Let's Build a Newspaper

The old newspaper model is dead.  The body is still warm and it will be a long time before rigor mortis sets in, but the model is dead.   I don’t know what’s going to replace it, but the days of a newspaper owning a downtown high-rise filled with 2500 full time employees who use a $100 million press to deliver a four-pound bundle of paper to 400,000 people is coming to an end. 

The new model will obviously have a major Internet component, but that doesn’t mean that a brick and mortar company with lots of employees and a huge printing press can survive merely by shifting its product to the net. 

People ask me what the newspaper of the future (NOF) is going to look like.  My response is two words.  "Open Source".  The NOF will be written by scores of volunteers.  Elected officials, state agencies, political candidates will file stories directly to a common website.  They will be followed by waves of commenters, bloggers, cartoonists and reporters. 

Folks ask me how the NOF will eliminate bias.  I ask “you mean eliminate the bias like the Mainstream Media has eliminated the bias?”  You won’t eliminate bias; the NOF will embrace the bias. If you  get a story from Congressman Shadegg’s office or Giffords’ Office, you can consider the source.  The comments section will be a vehicle to respond and other reporters/bloggers can respond as well

I think people are tired of having their news filtered and diluted through the media.  They want their news straight.

So let’s build a newspaper.  I’m opening up my other website “Espresso Straight News” to scores of people who want to build an open source online newspaper. 

If you work for a state agency, elected official, candidate, utility, or municipality and you want to post news or agendas directly, just email me for a password.  If you have always wanted to blog, write, comment, draw or whatever—email me for a password. 

Pick a topic.  Want to write about sports, lifestyle, local politics?  Welcome aboard. 

And if you don’t want to write the news, but you are looking for news straight from the source, check out espresso straight news.  It's going to take us a while to build it, but I think you will see the Newspaper of the Future. 

Comments

[Cheyenne]

Here is one model for the new media. Register a domain for $10 and host for $60/yr.

www.arizonapolitics.net

[Cheyenne]

Here is a working hyperlink -
http://www.arizonapolitics.net

[Special Agent Johnny Utah]

Who's going to do actual reporting? I'm sure that question will draw jeers and hoots, but really, if you're not getting paid, how are you going to find a few hours a day away from your paying job to make phone calls, check court records, go to a legislative hearing, and so on?

[ovd]

Someone is out there covering the stories.

http://sonoranalliance.com/?p=1271

[GrassRootsRepublican]

I hear Jon Talton and Jeremy Dowell are still unemployed. However, I don't know if you can get a keyboard that will deliver an electric shock when the letters D-E-N-V-E-R are typed in sequence.

[ron]

Greg,

I just checked the blogs that were connected in the comment section - and noted that no one is doing an analysis on the City of Phoenix Council races. There are some major differences between the candidates and no one is talking about these differences. It is rather scary.

I have my own analysus which I have begun and would be willing to post on your site or use my own which I created but didn't activate at this point.

[ovd]

Utah,

“Who’s going to do actual reporting?” Here is Robert Robb acting like a blogger. (He obviously had been reading Espresso Pundit and Sonoran Alliance but does not cite them.)

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0706robb06.html

Here is a blogger getting up from his computer desk and doing actual reporting.

http://sonoranalliance.com/?p=517

[Stacy]

I'd love to produce more content for free like I did for the Republic, but, well, there's a lot to be said for not producing content for free.

If you're planning to build a behemouth online paper to sell to Conde Nast for $10 million and want to give me some shares in exchange for some techie grunt work, let's talk...

[Michael Marizco]

I wish you well in your endeavors, but, frankly, I hope this volunteer format never happens.
The problem isn't getting the news out there; the problem is getting worthwhile news out there.
We don't need people witnessing big events to report them. We need people to investigate, to spend time digging and to get beyond the obvious story.
I'm also bothered by this notion of volunteering.
In the end, someone's going to make a dollar off my volunteer reporting. But nobody is offering me a cut of that dollar.
I'd be happy to contribute news from my Web site as soon as the first check arrives.

[Extendscene]

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