Associated Press: Content Pit Bull
April 7, 2009
As an addled goose, I survived a couple of tough jobs in publishing. I worked at the Courier Journal & Louisville Times Co. when Barry Bingham Jr. was the boss. He made quite an impression on me. When he interviewed me, I asked him what he wanted from his senior mangers. He answered with one word, “Quality.” When I asked for clarification, to the best of my recollection he said:
We have a number of businesses. Some make money. Some make less money. The one thing each has in common is that the people running these businesses know that quality comes first. The money follows.
Bill Ziff–the genius behind three publishing empires (yachts, automobiles, computers)–expected his senior managers to make decisions and produce products that customers wanted. The quality was judged by the customer. As different as these two publishing titans were, the focus was on quality, not money.
Newspapers are in a bind. The Courier Journal, prior to its purchase by Gannett in June 1986, was one of the leaders in electronic information. That was 23 years ago. How did Barry Bingham Jr. know to push into electronic information? He never told me. He just wanted to use technology in the way his father had pioneered in television. Why did Bill Ziff support electronic database companies (Information Access) and online services (ZD on CompuServe). His team listened to customers.
Now we come to the Associated Press in this Yahoo News item: “AP To Sue Web Sites That Use Content Improperly” here. I don’t need to quote from this story. You can read it and make your own decision whether litigation is the best path to generating revenue. Customers don’t play much part in a lawsuit.
As traditional media companies slash jobs, more people capable of producing content will be cut loose. At some point, the quality and quantity of solid reporting and analysis will become sufficiently large to cause a collapse in some traditional media companies. The AP, in my opinion, may be affected by this event.
I don’t think the present problems in publishing can be resolved by lawyers. I think that taking a look at the methods of the Barry Binghams and the Bill Ziffs might provide some useful ideas for making money without the hassle and costs of litigation.
Stephen Arnold, April 7, 2009
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