Interview with the Man, the Myth, the Kansan general manager: Malcolm Gibson.
Having had only limited knowledge about the actual business of the newspaper, I decided the first thing I should do is turn to someone who knows it all too well: Malcolm Gibson, the UDK general manager. Malcolm provided a great deal of insight into this topic and helped broaden the scope, for me, of what to expect in the future of journalism and the possible courses of action newspapers should take in order to survive the quickening of the digital age. Here is what Malcolm had to say:
What is the Kansan's current business model? How does the Kansan operate?
"We're self supporting. The University gives us no money. All the furniture, hookups, phones, bills - the expense budget is $1.3 million to $1.4 million dollars - all that comes from student fees. Each year students pay a fee, part of which is funneled to the Kansan. [That money is generated] in student-sold advertisements. It's a student run operation."
What problems do you see with the current business model for the Kansan and other newspapers nationwide?
Malcolm saw few problems for nitch publications, such as the Kansan (I will paraphrase here for purposes of brevity and accuracy). He alluded to the fact that the Kansan and other nitch publications are doing well in terms of generating funds and overall readership and financial support. The Kansan is a nitch publication because it specifically targets students (18 to 22 years old). The Web has had not has as tremendous an effect on its readership or financial situation as it has other newspapers, he said. In fact he said that local ad sales (Lawrence) are up; they're down on campus and nationally however. Even so, Malcolm pointed out a few problems, newspapers face.
The problem with newspapers:
- Need to tell people stories about what they're interested in
- Newspapers only produce profits for stock owners
- Newspapers are trying to generate too much profit, in light of market share loss to other news media outlets such as the Web
Despite the receiving more insight into the problems facing newspapers today, I wanted to know more about what the future business model of the Kansan and other newspapers would like like as the focus on the Web intensified in the upcoming years. Again, Malcolm provided some great insight in this area as well.
What does the future business model of newspapers look like?
"The business model of newspapers should be free. [Newspapers] should make it a free publication. Readership would be up then."
"If I owned a major newspaper I would seriously consider doing away with Monday through Saturday papers in [their] present form and would do a large Sunday edition - the KC Star probably generates more money on Sundays"
Here is the exact model Malcolm proposed:
- Make newspapers cheap or free
- Make newspapers available to all
- Promote the Web
- Focus on local events, with less focus on international events
With these few changes Malcolm alluded to the fact that newspapers could potentially recover. More importantly, he emphasized the fact that NEWSPAPERS ARE NOT DEAD!
Overall, I thought this conversation led me to some conclusions of my own about the future of journalism and the reasons journalists will have to become more creative in their writing and approach to storytelling...
Entrepreneurial journalists of the future
One of the most important skills any journalism can possess is the ability to market themself, especially as newspapers across the country are closing their doors and popping up on the Web.Journalists need to be able to do more than just string together a well formed sentence, or two. It has become increasingly important to be able to tell a story visually. Journalists will have to know the most basic grammatical functions to the most complex graphic and Web design programs if they are to survive in the "one man band" future of journalism. So for you and me, I guess that means we better be ready.
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