Advertising is down. Circulation is down. Younger readers are flocking to the net. Yes, newspapers and other traditional print media are headed the way of the buffalo.
But wait! Buffalo aren’t exactly extinct. There’s a pretty good herd in Yellowstone. And you can even find buffalo on the menu at almost any local organic restaurant.
Likewise, newspapers will (probably?) manage to survive by appealing to local interests. This seems to be playing out right now. While daily newspapers across the nation shed staff, migrate to the web, or fail completely, alternative and ultra-local news outlets appear to be thriving.
Such is the case here in Portland, Maine where the city’s leading paper is melting away like the Wicked Witch of the West and perhaps leaving a door open for newest kid on the news block: The Portland Daily Sun.
Launched about a week ago, the Portland Daily Sun is a 4-day-a-week fishwrap, free in the coffee shops, stores, and news stands throughout town. The first issue looks good. Local yokel writers–they’re all from Portland–writing about local yokel topics.
City government news to obituaries to an events calendar a crossword and some funnies–it has all the elements you’d expect in a local daily, save for the abscence of reporting on high school sports. We’ll see what subsequent issues look like. But at first glance, the Portland Daily Sun is somewhat harder hitting than, say, the Forecaster, or other similar local outlets in the area–an appropriate tone for a more urban audience.
An interesting initial column addressing local government’s strategy for “filling holes” left by the Fed’s recently announced stimulus package hit the mark. And it looks like they’ve got an AP feed to recount one or two national headlines to give the local news perspective.
Their website is a tad underwhelming visually, but the content is sharp. Websites evolve like any other media; they’ll dial it in.
Overall, the Portland Daily Sun’s strong local angle is useful and refreshing stuff. It’s a wining formula for both local readers and local advertisers. For those of us who will never dispense with reading news as God intended–in a newspaper–let’s hope this buffalo roams.
Check it out for yourself: www.theportlanddailysun.com
By Brock Foreman
