OC Register on brink of collapse ... TJ Simers takes buyout

[mp170.6]

The OC Register can't make payroll and has forced everybody to take 2 week unpaid furloughs before the end of July.  They also offered buyouts and will make widespread layoffs if enough folks don't take the offer. 

 

TJ Simers took the offer and will retire:

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2014/06/tj_simers_takes_register.php

 

 

 

 

[Troll Daddy]

I hate the internet

[ABC]

OCR failed at business. Gotta change with the times or die.

[ukyah]

so, tj simers retired. good news. hope it stays that way.

[gotbeer]

so, tj simers retired. good news. hope it stays that way.

 

Just wait till Chuck announces that he's hired TJ as a contributor.  LOLZ

 

And the paywall was a stupid idea.  

[nate]

Yeah the OCR has to be the worst managed company in recent history.  Going to a paywall was idiotic, prior to the paywall their webdesign was total crap with the slide shows.

 

The fact is to survive now you have to be able to publish stuff that nobody else does and you have to do it in a way that captivates the readers.  The OCR doesn't do that.

Edited June 9, 2014 by nate

[Chuck]

They should have done whatever it took to have kept Sam Miller. Fletcher as the beat writer and Sam blogging about the minor leaguers and advanced stat features would have been a great pair. Oh yeah, and the slideshows turned a lot of people off, as did the paywall. 

 

I hope our friend Jeff Fletcher is OK. He's been a great contributor for Angels content as their beat writer and here on our forum. 

[Chimi]

I don't understand how there is print newspapers still around. I used to read the OC Register daily on my phone. Since the paywall, I haven't even bothered.

[DowningRules]

The paper was taken over a few years back by a dude who made his money as a venture capitalist with a greeting card company.  And I think that was basically luck and timing.  He came in thinking he could figure out how to make a newspaper profitable.  Which pretty much makes him the only person in the last 15 years to have that thought.

 

He made a bunch of promises to the staff of the paper and got everyone all hyped up.  In a real head scratcher of a move, he recently started the LA Register. 

 

People are barely interested in paying for the NY Times, which, no matter what you think of its politics, has far superior writing and editing and a much better selection of stories.  The pay wall for the OC Register was doomed from the start and yet, it remains while the paper continues to make cuts.  So, something ain't adding up, but the owner doesn't put it together.

 

Let's hope the Register hangs on to people like Fletcher who 'get it' and reach out to the far reaches of the internet.  It's writers like this that understand a newspaper writer cannot stay in the confines of ink and paper.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

My friends mom has worked there for 40 some odd years and is nearing retirement.  She made it through all the cuts until now but I'm going to have to ask my buddy what's going on.

[nate]

I hope our friend Jeff Fletcher is OK. He's been a great contributor for Angels content as their beat writer and here on our forum. 

 

My thoughts as well.  Between Plunk and Jeff, the OCR has always had the best beat writers.  Too bad that they can't figure out the business side.

[gotbeer]

I don't understand how there is print newspapers still around. I used to read the OC Register daily on my phone. Since the paywall, I haven't even bothered.

 

I actually still love reading a newspaper.  And still subscribe to the LAT.  Something about carrying a paper wherever you want, not worrying about destroying it, just the feel of a paper.  

 

Then again, I prefer reading a book to ebook.

[jsnpritchett]

What's really odd about this is that they just launched an L.A. version of the Register a few weeks ago.  Not sure why they did something like that if their financial situation was so dire.

[Chimi]

I actually still love reading a newspaper. And still subscribe to the LAT. Something about carrying a paper wherever you want, not worrying about destroying it, just the feel of a paper.

Then again, I prefer reading a book to ebook.

Some people do, unfortunately you're in the minority now. I know of three people at work that like reading the paper and they're all over 60.

[nate]

I am 31 and I read the paper.  I get the Milwaukee JS and Ozaukee News Graphic.

[yk9001]

You guys act like the paywall was the death of the OCR.

It was on life support a year ago.

 

 

I paid for content from the OCR.  A $2 day pass.  Big whoop.

[nate]

You guys act like the paywall was the death of the OCR.

It was on life support a year ago.

 

 

I paid for content from the OCR.  A $2 day pass.  Big whoop.

 

$2 for a one day pass to read something you can get elsewhere?  Unless it is for local HS sports it's pointless.

[yk9001]

It was for prep sports.

 

But who cares, jeezus, asking to be renumerated for providing content isn't a crime.

[nate]

Maybe but their model was terrible for business.  There aren't many people looking for prep sports news in the OCR.  You have to do it the same way everyone else does, through advertising.

[halobob]

I don't understand how there is print newspapers still around. I used to read the OC Register daily on my phone. Since the paywall, I haven't even bothered.

I used to do this during lunch everyday...haven't missed it since they instituted the paywall.  

[Jobu]

Maybe but their model was terrible for business. There aren't many people looking for prep sports news in the OCR. You have to do it the same way everyone else does, through advertising.

Relying solely on advertising is how you end up with headlines like "12 Amazing Ways Your Houseplants Are Making You Fat". Click bait.

I'm a fan of industry disruption in the general sense... the idea of printing massive quantities of paper that become mostly out of date within hours and then driving them all over creation to hand deliver just seems so archaic to me. But quality writing and journalism are worth something and let's hope they survive.

[yk9001]

Maybe but their model was terrible for business.  There aren't many people looking for prep sports news in the OCR.  You have to do it the same way everyone else does, through advertising.

 

 

It isn't working for anybody else, either.

[Eric]

Generally speaking, as long as people remain unwilling to pay for content, these industries will continue to suffer.

 

I know I am among a vast and aging minority in that I have the paper delivered to my doorstep ever morning.  Do I read it every day? No, of course not. But it's there, reliably, everyday.  And I am supporting my local economy by doing so.  There are plenty of other options available to me to get my news on the internet and I use those resources as well.

 

Someone has to write the stories we all read. And that someone needs to be paid for their work.  Stories don't just appear out of thin air. Someone has to work on them. They have to drive to where the story is. They have to spend time gathering the information. And then they have to have the skill to translate all of that into a clear and understandable format so the general public has the information necessary to understand the world in which they live. Sometimes it's sports. Sometimes it's crime. Sometimes it's a new store opening. Whatever it is, someone needs to be there and they need to be paid.

 

Most of all, however, someone needs the skills to be able to do what they do. Anyone can write grammatical diarrhea in 400 words or less. Telling a clear and concise story in that amount of space requires education and experience. That is what journalists and real writers do. And that is why people go to their local papers to find out what is happening. Chances are, if something newsworthy happens in Southern California most people on this board will head on over to the LA Times Website, or the OCR website, to find out what is going on. Why? Because Bobby's Southern California whimsical musings on the skateboarding culture of Newport Beach blog just isn't going to cut it.

 

As an aside.  If you like the content that a website is providing, one way you can show your support is by clicking on the ads that website provides in order to offset their costs. Like a News site?  Click on an ad on the page of the article you liked, don't just click the like button.  Like a certain message board? Throw the operator a bone every now and again and follow an ad link. It's not a lot of work on your part and it does two things. First, it tells the website operators what content pages are engaging their viewers, which usually promotes more of that same type of content in the future, and second, it keeps the revenue going towards the content providers so that they can continue to bring you more of what you like.

 

Ad-blocking software is great for those spam sites that shove popup after popup after popup in your face to the point at which you can't actually get to the content that you want, but let's face it, a well thought out, well put together and well run website should be rewarded for their hard work.

 

So, today as you surf the web, make it your mission, if you like the content provided on a webpage, click an ad.

[Bruce Nye]

You have to wonder how far behind this news is the LA downsizing or seeking bankruptcy protection. 

[Homebrewer]

The LA Times is owned by Tribune, which is multi-media. They support their big city newspapers by having hands in cable stations, internet, broadcast TV, and even movie and TV production.

 

They will benefit from a shutdown of the OCR, as their independent local newspapers will be the only way to get local news like prep sports, city councils, etc. I'm surprised the OCR has held on as long as it has. It must be hemorrhaging money.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Homebrewer