Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Butterfly | In Louisiana, goal isn't to 'force content'

In a story yesterday, business monthly ABiz in Lafayette, La., offers fresh details about Gannett's Butterfly Project, an initiative that could add a multipage section of USA Today editorial to dozens of the biggest U.S. community newspapers seven days a week.

The project may be optional for some Gannett papers -- in Louisiana, that is, according to David Petty, who until yesterday was interim publisher of The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette and the Daily World in nearby Opelousas.

"It’s just a project, but the aim is to enrich the local content, not force content or whatever else — every paper has an option,” Petty told ABiz.

12 comments:

  1. Enrich local content. Right.

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  2. I have always been amazed that despite claiming that they value local content. Gannett's solution to all problems is to push more canned national news that a reader can get anywhere hours before it appears in print

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  3. I love Corporate's new catch phrase, "Every paper has an option" but they all do the same thing, like the layoffs. I would like to see a paper say guess what, we're not following the crowd and see what happens. They do have that "option".

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    1. Options don't look pretty when you have a gun pointed at your head.

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  4. Community editors reject USAT content at their own peril. Corporate does not like anyone to challenge their ideas. An ironic and sad aspect is that News VP Kate Marymont once was a community editor who might have dared to defy the order to become a drone. Now she's part of the gang handing down the order.

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  5. Some papers will be reconfiguring their space to accommodate this section. A result will be not only less (or no) wire copy in the real newspaper, but also less space for local news. Just watch as it unfolds.

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  6. How has corporate studied the production of these Butterfly sections? I can't believe they're going to add newshole, so I have to figure there will be pages with ads -- ads that magically will be the same sizes in all the markets and fit in all the press configurations.

    It reminds me of e, the GNS/Content One/Crystal tower tech section. It was supposed to the first of a series of themed sections. There never was another, to the best of my knowledge.

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    1. What a nightmare for the Appleton print plant, which already prints five papers a night, plus numerous special sections and more. The USA Today sections will have to print before the deadline for the first paper it's inserted in, which means early deadlines in some instances. Glad I'm outa there!

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    2. We're glad you're out of here too, because you obviously haven't been paying attention - APF prints six dailies every night now, something they couldn't handle while you were there.

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  7. Truism time.
    Your corporate leaders are only in it for themselves not the company, not journalism and certainly not you. If it’s between another bonus and maintaining your job, which you think they will choose? If you want to know the truth about what’s going on here; ignore what they say and pay attention to what they do.
    Plan an exit on your own terms. Don’t stop looking for another job or occupation, be networked. Keep your resume/portfolio current, your skill set relevant. Take stuff you wish to keep that’s on your work computer home tonight, don’t wait until tomorrow. And, of course, keep a couple of boxes under your desk ready for the inevitable.

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    1. Smart advice.

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    2. Thanks, it worked for me.

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