If you’re looking for an interesting read, definitely check out Jim Carty’s post last week. One of Carty’s themes is the state of the newspaper industry and in this post he questions the ability of the Ann Arbor News to react to rumored strategy shift (per the scuttlebutt, they’ll communicate a cut back in home delivery on Monday). As exhibit III of the reasons why he questions the ability of the News management to adjust, JC presents a seven failed projects spearheaded by the paper’s brass. Here’s #7:
Book project 2: Management wants to do a “game-day” book on Rich Rodriguez’ first game at Michigan. Everyone in the sports department agrees it’s a horrible idea, because Utah could very well beat Michigan in that opener. Management doesn’t care. Utah beats Michigan in the opener. Management decides to make the “game-day” book about the first two games instead! The reporters and photo staff bust their asses to do all the content required for the book. Management runs ads advertising the book. No one will buy it, so management calls the book off. All that work for nothing. Not even a thank you to the staff involved.
Umm, can I see a copy of that? I’ve got an uneven couch in the basement.
The strong post attracted some equally strong comments, some from current Ann Arbor News staffers and it gets a bit passionate.
