Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I'm lost as an easter egg...

...I have no fucking idea what is going on.

Hey look they're forming "alliances"

All I can say is that nature abhors a vacuum and my cheeks are flapping in the gust of wind coming from those rushing in to fill the journalism void created by the Newhouse cull.  Two entities new to New Orleans have entered the fray, The Advocate and a Leslie Jacobs/GNO, Inc. nonprofit - something or other.  Then we have an already existing entity, The Lens, creating some vaguely defined amalgam with other existing websites.  

A quick financial breakdown:

Advocate - for profit

Nola Beat - nonprofits

New Orleans Digital Media News Alliance - nonprofits mixed with for profits

I give up...I don't quite understand what any of them are doing.  All I know is we may now be the most well reported city in the United States.

The least confusing model to me is the Advocate, I kind of get that....they are going toe to toe with Newhouse in an attempt to suck their advertising dollars away but I'm not quite  sure what the strategy is.  I kind of understand Nola Beat because I understand the Texas Tribune model but I don't get where the "earned income" thingie comes in.  The one I understand the least is the "Alliance".  I don't get what exactly is being aligned by all the constituent players.  What exactly are they creating that didn't already exist in their respective roles?

The Advocate is going for Newhouse's throat...that should end up in a clear winner eventually.  I can't see there being enough advertising cash in the city to support two dead tree dailies or semi-dailies...whatever they call themselves now.

As for the non-profits, Nola Beat and The Lens are undoubtedly going after some of the same funding resources.  I can't see both entities being able to sustain their existence without one cannibalizing the other for donation dollars.  I don't understand how Nola Beat's mission statement differs from The Lens.  I think I would be a lot more excited about its existence if it was Louisiana Beat...which is exactly what the Texas Tribune's model is.  There is a much greater need for a statewide investigative reporting entity than there is for another New Orleans investigative journalism entity.  I guess it's probably easier to get funding for the entity if you're just focusing on New Orleans instead of the power industries and politics across the entire state.

I don't know...maybe I'm not smart enough to understand it all.  One thing I think I am smart enough to do is create an income stream that would fund any one of these entities but I doubt anyone would believe me so I'll keep that little secret in the tomb.

I think I'm going to call 2012 "The Crash Year":



"The ruins were wild, the ruins were wild....tonight will be an open mic."

Everybody come on up and sing...seems like everyone in the room thinks they have the winning tune.  That's a good thing.  At least we don't have a situation where no one wants to take the mic.  We will just have to sift out the karaoke singers from the originals.

Oh...is there an organizational difference between WWNO.org and WWNO FM?  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"All I know is we may now be the most well reported city in the United States. "

This is the best news I have heard in ages.

Anonymous said...

What about the Uptown Messenger? They are in the same sort of niche as The Lens. Not sure of their funding source.

And, don't forget The Levee! :)