Gaddie's Opinion: Winking Foxes, Dark Towers
The old adage goes, “never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.”
The internet has evidently blurred the distinctions a bit, as the guys who buy electricity by the megawatt, Sinclair Broadcasting’s KOKH 25, aired a classic Nick Winkler piece on the price hike and content shrinkage of the venerable Oklahoman.
The Oklahoman responded, buying a one-page ad in its own Sunday edition that ripped into the brand quality of what it termed “the lowest-rated local network news.”
Why would Fox 25 report on the Oklahoman’s financial decision?
Well, first of all, it is news. Newspapers around the country confront increased costs. Declining readership, diminished ad revenue, and increased publication costs require that papers lay off quality journalists and cut content and circulation to balance ledgers.
Here at home the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman are forced to acknowledge each other by now sharing reporting resources to save money. Some papers are folding, including the historic Rocky Mountain News, and the possibly the San Francisco Chronicle.
Second, they are Fox, and the reporter is my antagonistic friend Nick Winkler. This is the same Fox affiliate where Andrew Speno broke the “bull***” story that sank Steve Largent’s gubernatorial campaign in 2002.
Having Winkler on a story is like finding Mike Wallace in your reception area – it won’t be pleasant for the subject of the inquiry.
Third, they are now direct news competitors.
The long history of journalism in America is that journalistic opponents criticize each other, berate each other, and attack each other.
The Oklahoman jumped on the internet and has its own video reporting. They do breaking news.
Fox 25 and the other television stations have, for some time, put stories on the internet in print form.
Fourth, they are direct competitors fighting for ad revenue, and this competition will only increase.
Fox is leaving a technology that makes it easy for them to integrate to the internet from a revenue standpoint, because people still watch TV. The Oklahoman, moving from a failing ad revenue model, has to reinvent its revenue stream on the web with less of a safety net.
The folks up at the Dark Tower are sufficiently justified to be sensitive to coverage about their sales and circulation model.
But now, feelings are hurt. Whatever to do? My initial inclination -- sending Billy Sims over to see the folks at OPUBCO and Fox with a platter of Boomer-Q -- is inadequate to the task.
Adversity is the only solution. Leveling of the playing field is in order. Sinclair needs to buy a newspaper and move it to Oklahoma City to go head-to-head with The Oklahoman, working under the same handicap of printing an edition. And, there is a perfectly good paper up for sale, and an Oklahoma City solution looms: buy the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and move it to the OKC. Seattle-based industries now know the way to Our Fair City, so its an easy move to make.
The internet has evidently blurred the distinctions a bit, as the guys who buy electricity by the megawatt, Sinclair Broadcasting’s KOKH 25, aired a classic Nick Winkler piece on the price hike and content shrinkage of the venerable Oklahoman.
By Keith Gaddie
The Oklahoman responded, buying a one-page ad in its own Sunday edition that ripped into the brand quality of what it termed “the lowest-rated local network news.”
Why would Fox 25 report on the Oklahoman’s financial decision?
Well, first of all, it is news. Newspapers around the country confront increased costs. Declining readership, diminished ad revenue, and increased publication costs require that papers lay off quality journalists and cut content and circulation to balance ledgers.
Here at home the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman are forced to acknowledge each other by now sharing reporting resources to save money. Some papers are folding, including the historic Rocky Mountain News, and the possibly the San Francisco Chronicle.
Second, they are Fox, and the reporter is my antagonistic friend Nick Winkler. This is the same Fox affiliate where Andrew Speno broke the “bull***” story that sank Steve Largent’s gubernatorial campaign in 2002.
Having Winkler on a story is like finding Mike Wallace in your reception area – it won’t be pleasant for the subject of the inquiry.
Third, they are now direct news competitors.
The long history of journalism in America is that journalistic opponents criticize each other, berate each other, and attack each other.
The Oklahoman jumped on the internet and has its own video reporting. They do breaking news.
Fox 25 and the other television stations have, for some time, put stories on the internet in print form.
Fourth, they are direct competitors fighting for ad revenue, and this competition will only increase.
Fox is leaving a technology that makes it easy for them to integrate to the internet from a revenue standpoint, because people still watch TV. The Oklahoman, moving from a failing ad revenue model, has to reinvent its revenue stream on the web with less of a safety net.
The folks up at the Dark Tower are sufficiently justified to be sensitive to coverage about their sales and circulation model.
But now, feelings are hurt. Whatever to do? My initial inclination -- sending Billy Sims over to see the folks at OPUBCO and Fox with a platter of Boomer-Q -- is inadequate to the task.
Adversity is the only solution. Leveling of the playing field is in order. Sinclair needs to buy a newspaper and move it to Oklahoma City to go head-to-head with The Oklahoman, working under the same handicap of printing an edition. And, there is a perfectly good paper up for sale, and an Oklahoma City solution looms: buy the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and move it to the OKC. Seattle-based industries now know the way to Our Fair City, so its an easy move to make.
Labels: Keith Gaddie, KOKH-Fox 25, The Oklahoman
posted by Mike McCarville @ 2:56 AM
<< Home