Style Weekly
has the details of the long-rumored editorial shake-up at the Richmond Times-Dispatch: two deputy managing editors laid off, the shuttering of the South Boston bureau, the scrapping of Mark Holmberg’s column, and various reassignments of responsibility. In a nod to the increasing importance of digital media, reports Greg A Lohr, “the newspaper is emphasizing multimedia, creating a specialized ‘swat team’ of reporters and editors who will be responsible for exclusive Web content.”
I know both of the editors losing their jobs, and they have my sympathy . I hope they held out for good severance packages. One of them, Howard Owen, is a successful novelist — Rock of Ages is his latest of eight — so, I wouldn’t be surprised if he views his departure as an opportunity to pursue his true passion.
Given the mass layoffs that other newspapers have seen, the Times-Dispatch newsroom is getting off fairly easily. Here is the ineluctable reality: Readership nationally, and locally, is down, revenue growth has slowed to a crawl and costs continue to rise. Website readership is soaring, but newspapers have yet to develop a Web business model that’s as profitable as it is for print. Every newspaper in the country is being forced to make hard choices, and the T-D is no exception.
I will be particularly interested to see (a) how the T-D deploys its Web-content SWAT team, and (b) whether the T-D can generate meaningful revenues from that content.
The T-D faces some serious organizational issues in making its Web initiative a success. The T-D is part of the Media General media conglomerate, which has bequeathed authority over all websites to its Interactive Media Division (IMD). The T-D website has a lot of editorial autonomy, but, to the best of my knowledge, its business operations fall under IMD. There is an inherent tension. IMD is run by technocrats who don’t share the T-D newsroom’s journalistic ethos. Additionally, IMD managers will allocate resources in such a way as to maximize their own departmental profits (and personal bonuses), not those of the T-D. What does the T-D get out of building a bigger, stronger website? I’m not sure.
Unless Media General has figured out a way to resolve those inherent organizational tensions — usually perceived by the participants in terms of of personality clashes, with all the attendant emotional flare-ups — I question whether the T-D newsroom will have its heart in making the Web initiative a success. The ongoing saga may be an issue that Style Weekly should follow.