A paper that might have a future

So it’s generally agreed that newspapers will not survive.

Not enough people want print and they won’t pay for online news.  So it’s all over.

Well it seems unlikely that these huge brands will absolutely disappear but certainly they are going to be unrecognisable compared to the inky behemoths they once were.

But you know what?  I still think you could start a newspaper tomorrow that would thrive.  In print, possibly – but certainly on line. You just have to get it right.

I’ve spent my adult life reading papers that (to paraphrase Morrissey) say “nothing at all about my life” and still I’ve read them.  I’ve sworn at them, been irritated by them, chucked them across the room but they’ve still taken my cash.  Imagine how much I might have invested in them if I really liked them?  If I really thought they cared about me and actually reflected what I wanted to read?

So let’s start with content –if it’s newspapers that have killed newspapers, what will sell?

In terms of a British paper – let’s get radical but saleable radical.  Most people don’t live in the capital but all current newspapers do.  So let’s change that.  Let’s be centrally based. Most “national” newspapers have a “northern correspondent” covering everything above Birmingham.  It’s almost too incredible to consider.  But they do.

Can anyone even start to justify that?

I’m not saying as much happens in Newcastle as happens in London – but let’s be proportionate.

And let’s tell our staff to remember who they are writing for.  It’s a widely held belief that the Guardian is read by teachers and social workers – and yet it’s written by North London luvvies. Can we hear less about you and your organic-veg and bistro lifestyle and more about the people you are writing about?

If they aren’t all based in London they must start to realise that it’s not all a wilderness up there.  We don’t all eat Turkey Twizzlers and have tattoos.

So while we’re at it – what else is out?  Let’s do for reality TV – people can see that everywhere.  So let’s not bother.  Royal Family?  Let’s keep it to a minimum.

Let’s have no big fat proprietors who don’t pay tax but point the finger at dole scroungers.  In fact, let’s do away with as much negativity as we can.  Let’s not make the poorest, least able members of our society to defend themselves, our scapegoats.

It’s bullying and it reads like bullying.  Let’s face it – being the nasty party didn’t do the Tories any good.  People don’t like it.

Arts – now that’s good.  It’s not that we don’t like celebrity news but how about we try to make it a little more stimulating.  Give me film news and music reviews.  Lots of it.  Let’s have trailers and free downloads on the website.

Let’s have theatre – but not just…you guessed it…London theatre.  Let us cover ballet and opera too but let’s be realistic about the numbers of people who actually watch this.  Let’s go for the intelligent end of mass market.

Let us be bright, fashionable, funny and modern – but let’s not have that mean trivial.  Let us have gravitas without being smug or self important.

So politically where will it lie?  Let’s make it central.  But wait, here’s the twist – let’s make it pre Thatcher central.  Mandelson and New Labour might all be “Thathcherties now” but that doesn’t mean we all are.  Let’s not be party political.

Can we be green without being Guardian green?  In other words let’s not make Green entirely a consumer issue or a reason to be snobbish about how our carrots are grown.

And let’s stand up for what is right.  Really right.  Not a matter of opinion.  Not bringing balance to an unbalanced subject.  We don’t have to be the BBC. We don’t have to please both sides when one side is wrong – unequivocally wrong. Yes, I am thinking Iraq war here.

So let’s campaign for what is right.  Let us give us a voice to those who don’t normally get print space.  And when we campaign let’s not just see our readers as petition-fodder, let’s involve their ideas.  Let them spread the word and let them contribute and shape our arguments.

Let us be politically correct and proud of it.  But let’s not use our political correctness as a reason for sneering at others.

Snobbishness is out.  Always out.  Not tolerated.

No laughing at “chavs” here.

Let us re-examine the whole concept of what makes a story.  Dog bites man?  Okay but before we worry about the angle and intro let us first look at whether we might potentially misrepresent or fail to keep the story in proportion.

Is our story mean spirited?  Is it in the public interest?

The world is getting smaller – let’s reflect that from a media point of view but that doesn’t just mean slavishly reporting only what happens in America.  HBO and Obama are cool but that doesn’t mean we have to have a USA love-in.  It’s all got a little bit embarrassing recently.

While we at it let’s not demean international visits by describing in depth what the first ladies are wearing.  Please.  No more. It demeans them.  It demeans the readers.  It demeans the writers.  This isn’t the sixties – they aren’t Jackie.  Can we move on?

Let us be British.  But genuinely British (not just English, not just London) and let us be aware of where we are coming from, our history, our culture but we should also be the first to criticise ourselves when necessary.

Let us love our readers.  Let our readers be right.  Let us use their information, their thoughts, their correspondence and shape our ideas with it.  No one bitches about them not in print, not in comment boxes, not in meetings, not in the newsroom.

So how does it work?

Okay, there’s no turning the clock back – we’re not talking a massive number of employees – but we are talking a huge number of writers from everywhere.

So let’s start with those staffers.  Obviously they are going to have to have blog, social media, and in particular RSS skills.  They are going to need to know how to trawl and trawl well for news.

They’ll need to know what is trending on Twitter.  When it kicks off in Bangkok they are going to have to have a few bloggers lined up to give on-the-ground reports.  They will need judgement to decide what is real.

Let us cherish the bloggers we turn to for content.  Let us credit them – let us reward them as we can afford and as they deserve.  Many may work for hits – but big stories should equal real pay.  Others may well work for opportunities – let the bloggers of today be our staffers of tomorrow.

We will have a duty not just to find the best information but also to communicate with its providers.  Community is all with these papers.  Nothing goes in without a comment box – writers are expected to take part in the debate.  They are there to read and learn too – not just to justify.

Where we save on staffers we spend on investigative reporters.  We’re talking long-wins here.  Hacks we can let off the leash so that they come back with genuinely exclusive and fresh material.  This is 2009 so they can film it too.  We want more than just words – we want movies, and podcasts too.

While they are investigating let’s have them tweeting.  Let’s build anticipation for what they can find.  Let them ask followers for assistance. Let followers have a stake in their output.

Let’s be brave enough to take on the big guys.  Let’s not worry about that they could sue us – let’s worry about getting our fact absolutely right so they don’t.

But let’s get them right.  Every time.  Let us not print what we can “get away with” – let us print only what is right.

The business model ?  Let’s be switched on. Let us not miss a trick. If we review CDs then let us also sell them.  Books too.  Let us sell everything that fits our readers – from holidays to clothing.  But remember – editorial comes first – no thinly veiled advertising features.

And those investigate reporters – let’s squeeze books out them.  Cinema-release documentaries too.  Let’s build our brand and have it stand for something. Let us do what is right.

Low staff means costs are low.  As a “public interest” newspapers can we attract wider funding?  Can we do that without being beholden to them?

Maybe.

And reflecting my belief that its “newspapers that have killed newspapers” I understand I offer no real new business model here.  Except maybe a business model of excellence and a loss of arrogance.

I think it can work.

Update:

I was honoured to see a link to this piece from One Man & His Blog and really enjoyed the accompanying movie featuring Alan Rusbridger of the Guardian.  I was surprised that his arguments weren’t at odds with my own.  It’s an interesting watch – as OM&HB says the good stuff is about 1.53 in.