How to Save Newspapers

You want to hear it? See it? And you want it now? Who says you have to hit the Web? Right there next to the newspaper story is a phone number to call for instant access to that concert clip, news conference quote, sexy celebrity photo, a joke, latest text-message forecast. Structure it like voice mail: […]

It’s a challenge and an exercise, posed by Good, a new magazine “for people who give a damn.”  You’ll find it in the March/April “Media Issue” on the back page. Couldn’t resist, of course. Since I give a damn, I gave it my best, putting together all sorts of my ideas on a single page. […]

You’re relaxing on the couch or in your easy chair, reading a story about … a politician ranting … a great new song … the world’s worst snorer. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to move to see or hear a clip? Just hear or see it on your cell. Maybe the story […]

You’’ll find many wild ideas here. Ideas to inject new life and energy into newspapers.
But here’s the most revolutionary, evolutionary idea of all.  
In one swell foop, it capitalizes on many points presented here: 

Job 1: Be less boring.
News is not the answer.
It’s time to empower the renegades on staff.
Dare to brainstorm the blank page.
Really find out what readers what.

In a single section, […]

The mission is to brainstorm ways to make papers as useful, newsy and entertaining as possible, with almost universal appeal. Impossible? Here’s an idea that for a single  feature that might manage to do all that.   
People mostly live in three worlds these days: Home. Work (or school). And car. So just think of all the high-interest subjects a dedicated Car Life Columnist might explore:
Traffic […]

Many readers crave more comic relief from the onslaughter (cq) of scary news. Humor columns and comics are traditional choices. Here’s another: Have a dedicated visual and lateral thinker whose mission is to concoct all sorts of amusing or fascinating short forms. Graphics. Lists. Charts. Quizzes. Photos. Mini-essays. For anywhere and everywhere in the paper, from business to sports to the front page. Could be […]

If on-the-fly sidebar creativity seems too scary, consider recurring boxes and briefs. Here are some possibilities that are amusing, useful or both:
How to Save 50 Bucks (At Least). Your daily reminder that “Hey, this paper is such a bargain!” Advice could be anything from bike maintenance to anger management to websites with free stuff.
Offbeat / Oddball News. Websites […]

Gossip columns are popular, and so are TV series. Doesn’t it seem sometimes that people are almost as interested in TV characters as they are in real people? Aha! Do a newspaper column called “Character References” that’s “gossip” about what happened last night on TV. Write it up in chatty mock-shock-schlocky style. Boldface the unreal […]

There’s sports talk. Opinionated political talk. Even shows all about money. But why not TV-movie-music-media-Web-celebrities-and-maybe-also-a-little sports-and-sex talk? Key to good talk radio is having two lively hosts who often disagree (a la WIP in Philly), and who can juggle several hot topics at once, to hook a wide audience. Keep the whiny politics out of […]