Rumor on the Internets (found via Journerdism jambalaya) has it that Gannett Web sites will soon transition to a common design. My hope is they're thinking more Gatehouse than Tribune, if it's true. Gatehouse took a strategic approach to creating a regional brand in Wicked Local. Tribune just pulled a Knight-Ridder and launched a bunch of bland sites.

The first site to launch the new design is Desert Sun, and it seems to have taken a lesson from USAToday.com, its sister publication. Each headline gets the "Recommend" button and a prominent call to comment.

For a lot of reasons, I like the new Desert Sun design. I'm just hoping to see some local variation where appropriate. As I've said before, each news organization has different coverage strengths and the design should be custom made to enhance those strengths.

Many, many people predicted that all major breaking news would one day be captured on video because recording devices would become so ubiquitous in society that everything is taped. Here's the latest mind-blowing evidence they were right.

A day after the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, CNN has exclusive footage from a security camera of the bridge as it actually falls into the river.

Add this to the stack of other unbelievable videos: The planes as they hit the World Trade Center, cell phone video of the Virginia Tech shootings, even Michael Richards' crazy rantings.

What's amazing is we're really just getting started. Cameras are inevitably going to become even more commonplace. What happens then?

I’m all for advertising in podcasts, but don’t let the advertisers take over. A recent New York Times article reported on a new marketing group trying to create a standard way to get paid messages out via podcast.

What will ads sound like within podcasts? Here’s one’s scary solution:

Susan Bratton, who helped form the Association for Downloadable Media, said her experience as the chief executive of Personal Life Media, which produces audio podcasts on a range of subjects, helped convince her that more industry cooperation was needed to make podcasting a viable business . . .

Ms. Bratton, who is an online advertising industry veteran, said she believes she has found at least one good format for running advertisements within podcasts. In addition to placing a sponsor’s advertisements at both ends of a show, she also inserts an advertisement in the middle.

“Say you’re listening,” Ms. Bratton said. “You’ll hear an ad about sponsoring the show from the Omega Institute at the start. Then you get into the show, and halfway through there’s a commercial break, where you have more detail on Omega’s summer programs. Then at the end of the show the final commercial says, ‘Find out more at eomega.org.’ ”

Ms. Bratton added, “I have the ability to not just have a single ad in front and end, but a series of them that’ll tell the story.”

Oh, the horror.

I’ll admit: I’m a big listener of talk radio. For those who aren’t, you should know the incessant commercial breaks sometimes leave the host with only a few seconds to comment and then jump back into a block of ads. NPR manages to get its point across with those quick “brought to you by” messages. Everyone much prefers those.

But I’m a realistic person, and obviously the NPR model isn’t becoming pervasive. For podcasts, I’d wish for a return to the days of yore, when the host took a brief aside to talk about the paid sponsor. This ruffles traditionalists but provides a better flow for the program.

Radio’s conservative “thinker,” Glenn Beck, takes the old-time approach a lot because he says it’s more effective. He’s even recently tried incorporating the asides into his TV show on CNN’s Headline News.

A warning for newspapers grasping at expense cuts: Be careful not to exacerbate the problem you’re trying to solve, which is declining advertising revenue.

Shortfalls in advertising revenue are not solely an income problem. The revenue drop is first and foremost an effect of declining circulation, which is why it makes no sense to increase the cost of your newspaper as a supposed solution.

I’m talking to you, Spokesman-Review. Here’s what Editor Steve Smith said to staffers in a memo that was leaked on Romenesko:

We will raise the daily single-copy price to 75 cents (from 50 cents) in some select outlying areas and raise Sunday single-copy to $2 from $1.50. This will generate an immediate and significant revenue boost. There are no plans at this time to raise home delivery prices.

What the Spokesman-Review can expect is not a steady surge in revenue; instead, it’s a further drop in circulation. And advertisers aren’t going to like that. It contributes to a negative storyline.

Advertisers try other mediums for their messages for a lot of reasons. One is they perceive newspapers as on the decline. Anything that erodes circulation isn’t going to turn around this perception.

The longer-term solution is to reduce the cost of the newspaper across the board, with an eye toward making single-copy free as quickly as ABC will allow.

Reducing the cost of newspapers will inevitably slow the loss of circulation or increase it temporarily, and that always makes the newspaper more effective in the eyes of advertisers.

After Sam Zell bought the Tribune Co., the AP wrote a story about how very unlikely it was that anymore newspaper companies would change hands. Now with the sale of Dow Jones to tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the AP is back with another story. And this time, they mean it.

First, let’s remember what their lead said just five months ago:

In just over a year, unhappy shareholders have pressured two of the nation's largest newspaper companies into selling themselves. Who might be next? The short answer may be: Not anyone – yet.

I love the “yet.” It’s like a cautious editor tacked that on to be safe. The rest of the article boasts that tight-knit families with super (voting) powers control the remaining newspaper companies. Those families, we’re told, would never sell out for a buck. This hopeful quote ended the story:

“Nobody knows where the bottom is,” says Philip Meyer, journalism professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “If you're a family member in that situation ... it makes it a hard thing to sell, unless you find a buyer who is motivated by something other than financial returns.”

Other than financial returns? Like what? A newspaper collector? The AP clearly thought its hero families were impenetrable by the corporate evil-doers.

With its latest story, the AP concedes there were some weakling families out there:

When Rupert Murdoch prevailed this week in his struggle to buy Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, it proved two important points.

One, family control isn't an absolute guarantee against preventing a sale; and two, it may be too early to conclude that a wave of dealmaking that has reshaped the U.S. newspaper industry over the past year is over.

Still, the next graph sounds like the AP isn’t giving up hope. After all, only the tough family owners who really, really care are left to fight.

Other prominent newspaper companies such as The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co. have a far greater degree of family control than Dow Jones did, as does California-based McClatchy Co., owner of The Miami Herald and the third-largest publisher in the country by circulation.

If only the world were so simple.

Wired reported last week that the supermarket tabloid, Weekly World News, is ending its print version and going online-only. But the Washington Post just called the publication "dead" and made no mention of its life on the Web.

Someone's wrong. If it's the Post, I'm concerned about any viewpoint that describes online-only in the following way:

Now, with circulation plunging below 90,000, American Media, which owns WWN, has pulled the plug. The Aug. 27 issue will be the last. After that, the Weekly World News will be as dead as Elvis, maybe deader.

Maybe deader? Does Elvis have a Web site I don't know about?

Whenever one of these budget-related changes happens at the Herald-Tribune, where I work, I post it here in an effort at full disclosure. After all, I write a lot about how newspapers are handling declining revenues.

The latest development is the Herald-Tribune will cut several staffers (they won't say how many) as they stop printing a daily features section and consolidate several bureaus into a single one.

Read the Herald-Tribune story about the changes

As always, comments are closed on posts of this nature about my workplace.

When I first heard about Google buying rights to all Associated Press content, I thought for sure that meant Google would stop linking to all those AP stories on newspaper Web sites. After all, then they can keep millions of page views.

One year later, Google has done nothing with the AP content it purchased.

That begs the questions:
- Was Google paying off the AP so it wouldn't sue for copyright violations?
- Was Google sincerely planning to use the AP content to replace links?
- Does Google have something new up its sleeve?

Maybe the answer to one of those is yes. Or, all of the above.

Part of the reason Google paid the AP was likely fear of lawsuits. Given that Google paid large sums to pacify other media outlets, the AP posed a danger to Google if it sued and settled, or worse -- won.

I'm guessing Google did plan on using the AP content to replace outbound links. That would quickly match their rival, Yahoo, in page views. But they couldn't do it politically. Not yet. The moment Google News blatantly starts making money, they risk shocking the news business (which it feeds off of) into realizing Google News is an enemy, not an ally.

So since Google is Google, they're probably experimenting with uses for the AP content in some "lab." Nothing might ever become of the work. But they don't really care if it does.

One day, after the news business has completely capitulated to the idea that its content can be aggregated in any form or quantity, Google will start replacing outbound links with their own content and then taking the full share of AdSense revenue. At that point, newspapers will have eroded their copyright so greatly they won't have a legal leg to stand on.

One of the arguments I hear frequently against my “zoning by interest” plan is that distributing numerous versions of the newspaper would be a logistical nightmare. Well, apparently not for the Chicago Tribune.

In a deal announced this week, the Chicago Sun-Times outsourced home delivery to the Tribune Co. This includes delivery of 10 Sun-Times suburban papers.

In addition to delivering the many parts of their own newspaper, Chicago Tribune carriers already distribute The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Financial Times and Investor's Business Daily.

All tolled, the deal means carriers are responsible for 16 different papers. That’s undeniable proof that zoning by interest is possible.

Zoning by interest lets newspaper companies reduce the expense of printing by delivering readers only those sections they want. So if I don’t read the Sports section, then don’t pay to print it for me.

Amid all these budget cuts, I’m hoping a newspaper company will realize the immense amount of savings (in the millions of dollars) promised by zoning by interest. And they’ll realize that if the Chicago Tribune can deliver 16 different newspapers, then maybe they can do more, too.

Back in April, I made what should be a low-hanging-fruit type of prediction. Here's exactly what I said: "I envision a time when struggling newspapers cut budgets and reporters, who then unite to start their own rival Web sites."

Later I actually called that a best practice for starting an independent Web site to compete against the newspaper. Well, here's another example of what I predicted actually happening.

Next Monday appears to be the date for former Star Tribune editor and publisher Joel Kramer to reveal his plans for the launch of a professionally edited and reported online newspaper . . . Kramer did confirm what has been known. Namely, that he has hired former Star Tribune deputy managing editor Roger Buoen. He also confirmed he has hired long-time St. Paul Pioneer Press editor Don Effenberger . . .

Kramer's desire to launch a serious news site has been the topic of considerable discussion among the cities' journalists in recent months, many of whom are currently seeking new opportunities, after several rounds of buyouts at both daily papers. Moreover, the frustration with what some regard as the self-limiting ethos of daily newspapers has people hoping Kramer is open to the freer tone and technological possibilities -- podcasts, video, etc. -- of an online news service . . .

By all indications, Kramer will not be offering mortgage-paying wages, at least at the start. But the impression I get is that many current and former newspaper writers regard daily online journalism as an inevitability and like the idea of being part of a pioneering concept enough that they'll work very cheap ... for a while.

You know I can never pass up even the slightest I-told-you-so.

Business and features sections are to newspapers what art and gym classes are to public schools -- the first to go when the budget gets tight. The latest in a long list of examples is the Winston-Salem Journal, which cut its daily business section and decided to paste it into two pages of the local B section.

To the horror of many of you, I have to ask an honest question: Why is there a business section left in any local newspaper? After cutting the stock listings because folks get them online, about two pages of actual news are left. Doesn't it make sense to print local business news in the metro section with all the other local news?

Bottomline is that without stock listings, I fail to see a reason for a standalone business section. Perhaps the only viable argument is one based on usability. If there's no standalone section, then it becomes difficult for two people to share the same newspaper.

Still, don't expect many complaints. On the list of things you could cut from the paper, stock listings is likely to get the fewest angry phone calls. Plus, cutting the stock listings now could save enough money in printing costs to save a few reporters' jobs later.

Which would you rather lose?

Investors shouldn’t let a good opportunity pass by again. If I were to buy the Albuquerque Tribune, which Romenesko points out was put up for sale by Scripps, here’s a list of things I would do to reinvent the newspaper.

First, some ground rules: It’s an afternoon newspaper that prints Monday through Saturday. It’s saddled with a joint-operating agreement that is set to expire. That means the Tribune will have no way to be delivered or printed. And paid circulation has dwindled to just 11,000 copies, which is fewer than my college newspaper printed. Onto the solutions . . .

Drop the afternoon idea Afternoon newspapers are so pre-Internet. Drop that stigma.

Create an ad staff
The newsroom has 45 editorial employees. With the loss of the JOA, it has zero sales people. Obviously, many newsroom folks will need to be converted to ad sales and other business-side positions.

Freebie
Advertisers would rather be seen than sent to only 11,000 subscribers.

Pay for printing
Even my college paper could find someone to print it.

Total market saturation
Without newspaper carriers, take to the mail boxes. All of them. When the product reaches every household in the market, it’s a lot easier to drum up advertising.

Go weekly in print, daily online
The printed product would emphasize a more magazine-like approach to coverage, while the online version would handle breaking news. Printing only weekly cuts down on costs but still provides a significant marketing boost to the Web site.

Tabloid format
Having never seen the paper, I can’t be sure it isn’t a tab. But it should be. Tabloids feel more like a magazine and are easier to mail.

Free classifieds
Mailing free classifieds to the entire market will really throw an elbow at the daily competitor, the Albuquerque Journal. Classifieds are legitimate content and a sure-fire way to attract people to your product in print and online.

User-submitted articles
Throw user-generated content into the mix of regular content to supplement the amount of stories (which will decline with the cut in news staff) and make the product more local.

The Albuquerque Tribune is a good brand that’s lasted in the market for more than 80 years. Brands are worth money; it’s the business models that come and go.

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