Jason Calacanis Cold to Local Newspapers as Business
The key quotes here from serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis about local newspapers are: “I wouldn’t want to be in that business…I’m not so tied to the idea that there has to be a local paper….Maybe a local blog is a better concept….Maybe a group of local bloggers having their work appear in one location is better. ”
Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo.com, a human powered search engine, and previously the co-founder of Weblogs, Inc. which sold for $30 million to AOL, talks about the future of local journalism. He thinks it is a tough business model
For more on the future of journalism, see:
1. Will Bunch Sees Different, Bright Journalism Future
2. Buck the Trend; Start a Newspaper Now
3. Want Science News? Start Your Own Publication
This is the first of six interviews on the future of journalism which I will be posting here; all made at the ConvergeSouth2007conference. Yesterday I mentioned the idea of Call Outs. Anyone have their own video interview on the subject they would like added to this conversation? Put it on YouTube or somewhere else, I’ll take a look and see if we can get it embedded here too. Tomorrow I will have an interview with Kirk Ross who is the editor the Carrboro Citizen of all things, a local start-up newspaper.
If I get really ambitious, I might try to turn all these raw interviews into an edited piece. It will be step up for me and part of the learning curve. It means finding time. Of course, this is where the crowd could really get involved. Sort of a group edit.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Not surprising to have Jason take this position – I buy in to it at some point but there’s some time before we reach the point that ink on paper news falls down.
(I’d have enjoyed this interview more without the background noise).
Thanks.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
[...] Witt, a friend and Distinguished Chair in Communication at Kennesaw State University, has posted an interview with Jason Calacanis. Calcanis founded Weblogs, Inc. (which he sold to AOL for $30 million) and is [...]
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:59 pm
David Pappas Says:
(I’d have enjoyed this interview more without the background noise).
Me Too.
Ever see the sound guys with those dorky earphones while making audio. That’s why; they hear those ambient sounds that without earphones you just miss. Sounds like a prison. The next sets of videos are all done outside. No slamming doors.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:20 am
[...] PJNet – Blog – Jason Calacanis Cold to Local Newspapers as Business Video interview: “Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo.com, a human powered search engine, and previously the co-founder of Weblogs, Inc. which sold for $30 million to AOL, talks about the future of local journalism. He thinks it is a tough business model” (tags: tidbits+fodder video interviews newspapers news+biz business local problems) [...]
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:06 pm
jason certainly expresses a growing collection of thought about the newspaper model. in essence, newspapers will realize they are ‘news organizations’ not just ‘papers’
in reference to the background noise, newspapers will need to train their employees on the basics of capturing audio and video. just ’shooting’ will not be enough.
easy to do, but mandatory.
thanks for the interview !!
October 24th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Try asking Jason what he would do with 5 local news stations. They seem to be thriving on the same old business model just fine. No one has the slightest desire to change what ain’t broke. Roadkill still rules in metro Atlanta.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Isn’t audio hard? The sounds in food courts just amplify so much. Lapel microphones would be nice to use in that situation, but it is a lot more equipment to carry around.
Suggestion: Could you post how long each video is? I was hesitant to watch this because I didn’t know how long it would take. I was hoping I could start it and click the time stamp to see time remaining, but that didn’t work.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Thanks Michael for the suggestion. Each video is about three minutes. I used a still camera with about four minutes of video time, and no capabilities for an extrenal microphone. Perhaps it is time to trade up.