Our local newspaper, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is about to put up a pay wall for its content. This is a trend in the newspaper business as they try to figure out ways to make money in the internet age. 

I don’t have any problem with a company making money – lots of it if possible, but I’m not sure how the D&C pulls this off. Since their announcement many people have posted comments online that they will not pay for the D&C’s content, with many people saying they can get it elsewhere. I’d agree with that, and I think therein lies the problem for the D&C.

There’s nothing interesting or unique about the D&C’s content. My favorite sports writer (Bob Matthews) writes a column there, but I can listen to his nightly talk show and get the same content and more. In addition, the quality of writing has taken a big hit at the D&C. It’s rare for a week to go by that I don’t see an article with a typo or a grammatical error in an article. I don’t know if they don’t edit what they write or if they rely on spell checkers or what, but it drives me nuts to see and article with a simple error than an 8th grader should be able to spot. I understand people are human, but in this case the frequency of errors leads me to believe people don’t care that much. So you want me to pay for articles that are “phoned” in?  Not likely.

I think the D&C could make a pay wall work if they offered content that people couldn’t find elsewhere. Unique and interesting stories about the heart of the community and its issues. They would also have to do more than articles in the form of Twitter and Facebook content that is also unique. 

The guy running the D&C was on the news the other day talking about how people can’t wait to pay for his content. I’m guessing he didn’t read the comments at the end of the article which all said there was no way they would pay for his content under any circumstances. He said they’d have an ipad and android app – great.  So what?

I feel bad for the newspapers, they are lost in the digital world. Much like Kodak, they don’t get the idea that they have to give customers what they want, not what what they feel like giving them. I hope the D&C succeeds, but unless they can offer something compelling I can’t see any reason why people would pay for their content when there are so many other choices. 

Perhaps the folks who run the D&C should spend a little time on the internet following local news people (and local people in general) on Twitter, Facebook, and on blogs. I think they might learn alot about their customers and what they really want.

Ultimately I think the biggest failure of the newspapers is that they can’t open their minds enough to realize that their customers will tell them what they want, but to do that they need to build relationships, ask questions, and then listen. 

If the D&C disappeared from the internet tomorrow would anyone miss them?  That’s the question that should be keeping the folks running the D&C up at night.