Hopping the BackFence
Hopping the BackFence
Submitted by kpaul.mallasch on Sat, 01/06/2007 - 6:06pm.There is lots of talk about Susan DeFife leaving BackFence.com. They've laid off 12 of an 18 person staff. Ouch.
One of the things I think they’re missing in the equation is that you do need trained editorial staff. They’ve had a ‘hands-off’ approach since the beginning. It’s not working.
The other, imho, is their clinging to ‘online-only.’ There’s still a little money to be made (in the short term anyway) from print sales. This could fund a small news operation (editor, reporter, sales, interns) for each of the regions, I believe.
They’ve gone through a lot of funding so far. Best of luck to them, though. Hope they take these words to heart.
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And unless or until they do ...
... we can watch them go the way of ecountyinfo.com, which did pretty much the same thing: Start big, don't even think about print, then -- whoops, there goes 2/3 of the staff.
Introducing a print model is an interesting idea, but look who you're up against: USA Today, the uncontested circ champ. Which also is online, darn the luck.
I don't think the nationwide model is supportable for citizen journalism. Why? Well, let's ask one question: Where you gonna get volunteer reporters to cover, say, the White House, Capitol Hill and the Supreme Court? If someone has the chops to do that job, that someone won't do it just for grins. Remember Samuel Johnson?
Trained editorial oversight is a gaping hole, but nationwide reach is the real killer. MFP may have its problems, but it's still a supportable business and journalism model.
Thanks, SB
the thing is, too, that I know where I'm lacking - what I really need to get this to take off. Thanks for adding your thoughts, though. Appreciated.