[Southsider2k12]

I take it that means the move to not update the internet until 5pm didn't stop their daily bleed?

Its too bad really. Of all of the moves to you want to make to keep relevant, the management up there has been on the opposite side. Think about it... They have gotten rid of pretty much all of their reporters, including the ones who had been here forever and knew the scene better than anyone else. So now instead of having the niche of outstanding local coverage, you have less and less that distinguishes you from the larger papers in the area. This has meant more than anything a complete failure at anything resembling investigative reporting, because the few people they have left working at the News Dispatch have to spend all of their time chasing around the stories that happen on a daily basis. Think of all of the big stories this year that could have have amazing information come out of them. Think of the Ron Meer situation, the PINES investigations, the Parks Department info, the school budget problems... That could all be front page news with some time and effort. No one has the time for it, so it fades into the background. Think how many copies that could have been sold off of a true investigation into the MCSD. Instead it has been months, and no update on the story.

The Paxton Group has totally blown anything to do with the electronic age. Their reporters have no blogs, twitter feeds, and the paper doesn't even have a facebook page. They aren't allowed to participate in local radio to build their audience. From a news perspective, the News Dispatch is routinely the last place you read about stories that happen locally. There is no such thing as "breaking news" up there. The other thing that this has done is totally alienate anyone under 40 from being a reader of the News Dispatch's product. Yes, the money is made in selling a physical newspaper, but that isn't the reality of today. The reality of today is news on demand. Clicks on a website, instant feedback to stories, following reporters feeds live, these are the ways that you stay relevant to my generation. This is the only way that you are going to capture the attention of this generation to make any money at all off of them. If you are trying to force people to buy the daily paper, it isn't going to happen. All you are doing is pushing people to your competitors. All you have to do is listen to the people who already have the perception that other papers cover the local scene better. That isn't true. What the other papers do is cover the local scene quicker, which creates the perception that the ND isn't covering things. That is where the "Yesterday's news tomorrow" comes in. In this day an age, you can't be a day or two behind, because then the assumption is that you aren't there at all. The News Dispatch is becoming irrelevant by the fear of using the internet to their advantage. Its a damned shame too, because the people working up there for the most part I know would put it to use.

Finally it is an economic truism, that the more you charge people, the less of your product they will buy. Now the Paxton Group is looking to hit their few remaining subscribers too? That is just dumb. They need to figure out a way to make the price competitive if you want to have a chance at attracting people back to the paper. I know I am not going to going to pay more for the News Dispatch, versus the Chicago Tribune delivered to my house.

The decision-makers at the News Dispatch just need to be fired. They are going to get our newspaper shutdown. That is the worst part of all of this.

[Tim]

So the price is going up right along with the boost in quality.

(cough)

You're right, though - MC need the News Dispatch. It's a shame the powers that be are steering right for the iceberg.

[MichiganCityDDS]

here is a newspaper that does web stuff right: http://www.dawn.com/

[NDReporter]

Just to put my two cents in:

Subscriber rates hadn't gone up in years, even when we changed the price of the daily paper to 75 cents. Taking into account the ever-changing price of gas and costs of delivery etc., raising subscriber rates only a $1 a month across the board isn't that big of a change. Plus, we run specials regularly.

We do our best to cover what's happening in our community day-by-day, on issues that are important to everyone. Please contact me at aebaugh@thenewsdispatch.com if you have story ideas or just want to ask me a question!

[Ang]

Maybe someone should start a new paper. They could call it the LaPorte County Times and cover all of LP county. That would help to connect us all and let the people in the southern part of the county feel like they belong somewhere, instead of just hanging out in no-mans-land.

[MichiganCityDDS]

I forgot to mention an important difference between the N-D and Dawn. Dawn's online presence caters to a large, worldwide Desi community, and the N-D has Tim.

In any case, the News-Dispatch is the only source of any original reportage around here.

[Southsider2k12]

I forgot to mention an important difference between the N-D and Dawn. Dawn's online presence caters to a large, worldwide Desi community, and the N-D has Tim.

In any case, the News-Dispatch is the only source of any original reportage around here.

They aren't the only source, but they are the best source. Heck I have broken stories here. I know WEFM has their own news department. Neither are as good as the ND, but to say "only" is disrespectful IMO. My biggest problem is that the management up there is putting all of that reporting in danger by absolutely destroying their own credibility in the community.

[lighter]

Just to put my two cents in:

Subscriber rates hadn't gone up in years, even when we changed the price of the daily paper to 75 cents. Taking into account the ever-changing price of gas and costs of delivery etc., raising subscriber rates only a $1 a month across the board isn't that big of a change. Plus, we run specials regularly.

We do our best to cover what's happening in our community day-by-day, on issues that are important to everyone. Please contact me at aebaugh@thenewsdispatch.com if you have story ideas or just want to ask me a question!

Executives at the local papers want you to pay more for less.

Subscriber rates for all other newspapers in the area, aside from the Chicago Trib, are 50-75 cents. Papers have started to rebound from the recession and most didn't rise up rates during the recession.

not to say ndreporteris a part of the problem. she seems to care about the commmunity and news. she's just like a fire fighter given a pail of water by her cheif, who also demandds people pay for their fires to be put out befor the pail of water is used.

i guess it is potenntial possible others will follow suit, but my guess is executives at the loca papers think they can get away with this ------- even as the sbtrib, nwi.com and post-trib start adding more LaPorte County news more often.

I found a web sight with front pages from around u.s.a. Indianapolis Star: 75 cents. Journal-Courier out of Purdue/Lavaette, 75 cents. Evansville paper, 75 cents. Elkhart paper, 50 cents. FW paper, 75 cents. kokomo, 75 cents. I'm guessing elkhart is comparable in terms of size. i dunno.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp?page=4

[Tim]

Executives at the local papers want you to pay more for less.

Subscriber rates for all other newspapers in the area, aside from the Chicago Trib, are 50-75 cents. Papers have started to rebound from the recession and most didn't rise up rates during the recession.

not to say ndreporteris a part of the problem. she seems to care about the commmunity and news. she's just like a fire fighter given a pail of water by her cheif, who also demandds people pay for their fires to be put out befor the pail of water is used.

i guess it is potenntial possible others will follow suit, but my guess is executives at the loca papers think they can get away with this ------- even as the sbtrib, nwi.com and post-trib start adding more LaPorte County news more often.

I found a web sight with front pages from around u.s.a. Indianapolis Star: 75 cents. Journal-Courier out of Purdue/Lavaette, 75 cents. Evansville paper, 75 cents. Elkhart paper, 50 cents. FW paper, 75 cents. kokomo, 75 cents. I'm guessing elkhart is comparable in terms of size. i dunno.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp?page=4

Deb?

[MichiganCityDDS]

They aren't the only source, but they are the best source. Heck I have broken stories here. I know WEFM has their own news department. Neither are as good as the ND, but to say "only" is disrespectful IMO. My biggest problem is that the management up there is putting all of that reporting in danger by absolutely destroying their own credibility in the community.

Word.



And "only" was not the mot juste; your suggestion of "best" is correct. No disrespect intended. I, too, have broken a story or two. It's fun!

[Ang]

I forgot to mention an important difference between the N-D and Dawn. Dawn's online presence caters to a large, worldwide Desi community, and the N-D has Tim.

In any case, the News-Dispatch is the only source of any original reportage around here.

OMG

[MichiganCityDDS]

That was just a toss-out line, I know ppl around the US that check out the ND online.

A good online presence requires some income stream to support it. How can a newspaper monetize that presence when there is so much resistance to paying a subscription for that online material? If the site is big enough, like Dawn, then the ads will cover it. Until then, whaddya do?

[MichiganCityDDS]

That was just a toss-out line, I know ppl around the US that check out the ND online.

A good online presence requires some income stream to support it. How can a newspaper monetize that presence when there is so much resistance to paying a subscription for that online material? If the site is big enough, like Dawn, then the ads will cover it. Until then, whaddya do?

[Tim]

OMG

Please, Ang - don't laugh. It only encourages the child.

[Southsider2k12]

That was just a toss-out line, I know ppl around the US that check out the ND online.

A good online presence requires some income stream to support it. How can a newspaper monetize that presence when there is so much resistance to paying a subscription for that online material? If the site is big enough, like Dawn, then the ads will cover it. Until then, whaddya do?

The logic of your circle is backwards. You have to have a good website to support advertising, and not the other way around. If you put up a bad website, you don't get clicks, and you don't make money on advertising. That is akin to saying that maybe if I keep eating at a bad restaurant, they will get the money to have better food.

The ND could do sooooo much to increase their hit counts, it isn't even funny. They don't. Believe me, I have been running sites for nearly a decade now. I know how this works. There are very simple, non-cost ways of doing things to drive traffic. For example, it costs nothing to have the reporters have active twitter pages which feed links back to the mothership. It costs nothing to have a facebook page. It costs nothing to set up a registry system for feedback, which also takes care of the problems with people's comments on there. All that does is enhance your product, make you look omnipresent and current, and instill a belief in people that you really are relevant.

Again, I really believe the idea that the ND doesn't report as well as out of town newspapers is a false idea cause by the failure of Paxton to do what they should to highlight the work done by their own reporters here.

[mcstumper]

All I know is that for the past year or so, my newspaper had been getting tossed on the sidewalk about 50 feet from my front door. Adorned in a blue robe, blue slippers and the sexiest (if not the whitest) bird legs in Old Edgewood, I have been cursing every person associated with the N-D. Suddenly, the past three days it has been delivered right at my door. Either I just happened to get a new delivery person at the same time that rates were raised, or this has been a carefully crafted plot on the part of N-D senior management.

It worked...

[MichiganCityDDS]

Again, I really believe the idea that the ND doesn't report as well as out of town newspapers is a false idea cause by the failure of Paxton to do what they should to highlight the work done by their own reporters here.

Michigan City is full of stories filed under the heading 'What Might Be.' This is yet another.