Is Criticism Getting to annarbor.com?

I wonder if annarbor.com is noticing that people are disappointed with their product.

The cheap-looking web-page design does nothing to inspire confidence. Nor does the fact that so many experienced journalists are gone from the old Ann Arbor News and that the publication now restricts itself to Ann Arbor.

I ask because I noticed a large billboard in Ann Arbor earlier this week bragging that annarbor.com has 35 professional journalists with a combined 407 years of journalistic experience.

I wonder how many the Ann Arbor News had? The billboard doesn't say, of course.

On-Line News Source Debuts in Livingston County

There's a new on-line source for news in Livingston County.

LivingstonTalk.com, started by some former Livingston Press and Argus staffers, debuted last week. There are some technical glitches to work out, but it is up and running and looks far better than annarbor.com, the relic of The Ann Arbor News, which has corporate money behind it.

Here's wishing LivingstonTalk the best. There's plenty of news in this county and we can use more people covering it.

annarbor.com Preview Not Encouraging

The Ann Arbor News was a great newspaper. Will annarbor.com be a great on-line news source?

We don't know yet because it's late getting up and running (not a good sign but understandable). I have to say, though, that the preview being offered is not encouraging. The lay-out pictured reminds me of a free, pre-packaged blog spot, which is fine for individuals but annarbor.com is supposed to be a professional outfit.

And then there is the "coverage" of the Ann Arbor city council meeting by someone who has been in town less than a week. Great.

Too bad all the laid-off reporters can't put together their own competing operation on-line.

Is Web an Opportunity for Laid-Off Newspaper Reporters?

Is the same phenemonon that is partly the cause of layoffs in the newspaper business a small opportunity for the people being laid off?

In years past, if a community was dissatisfied with the coverage of its local paper, readers usually had few options other than to complain or stop their subscriptions. And if employees were unhappy, well, the costs of starting up a competitor were prohibitive.

But now, freed from the price of printing presses, ink, and paper, it's a little easier.

Laid off reporters in Ann Arbor might consider pooling their expertise and setting up a web-based newspaper to compete with annarbor.com. The click-through ads can provide more revenue than one might think, given that the cost of a web page isn't anywhere near what a printing press is.

And who's to say that the annarbor.com product will automatically be superior or that it will automatically attract more readers than an effort started by spurned reporters?

Now that the Livingston Press and Argus has laid off two people, there would be the beginnings of a Livingston County news coverage organization, possibly taking in some of the folks from the old Ann Arbor News organization in Brighton.

Might as well try something. And for people who love to report and write about the news, it would be a way to keep doing what they love.

Another Newspaper Dies, but Not One I Expected

I should have seen it coming, but I didn't.

I never expected the Ann Arbor News to close. It has always been an excellent newspaper. The Booth chain for years covered the Michigan Capitol better than any other news organization in Michigan.

But on the other hand, Ann Arbor really is the ideal community to have a post-paper newspaper -- a totally on-line newspaper.

After all, it is probably the most literate, wired community in the state. Readers there are likely to be highly receptive to a strictly on-line newspaper that combines a nose for news, savvy reporters, good writing, and a community spirit with new technology that allows them to add video, more photos, links to entire reports and documents, interactivity, and all that the web has to offer.

But I am puzzled as to why the owners are framing this change as the demise of the Ann Arbor News rather than a conversion to a new format.

(It sort of is in keeping with their past use of mlive.com instead of a more user friendly name for their web-based product. Why newspapers insist on a different name for their own-line version, making it hard to people to find, has always been a puzzle to me. What was wrong with annarbornews.com? Or livingstonpress-argus.com, for that matter?)

Apparently, they want a total break with the past. But as we move into this brave new world, it would be nice to hang onto a little bit of the familiar.