I don't think this model is going to last for much longer. I keep seeing newspapers get smaller in size and thinner--much thinner as advertisers ditch print for other modes of advertising. All except the largest of papers will be gone soon or become weeklies, etc.
See Slow the Presses! for the "online version" of a Governing Magazine column on the declining newspaper industry. The focus there is on accountability for government. Who will pick up the torch if there are no newspapers? In my thinking there will still be "newspapers" but not in print. They will exist only online with smaller staffs and less overhead costs. They can still be viable watchdogs if they are staffed appropriately with reporters. I guess that is the challenge.
What is the emergency manager to do. We always counted on newspapers to cover our events and to help in getting the word out. Perhaps not so much during the response, but certainly in the disaster recovery phase. We thought we scored a victory if we got a special supplement or full page ad in the paper on disaster preparedness, especially on a Sunday edition.
In reality we must also do the shift. The good news is that we can become our own news source with our websites and social media efforts. People will go to where there is news and information, we just need to become the direct providers of that information. Instead of writing news releases we should be writing our own stories that inform and entertain. It is a shift in thinking--I know.
We also have a new group of people to establish relationships with (see the first commandment). That being bloggers in our community. There are plenty of people providing information in cities and counties. Seattle is a great example of neighborhoods that have blogs on information that is relevant to the people who live there. Find out who they are, connect with them. Tell them about what information you have to share and the role that they can play. I'll bet that most of them would welcome the opportunity to contribute to their community on topics that are meaningful.
I once thought it would be great to sit out on my patio on a summer morning reading the newspaper after I'm retired and not heading off to work. That day will now never come. Instead I have the dream of sitting out on the patio, eating my cheerios and reading the news of the day on my iPad or whatever other device it is at the time. The vision is the same, the mechanics are just different.
