A Failed Business Model: The Messenger-Inquirer

A warning - this is going to be a pretty blunt post, sorry if I step on some toes but that is just how it is going to be, and a disclaimer - I have no professional experience with journalism or advertising (as is probably already evident), therefore, you should not pay attention to anything I say below, I am just a regular joe with an opinion and an outlet.

Way back when. . .I spent some time living outside of Owensboro. . .way outside. Feeling a little homesick, I could always go to the Messenger-Inquirer's website and catch up on the local news. Heck, I could even get tomorrow's news if you visited the site the evening before. When it was time to move home, the first place I looked for apartments was the online classified section (this was way back when craigslist.com was just a California thing).

Then, the Paxton Media group bought the paper from the Dallas Morning News. After this, a paper subscription or online subscription was required to view stories on the paper's website - on this I call B.S. Now to be fair to the paper, the classifieds and the obituaries section is still available without a subscription.

Let's be frank, the traditional newspaper industry is dead. In our region, the traditional paper has a little more life because of the number of computer illiterate and older population that is unfamiliar with the new information age. In order for a newspapers to survive, they must transform themselves into a media outlet who's main reach to the population is through the internet. It seems that almost all the other newspapers in this region and Kentucky have grasped that concept and have moved to free-access over the web. If not free, then all that is needed is to hand over an e-mail address (which can then be unscrupulously sold off and I'm cool with that). For a list of those papers, just check the sidebar on this blog.

From my understanding, a paper makes its money from advertising. Don't you think that driving more eyeballs to your website by offering free QUALITY content would drive more people to your advertisers? If you guys can't learn how to make money off of online ads, then I suggest you find someone that can.

During the ice storm, complaints for news from outside the area was heard and the M&I opened their site for a couple of weeks, but now that the storm is over, apparently once again, no one outside this area is interested in our little community. If I was still living outside this area, I would not pay for access, I'm sorry, but your product is not worth the price.

And talking about price. . .WHY THE HECK DOES IT COST $1.00 A DAY FOR ACCESS TO THE INTERNET VERSION WHEN IT COSTS $0.75 FOR THE PAPER VERSION. Really, everyone else thinks it is cheaper to transfer the news via all those little electrons streaming through the tubes, does the M&I know something everyone else doesn't? I guess discouraging access via the internet is a way to boost paper buy rates, but as a matter of principle, I for one, will not buy a paper if you the internet version is not free.

Owensboro wants to be a hub for high-technology businesses and wants to recruit young, talented people to the area. What do you think their first impression of this area is when the local two-bit newspaper demands payment for online access when the New York Times or the San Jose Mercury News doesn't? If one of the most visible businesses in Owensboro is clinging to a failing business model, what does this mean for the rest of the businesses in the area. I wonder if someone at the M&I has even heard of a Kindle?

I think the calls for the M&I to open up during the ice storm shows that there is a demand for local news from people outside this area, however, these people, like me, aren't going to pay a subscription fee for this information. If the M&I won't open up, I think there is an opportunity for someone else to move in and be the source of Owensboro News. For my money (or lack of use thereof), I think the best free-access Owensboro news comes from Stuart Peck and the Owensboro newsdesk at WFIE.com (a local TV station).

Don't worry though, the Curmudgeon will always be free (I'm not fooling myself, I know you wouldn't pay for this crap). Lord help us all if this site becomes a leader for online Owensboro news!

Update even before post is published - just saw that the M&I is maybe putting some fresh efforts into their website development. Mr. Shafa's health reporting has been respectable, let's see if he can make a difference in their web department.