Colin Woodward interviewed MaineToday Media publisher Richard Connor in Downeast Magazine. Just to be clear, I worked for the papers under Connor and two other ownership groups before leaving this year.
Connor said something very interesting that I’m going to totally agree with:
“I can’t be anything other than candid with you: Scoops don’t matter to me,” he says, seated in the paper’s new digs at Portland’s One City Center. “The day of the scoop is long gone in my opinion because of the Internet, all-the-news-all-the-time, real 24/7 breaking news. If we spent all our time worrying about what the Forecaster or the Bangor Daily News does, that’s going to take us off our game.” Breaking stories, he says, is “passé” and a poor barometer of “the quality of our journalism.”
Here’s what happens now.
News happens. Media outlets scramble to get something on the Web site. It’s not complete. It may be wrong. But that really doesn’t matter as much because they will rewrite when they get better, more complete information.
So it’s more important to own the story. Yes a competitor may have the first 140-character publication of the news. But readers will keep going back to the publication that has more complete information.
Allow the others to be first and own the story as it develops. Dig up new angles, answer the questions that arise from earlier reporting and keep looking ahead.
It’s a gutsy strategy because getting beat makes you looking like you’re clueless. And it’s easy to criticize the publication that doesn’t get the scoop.
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When I read this in Down East I was a bit surprised by Connor's admission — you never expect a newspaper man to say that. But it makes total sense. I totally agree and wonder if other papers have adopted the same attitude…
Your argument only holds if the paper later takes the time to “own” the story. Can you name a story Connor's Press Herald has truly owned? Me neither.
Funny, I didn't write this entry to defend the PPH's record. It surprised me that Connor said something that I've believed for a long time.
It still holds up even if a MTM paper doesn't own a story. Owning a story should still be the goal for any media operation. Whether they succeed is what another blog likes to argue.
Thank you for weighing in Colin.
Your argument only holds if the paper later takes the time to “own” the story. Can you name a story Connor's Press Herald has truly owned? Me neither.
Funny, I didn't write this entry to defend the PPH's record. It surprised me that Connor said something that I've believed for a long time.
It still holds up even if a MTM paper doesn't own a story. Owning a story should still be the goal for any media operation. Whether they succeed is what another blog likes to argue.
Thank you for weighing in Colin.