Comments on: NY Times on Independent News Sites

By: justpbob

justpbob — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:58:49 +0000

I may buy some advertising from you, Karmer. You too, Matt. We’ll see how the budget looks this quarter.

KC, about 10% of people who develop COPD never smoked — similar to the % of non-smoking lung cancer patients. With lung cancer, we can look to other sources, like asbestos and radon.

What causes a nonsmoker to get COPD? We have more questions than answers. That’s what we are working on now, among other things.

One thing is certain — If we can reduce the rate of smoking, we can reduce COPD and lung cancer. We see that in states with low smoking rates — less lung cancer & COPD.

By: kc!

kc! — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:46:20 +0000

bob- I used to deal with clients with COPD. They always listed it along with the 12 other things wrong with them. If the client had COPD they were generally unhealthy, so do healthy people get COPD?

By: Joel Kramer

Joel Kramer — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:23:17 +0000

Our writers and editors make a lot less than they used to, and I appreciate the passion they show every day for the work. We’re not trying to make it solely on advertising — our revenue from membership right now exceeds our advertising revenue, and we also have foundation support. Our goal, as a nonprofit, is to break even on just sponsorship, advertising and membership by 2011 — in other words, to sustain ourselves without ongoing foundation grants. Based on the support we’ve received from the community in our first year, I’m optimistic we can do it.

By: justpbob

justpbob — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:42:41 +0000

I was just chatting with one of the the MinnPost sales guys (the only?) at the E3 2008 conference in Saint Paul this AM. Would have liked to have stayed for Dandy Don Shelby's media roundtable thang, but had to save the world from the scurge of COPD -- a really nasty lung disease killing a lot of Minnesotans. 1,700+ in 2003 alone.

By: David Brauer

David Brauer — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:35:00 +0000

The funny thing is, I make less at MinnPost than I made editing a couple of community papers.

But it’s about the most fun I’ve had in journalism, at least since my T.C. Reader/City Pages days, although the Southwest Journal/Downtown Journal gig was very satisfying.

I was a bit surprised how large our annual budget is, too.

The Strib, BTW, spends about $22.5 million on its newsroom, though obviously that figure will drop now.

http://is.gd/7Uqc

Self-linkage… the wave of the future.

By: kc!

kc! — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:33:40 +0000

My morning routine goes:
1) email
2) Twitter
3) MNSpeak
4) MinnPost- I think they do an amazing job and I really love their in depth articles.

I’ll say it again- give them money so they can continue to do well.

By: ryanl

ryanl — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:33:12 +0000

I don’t mean to be the harbinger of doom but i think that online publishers depending solely on display advertising are in for a serious wallop.

I have always questioned why publishers don’t try and develop a more affiliate based relationship with some advertising customers than the traditional eyeball sales.

I know that it’s a lot riskier in the short run, but I think that publishing is ready for some risks.

By: matt

matt — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:57:58 +0000

I’d like to see some stats on the per-employee (non-printing/distribution) cost of these sites compared to a daily newspaper.

By: msparber

msparber — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:53:57 +0000

It’s taken so long for the Web to be successfully monetized in terms of selling online ads. If sites like MinnPost can help create a market for online ads, it will finally create the possibility of professional local online publishing.

$1.3 mil seems like a lot to me, even though it’s a fraction of the annual publishing cost of most newspapers. I hope they can do it. Especially with news that the Strib is getting ready to make even deeper cuts, we need locally generated content that can turn a profit.

By: Jerad

Jerad — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:52:19 +0000

Most institutions or organizations based in Minneapolis, ESPECIALLY in nonprofit, resemble the middle-age (or older) establishment. MinnPost is hardly unique in that regard.

DeRush is right, though, about that being a sweet nonprofit salary.