Keene Sentinel

[Kat Kanning]

Wow, the Sentinel website used to be "nearly useless".  Now it's "totally useless".  I used to go there sometimes to look at their classifieds, but they've changed their ads so that it's all one big pdf.  You can't just look at a certain section.  You can't search them.  You can't copy an ad.  God they're clueless.

Was trying to look up software jobs for the guy from bellingham who posted...gave up.

[J’raxis 270145]

Probably cost-cutting.

It's much easier to just throw up the PDF—probably just a scaled-down version of the document they actually publish onto paper—than create HTML content in parallel with their print media.

[FTL_Ian]

Tough business.  Maybe some liberty minded entrepreneur will buy the place out from under them for pennies on the dollar as they fail like the newspaper industry is failing.   

[Puke]

Tough business.  Maybe some liberty minded entrepreneur will buy the place out from under them for pennies on the dollar as they fail like the newspaper industry is failing.   

And then do what? Start another paper doomed to fail? 

[FTL_Ian]

Tough business.  Maybe some liberty minded entrepreneur will buy the place out from under them for pennies on the dollar as they fail like the newspaper industry is failing.   

And then do what? Start another paper doomed to fail? 

The old model is failing, but that doesn't mean there isn't some model that can work.

[John Edward Mercier]

True. But why buy the failing business, rather than just invest in the new model?

[Puke]

True. But why buy the failing business, rather than just invest in the new model?

Purchase the building and equipment, that would make sense.

[David]

Ian is right.  Russell attempted with initially a free weekly, the ONLY form of print media that is really making money, that I know of.  Unfortunately, it was too radical for most advertisers, and the target market for a radical paper has not been able to fill the void.  Such a paper may work in a larger market, that would by nature have more radicals in it, but as good as keene is, it is still a relatively small market.   
In theory, Manchester may be able to support a radical paper.  Although the competition is stiff, it has a free weekly and daily.  The daily competes with the union leader. 
I like how Kat and Russell did their paper.  They write the content, and try to talk others into doing some as well.  They contract the actual printing out. They also had an initial focus on internet news over print, again because that is the direction of news and it is lower cost.  Smart because it is low cost and low risk.  And being an off beat paper, they have very little organization structure or substantial assets.  Of course the courts believe otherwise.     All of this reduces the business startup and risk. 
I think keene could benifit from a 'poor focused' paper.  I agree with the saying, maybe from Gandi, 'that to be poor in a gov't controlled society is not a thing of shame, but a thing of pride'.  The poor may be pandered to during elections, but every other time they are the victims of drug laws, emenent domain, any police actions hurt them disproportionately because it takes money to play the gov'ts games, and they don't have it.  As this area has a progressive streak to it, this area may be open to something with a broader focus. 
I have considered doing some of this, but don't believe I have the focus or disipline to consistantly put out material.