Everyone in the news business knows at some level, even if they’re having trouble admitting it, that the future is digital.
I’ve spent much of the past 15 years fighting legacy-media issues, mostly in the newspaper business but also for a couple companies in the TV business. I had great experiences, but hit brick walls when resistance to change blinded the companies to new approaches, new ideas or new revenue streams.
So I jumped earlier this year at the chance to work for a company that unabashedly proclaimed itself “Digital First,” led by a CEO, John Paton, who sought my advice, shared my vision of the future and asked me to help him achieve that vision.
I’ve enjoyed my first three-plus months on the job, visiting 18 different newsrooms and helping my Journal Register Co. colleagues use social media, blog networks, curation, crowdsourcing and other aspects of community engagement to elevate our journalism.
Today Journal Register Co. takes a new direction that I can’t address in detail yet because we’re still working out the details.
JRC has been getting a fair amount of attention in the news business with our innovation efforts in a lot of small and mid-sized newsrooms (the New Haven Register in Connecticut and Oakland Press in Pontiac, Mich., being the biggest). Today we move into larger communities, work with a bigger company and pursue higher stakes in our quest for the digital future.
An agreement announced today creates a new JRC subsidiary, Digital First Media, which will operate MediaNews Group, the second largest newspaper company in the United States by circulation (not that Digital First will use print circulation as a primary measure of success). John becomes CEO of Digital First and MediaNews as well as JRC. We will bring the Digital First approach to metro news operations in such communities as Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Denver and the Twin Cities.
I don’t yet know what our plan for MediaNews will be. I don’t yet know what my specific role will be. We’ll work all that out in the weeks to come.
JRC will be pursuing our Digital First strategy on a huge stage with a lot of people in the news business watching. It’s put-up-or-shut-up time. Watch us put up.
For more about JRC and Digital First:
Best of luck! And if you ever need an extra pair of hands, you know where to find me 😉
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Wow. Major news. Will keep a sharp eye out.
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OK, so Steve, what sort of differences should we start to see in these circulation areas?
As the Oakland Press is in our backyard, maybe we can help by having folks, subscribers (and non-subscribers if you’re bringing out some component which they can access) there watch out specifically for these changes and provide some feedback for you – if you’d like.
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Thanks for the question and suggestion, Rick. Too soon to respond specifically, but the digital-first principles that John has outlined in his blog will certainly guide Digital First Media in managing both JRC and MNG.
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I’m generally wary of there being fewer media companies controlling more of the media (because, well, ask our friends who’ve worked for Knight Ridder or Gannett how that worked out for them)…BUT at least in this case there seems to be a forward-thinking plan beyond “let’s get bigger”.
I’m intrigued by JRC’s plans and mindset in the digital space – even more so now – and looking forward to seeing what you do there.
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I share your inclination toward skepticism and caution, Mandy. Beyond the more forward-thinking plan, I should note that this is not a purchase, so the debt that was such a huge issue for the newspaper companies growing bigger is not an issue here.
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This is amazing news and really shows how brilliant you, John, Jim and the other leaders at JRC are! Congrats, Steve.
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[…] Here’s more on this, from the blog of Steve Buttry, director of community engagement and social media for Journal Register. Posted in Strategy | Tagged digital first media […]
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[…] of social media and community engagement (does that even fit on a business card?), writes in his blog that the change will allow “Digital First” to be shouted across the nation. JRC has […]
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Steve,
This announcement is generating some real excitement here in West Chester, PA, especially with the community journalists working for the Daily Local News.
I’m really looking forward to speaking with you regarding some of my ideas for increasing community engagement and feel fortunate that you are a part of this amazing team.
Joe Norley
Community Journalist
Daily Local News
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[…] original post here: Journal Register's Digital First Media will manage MediaNews « The … Posted in Media, TV | Tagged brick-walls, couple-companies, Media, past, spent-much, […]
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[…] link: Journal Register's Digital First Media will manage MediaNews « The … Posted in Blogs, Media, TV | Tagged brick-walls, Comentário, couple-companies, Media, past, […]
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[…] here to read the rest: Journal Register's Digital First Media will manage MediaNews « The … Posted in Blogs, Media, TV | Tagged brick-walls, couple-companies, Media, past, the-past, TV, […]
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Sure hope I’m wrong but this sure looks like a way for Media News to replace its expensive California online editors with cheap ones from the Midwest.
Though as long as they don’t outsource it to Mumbai I guess I should not complain.
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I was definitely intrigued by this development. MediaNews put its New Mexico site’s behind a paywall just in the past few weeks and was curious how this new agreement with JRC would change the lay of the land.
I saw John Paton’s interview with PaidContent.org. Looks like we we’ll have to continue waiting a bit before we get any insight.
Paidcontent.org link:
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-paton-too-early-to-say-whether-medianews-paywalls-stay-up/
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[…] Comments « Journal Register’s Digital First Media will manage MediaNews […]
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[…] I am eager to continue and expand our work with MediaNews, which has named John its new CEO and retained a new JRC subsidiary, Digital First Media, to manage MediaNews. […]
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[…] drove more traffic for that April post in September than I got (502) for my Sept. 7 post about JRC’s deal to manage MediaNews. I do try to write headlines that will help bring me search traffic, but I could not have imagined […]
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[…] Co., I have been watching recent developments in Facebook and planning to blog for my JRC (and now MediaNews) colleagues about using Facebook effectively as a journalist. But first, I should clean up my […]
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[…] respect for their smart use of social media. We will be working together much more closely as the Journal Register Co. partnership with MediaNews progresses. In our initial meetings, I have seen multiple ways we could benefit from sharing our […]
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[…] the York Daily Record, a news organization owned by MediaNews Group. Last month JRC and MediaNews reached agreement for a new JRC subsidiary, Digital First Media, to manage MediaNews. Bosses are working out exactly what that means, but Buffy could see that it meant that we’re […]
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[…] to the storm. JRC newsrooms (and MediaNews colleagues we’re starting to work with through Digital First Media) also did a nice job collecting photos from the community during the […]
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[…] I think MediaNews Group (my colleagues in Digital First Media) made the right decision in reversing a move toward a regional brand, retaining the established […]
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[…] the early 1980s, I would be sorely tempted to wave that wand and throw over my current career with Digital First Media. It all looks so rosy through the glasses of […]
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[…] part of a collaborative effort by several newsrooms to provide coaching in some writing basics for Digital First Media staff members. We are stressing digital skills heavily, but recognize that we also need to continue […]
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[…] part of a collaborative effort by several newsrooms to provide coaching in some writing basics for Digital First Media staff members. We are stressing digital skills heavily, but recognize that we also need to continue […]
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[…] since John Paton embarked on the Digital First approach. I expect we’ll see the same at MediaNews. But it takes some money and some […]
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[…] name and approach of my company, Digital First Media, is getting a lot of attention in journalism, and other companies have declared they will follow a […]
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[…] move to Journal Register Co. and Digital First Media and my work for my new companies dominated my writing this year on this blog. I’ve reviewed […]
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[…] is throughout the company. Martin and Dan were among the first journalists I met in September after MediaNews became part of Digital First Media, and I quickly came to see what outstanding journalists they […]
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[…] It’s true that some of our newsrooms have appallingly outdated equipment. (Digital First Media is running two formerly bankrupt newspaper companies, and companies burdened by debt cut back on capital investments.) But even after we update […]
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[…] Register Co. and Digital First Media. Director of community engagement, 2011-present. We’re out to transform the news business. […]
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[…] I don’t minimize the importance of getting on the same page as your bosses; I have changed jobs because I disagreed with the direction my company was headed, and I’m sure I am happier and more successful now, in strong agreement with Jim, John Paton and our direction at Digital First Media. […]
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[…] address to the Canadian Journalism Foundation, John Paton, my boss, explained the realities that Digital First Media if facing: We have accepted we are no longer the old-fashioned agenda-setters or gatekeepers of […]
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[…] distant horizon. At that time, we were thinking of a fall launch, but the project grew bigger when JRC created Digital First Media last year to take over management of MediaNews Group, more than doubling the size of our […]
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[…] a couple weeks later, MediaNews became part of Digital First Media. While we picked up 57 daily newspaper brands in that deal, I noted the Oakland Tribune as a […]
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[…] great strides in developing a healthy new business model for the digital marketplace. (So are Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, which are all intertwined but not identical; it’s just JRC that ). I don’t expect the […]
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[…] I will not disclose here the results of any of the MediaNews paywalls that launched shortly before Digital First took over operation of MediaNews last year. I don’t have those results and wouldn’t be the right person to disclose […]
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[…] part of a collaborative effort by several newsrooms to provide coaching in some writing basics for Digital First Media staff members. We are stressing digital skills heavily, but recognize that we also need to continue […]
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[…] for what I called an “extraordinary opportunity.” Today I leave Digital First Media (a merger of JRC and MediaNew Group) still […]
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[…] a combined three bankruptcies, Digital First Media became that big company. (CEO John Paton had taken over management of both MediaNews Group and Journal Register Company in September 2011.) DFM now […]
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[…] […]
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[…] 2011 deal uniting the fairly small Journal Register Co. with the huge MediaNews Group to create Digi… brought together some valuable assets for pursuing the digital future of media. But the merger […]
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[…] Well, that TBD experience turned out to be a brief ride. Jim resigned from TBD in November 2010, and John was in touch right away. John hired Jim, then they both hired me, and I started a more extended (but still too brief) ride with Journal Register Co., which became Digital First Media. […]
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