This entry was posted on 1/27/2008 8:31 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
27 January 2008
I of III. Hyphenation: Expanding Venues
Swan Songs and Business Models
One type of business model proceeds from a world-perspective approach of cutting costs, or 'trimming the fat' to sustain growth. (Something along the lines of: 'you have to cut back to go forward'.) According to his rather dramatic 'swan song', James E. O'Shea does not adopt such an approach.
Indeed, before leaving/being fired from (depending on perspective) his post as editor of The Los Angeles Times, O'Shea issued out a "scathing critique of the newspaper industry" in a memo and advised "that it could generate more revenue and higher profit by offering more, not less" (Richard Perez-Pena, "Editor Fires Parting Shot at His Chain," The New York Times, 22 January 2008). Something in his memo and parting 'hits home' and merits a little pause, for to be in his position - to see, to know, but not to correct or stop fatal errors or 'missteps' of a company you have a vested interest in to see towards success - this is quite an uneasy position to maintain and to foster...
On a general level, apart from his specific case, for anyone to work daily on a sinking ship and to be forbidden to plug the hole fast becomes unacceptable until your inevitable exit, and then it is a matter of just not looking back...
Yes, this is a position contrary to - at the extremest of polar opposites to - hyphenation...
...and in his commentary is something to be said for the state of the 'outspoken' and the erstwhile 'taboo'...
...of forthright candor in the Saul Bellow, "truth comes in blows" variety, for we do not have enough 'truth' today, and to shun it as taboo, as uncalled for, or as 'sour gripings' is useless and rather obsolete in irrelevance...
...capitalizing on the luxury of absolute, unmitigated, and uncensored candor, blogs are perhaps the last safe harbor of protected speech and with the increasing 'media-zation' of bloggers and blogging, I fear an impending defilement of this arena fast approaching...
...but I digress.
Returning to O'Shea:
The politics surrounding his resignation/termination and the Tribune Company's decision to make some cuts notwithstanding, O'Shea's perspective and advice are very telling of the current media market. The Tribune Company's recent decsions are examples of a cut-back-for-growth approach, a direction also shared by NBC Universal in its decision to save as much as $50 million by eliminating pilots (Eric Pfanner, "To Cut Costs, NBC Universal Ends Pilots," The New York Times, 23 January 2008).
Fortunately, not all media follow this model and rather seek to grow, to cooperate, and to share with other media, as recent reports attest:
1) By investing in bloggers, video, and staff, The Atlantic has increased viewership of its website from 308,000 in December 2007, compared to 72,000 in December 2006 (Richard Perez-Pena, "A Venerable Magazine Energizes Its Web Site," The New York Times, 21 January 2008).
2) Polaris, True Ventures, Radar, and the Times Company have combined to invest in Automattic, the commercial branch of WordPress, it is an open-source software used by bloggers to publish posts and it signals the new arena of conquest and success for web sites today (Brian Stelter, "Times Company in Group Investing in Blog Publisher," The New York Times, 23 January 2008).
3) CNBC and The New York Times recently announced their mutual agreement to share (video and news) content on their respective web sites and so by partnering together, they each become strengthened and a formidable opponent to their competitors (Richard Perez-Pena, "TImes and CNBC to Share Material on Web Sites," The New York Times, 7 January 2008).
4) In an international partnership, the BBC is expected to share content on the News Corporation's MySpace (Brian Stelter, "Growing Online, BBC Is to Join With MySpace," The New York Times, 24 January 2008). The move will enable the BBC to reach a younger audience and share British culture worldwide and apparently is not a new move - it partnered earlier with Google's YouTube to much success.
5) Beyond media, advertising is moving in this same direction of leveraged partnerships for mutual growth, sustainability, and competitive relevance in the market. The Publicis Groupe announced its collaboration with Google to improve upon digital advertising by making it more "creative and technologically savvy" (Victoria Shannon, "Google and Ad Conglomerate Teaming Up," The New York Times, 23 January 2008).
6) Beyond media and advertising, mobile networks are entering partnerships to leverage sustainability, competitive relevance, and wider networks - at lower costs and higher profits - as seen with the partnering last year of T-Mobile UK with 3 UK (Eric Sylvers, "Two British Mobile Phone Operators Share Networks," The New York Times, 31 December 2007).
Of course in the business sphere, the bottom line - the profit margin - is what drives actions, decisions, and innovation. Collaboration that leads to proven success and greater profit at lower costs is a seamless 'no brainer' that comes at no great risk, so here, the move is relatively non-monumental...
...pity, the other spheres refuse to catch on...
