Amid all the talk of moving to a "new platform" for news delivery and journalism evolving to web only, we need to keep in mind a constituency that will not follow that migration.
Here's a letter received today from a reader in Cleveland MN.
"Please! Don't stop publishing your newspaper as others have. I have been retired for several years and when I get up in the morning, I grab a cup of coffee and my newspaper; settle down and enjoy! We don't all own computers, nor do we want to. Most of us have lost friends and spouses. Please! We don't want to lose you too. Keep on publishing!"
I know the immediate reaction from some would be "Your most loyal customers will be gone soon and those not in the newspaper habit will not be there to replace them."
I think the jury is still out on that premise, mostly because we all age and we all need portability. And, no, not "everyone" is migrating to just the web. My bet is on maintaining both online and print as the viable business model but with product differentiations -- not one copying the other and not one replacing the other.
Frankly, I am both encouraged and saddened by this letter. Encouraged because not many businesses have such a personal connection with their customers. Saddened because the actions of others are scaring people needlessly. Smaller newspapers are not going away and probably will come out this faring better because they will fill the voids left by scaled back metros in some areas.
Meanwhile, we need to keep readers like the one from Cleveland MN in mind as we "evolve."
We have a greater purpose than just putting out a product.
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