While the Denver Post is sitting on a street corner shaking a tin cup and holding a sign begging for reader support, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel is responding to reader demands and therefore the market for more conservative content.
It’s an interesting tale of two newspapers — one facing layoffs due to declines in revenue and another responding rapidly to demands from their customers.
The Denver Post has taken a lot of hits so we’re not going to pile on, too much, this time.
We just want to say, we get it.
Watching coworkers get laid-off is painful. Post writers have lashed out against the company they work for, the conservative critics in the community, everyone who is not on their side and therefore not buying their product.
They’ve now adopted the PBS pledge drive tactic and are begging for supporters subscribers.
If a lack of subscriptions is the financial problem, then perhaps Post leaders should reevaluate whether they are providing the content readers will pay for.
Do we really need two sections devoted to Trump bashing? We suppose the marijuana industry is interesting, but can we see some other business news on the website front page, that isn’t always negative? Maybe a few more viewpoints to political and environmental news?
A glaring example of the fox covering the henhouse is employing an environmental reporter with environmental leanings to cover the oil and gas industry. That would be like hiring Democrats to cover Republicans. But we digress.
But we suspect the problem isn’t all editorial. It’s not just a lack of subscriptions that drive news economies, but advertising that also pays the bills.
Instead of relying on activist ads that pop up to support the liberal issue de jour, or the random festival and event announcements, perhaps they should pay more attention to the actual businesses in the state, the industries, and the mom and pop stores that sell products and have been the bedrock of the news industry for a century.
Because if those guys aren’t reading, they’re also not going to advertise.
