It's an oldie, by today's standards, but still a goodie. In April, the East Bay Express - a freesheet out of Oakland, California released 'Saving Newspapers - The Musical', an underappreciated YouTube gem.
Handing out such pearls of wisdom as 'invest in internet porn' and, simply, 'boobs', the video is surprisingly poignant, and I'm hoping the editors at The Observer take notice - dumb it down, and throw in some off-the-cuff nudity - ipso facto, newspaper saved.
Yet, I'm happy to report that the East Bay Express is still up and running, despite not taking their own advice.
The Musical was accompanied with a humorous and on-point editorial, written by Stephen Buel, East Bay Express' editor, giving further examples of how newspapers can make money in this day and age, including:
- Partnering with medicinal marijuana retailers to create branded 'buds'
- A paid circulation model, which charges Republicans to have the East Bay Express NOT deliver the newspaper to their front stoop
- Renting out the freestanding newsracks as homeless storage lockers
- User-generated copyediting, and a Wikipedia fact-checking partnership
Well, for the time being, I don't live anywhere near Oakland, but if I did, I would probably be a regular East Bay Express reader, talented reporters who don't take themselves too seriously, it's the best of both worlds and the only way ahead, I'm afraid. The era of serious journalism is dead, well not dead, but I'm just going to read it online for free, long live the Onion.
It's just a damn shame that these are the kinds of publications shutting down every other week, but none the matter, sit back and enjoy the video, and imagine your newsroom being this much fun.
Dan Leahul
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Member since: 10 Sep 2008
Last login: 30 Sep 2009
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