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Back in April, I visited GateHouse’s corporate headquarters in Fairport, NY and took a ride with Howard Owens and Ryan Sholin on a “secret mission” to Batavia, NY. They were scoping out office space for a website that GateHouse was about to launch, The Batavian.
Why was this a secret mission? Because GateHouse does not publish a print newspaper in Batavia, NY. And the family-owned incumbent newspaper, The Daily News, has no content on its website (the site is barely a brochure).
So the strategy is to launch an innovative news and community site that will eat the lunch of an incumbent newspaper that has ignored the web.
The Batavaian practices what Howard preaches — the site is anchored by a blog and has a full suite of community features (powered by Drupal), including blogs for registered users. The homepage features blog posts from community members.
Many of the posts have generated lively discussions in comments, such as this post by a reader about the local mall, which many residents would like to see torn down. The comments discussion features none other than the city council president.
The Bavatian set up an office on Main Street, and editor/lead blogger Philip Anselmo is in town everyday, connecting with the community
It is the same approach that should have worked in Joplin, when GateHouse Media started the Joplin Daily, a misguided mess if ever one existed. While the staff of that short-lived publication did some solid work, particularly Editor John Hacker and Kaylea Hutson, the upper management did not have a clue. The Daily never had a full-time advertising salesperson, never stressed the online component, which was what the whole idea was supposed to be about, and cut off any promotion for the Daily after its initial burst.
The Joplin Globe is still ripe for a competitor, but not one launched by GateHouse Media. Unfortunately, GateHouse's misstep with the Joplin Daily not only gave the Joplin Globe no reason to improve its product, but it also made it that much harder for anyone who knows what they are doing to take a shot at putting out an online information source that could challenge the Globe.
But what Howard Owens doesn't preach is REVENUE. Look at his so called pride and joy, no revenue associated with the site. From what I've heard it's losing several thousand dollars a month and still no revenue. Like all editorial folks, Howard Owens has no clue what actually pays for projects, whether they be print or online. Last time I checked the balance sheet, the last thing GateHouse Media needs to be doing is working on a new project that is a huge expense because Howard Owens thinks it's a good idea. I can't imagine Mike Reed keeping his job very long with that kind of economics.
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