Anil Dash wonders whether triCityNews is in fact a newspaper at all.
Not once in David Carr’s piece did the publisher of the triCityNews, Dan Jacobson, mention content, journalism, journalistic mission or serving readers. Instead, he talks about how “I don’t want anything that detracts from the paper and the presence of those big, beautiful full-page ads” and “business sense” and “running lean” and keeping advertisers happy.
All that’s great, but you would think that someone who started a “newspaper” startup less than 10 years ago, would talk about his love of journalism or how his newspaper is serving the community better. You know, the reasons that all of us got into journalism. Maybe this is Carr’s fault for not choosing one quote that relates to journalism, but Dash concludes:
That’s not to say Jacobson doesn’t value journalism. It’s just that it’s absolutely clear that his priority is his advertisers. Thus, I submit that the triCityNews, while certainly a paper, is likely not a newspaper.
Making a profitable penny saver is a lot easier than making a real, profitable news operation that serves its community. It sounds like the triCityNews exists to be a pleasant place for local advertisers. It has lots of ad space that is surrounded by soft, friendly content.
Even Carr admits that the triCityNews is ”boosterish.” Maybe it even has some friendly content thrown in about frequent advertisers.
Good for the triCityNews for serving the advertisers of Ashbury Park. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just business.
But shame on Carr for not proving that the triCityNews serves its community well. Most people in a community aren’t advertisers, and they are served by quality editorial content. Maybe the triCityNews is a fantastic editorial product, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
It can’t be that hard to be profitable weekly with 3.5 full-time employees — of which at least 1.5 have nothing to do with editorial and another being a publisher with no journalism background or apparent love of journalism. It looks like the editorial content is mostly produced by some part-time columnists and the executive editor.
For a real eye opener, Dash puts all of Jacobson’s quotes together. Then judge for yourself whether Carr has founded an oasis in the newspaper industry or just a paper with a lots of ads.