponentially faster growing Tower of Babel - if not also banal - sources of news.
And other the other, more and more people don't care, understand or whatever.
And as for proof of my hypothesis, just look to politics today as well as at just about every level and venue.
George Orwell has to be shaking his head over it all.