Last Updated: March 27, 2000
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A note from
the president
Convergence doesn’t change our local focus
By N. Christian Anderson III
If you worked with me at The Orange County Register, you would know
that I talk about the Register as a newspaper and as a company. I do that
because I want us to focus not just on what we do with our newspaper, but
how we are using other ways and means to broaden our reach.
That’s why I asked the ASNE board to allow three new committees for
ASNE this year. I especially wanted one group of editors to look at how
newspapers are reaching out to form new alliances and partnerships. That
committee, Partnerships and Diversification, is led by David Zeeck, editor
of The News-Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., and an ASNE director.
We’ll learn what the committee has learned when we’re together in Washington
in April.
While Zeeck’s committee members isn’t looking specifically at media
convergence, I know it’s on their minds. Most of us are doing some thinking
about it — or we should be, in my opinion.
When you’re president of ASNE, you often are asked to talk about the
future of newspapers. As I wrote in this space a few months back, I’m bullish
on our future — especially if we are willing to make a few changes along
the way.
But what about media convergence? And what does that mean, anyway? You
will more about that in The American Editor’s next issue. We’ve been buzzing
about convergence for years, but it rose to a new level a few weeks ago
when AOL announced its merger with Time Warner. Not lost on any journalist
I talked with was that AOL was doing the buying, not Time Warner.
In fact, a business columnist for my newspaper wrote shortly after the
announcement about his fears for ink on paper. He noted that his children
don’t read newspapers. But was a little more optimistic than Andy Grove:
He gave us 10 years.
I was reminded of how easily we slip into the old-media thinking when
an esteemed journalist friend of mine wrote to ask my advice on potential
financial backing for available newspapers in San Francisco and Honolulu.
I wrote back to tell him he’s nuts. I can’t imagine two daily newspapers
in either of those cities absent a JOA, I told him.
Ah, he said, you’re thinking about ink-on-paper newspapers. He had in
mind the potential of customized newspapers, delivered electronically in
a deliver-and-print mode. Maybe there would be a core paper — likely a
tabloid — but much of the individual subscriber’s content would be downloaded
and distributed using their own printers.
Is that a newspaper? It isn’t what I was thinking when I first responded.
But who’s to say, 10 years from now, what will constitute how readers define
newspapers? That’s another reason why I hoped Zeeck’s committee would at
least help us think about the future as it relates to different methods
of delivering information.
At the Register, we have established a goal of reaching far more people
in the next 10 years than we do now. But unlike some other companies, we
haven’t put it in terms of newspaper circulation — at least not in the
way we count paid circulation today. We’re looking at a variety of ways
to connect more Orange County citizens with each other and we know that
will not be only through a one-size-fits-all daily newspaper.
One of my first reactions to the AOL-Time Warner announcements was some
anxiety. But I reminded myself of something I had shared in a series of
meetings in December with Register employees — we know Orange County better
than anyone else, and it is our obligation to use that knowledge to serve
them best.
In other words, if there is going to be media convergence in Orange
County, I want us to be in the surviving and leadership role. In my opinion,
we do that by tailoring our product to provide information that helps people
lead better lives every day.
P.S.: Next issue, Rich Oppel will get an early start on writing in this
space. I offered him the opportunity to tell you about his plans for ASNE
in 2000-2001. I’m pleased that he intends to carry forward the work of
the three new committees established this year, while adding other dimensions
to the work of our society. It is going to be an exciting year under Rich’s
leadership. I hope you will read his column with an eye toward how you
can contribute to helping all of us be better editors and stronger leaders.
Anderson, ASNE president, is publisher and CEO of The Orange County
Register, Santa Ana, Calif.
