While the current trend sees print media downsizing in the face of a slowing economy, smaller ad revenues and increasing numbers of readers opting for online content, one Chicago-based startup is taking the opposite stance, viewing this moment as an opportunity to revolutionize the beleaguered industry. The Printed Blog, founded in late 2008 by Joshua Karp, wants to upgrade the traditional model of the newspaper into a user-generated, hyper-localized, scalable version made specifically for the Internet generation, released in hundreds of unique editions across the country twice-daily.
Hardly a short order, but one that Karp and his team feel is entirely possible given the aggregation capabilities of the web working in tandem with social networking platforms that make it easy for users to build communities and get involved. In essence, The Printed Blog wants to replace the top-down notion of big media with a collective media experiment powered by you. Think Digg.com only with some editorial oversight, available in a tactile format that you can carry onto the subway with you (a PDF version will also be viewable online).
Not only will this form the basis of the publication’s operating model, but it is also being used to generate buzz leading up to the launch on January 27th. Those interested in participating are invited to follow the progress via a company blog, Facebook group, Flickr page and Twitter feed.
Despite their lofty plans for the future, The Printed Blog has smartly chosen to start small as they work through their early growing stages. The first issue will be distributed at two heavily trafficked commuter areas in Chicago and one location (TBD) in San Francisco with successive issues to follow on Feb. 3rd, 10th and 17th with goals to move into daily publication and expand distribution points into more key cities soon after.
And while the formula has been proven to work online, the project’s success will ultimately be determined by how well advertisers respond. If The Printed Blog is able to deliver on their promise of publishing a truly niche newspaper that caters to a very specific geography and demographic, it certainly creates a compelling case for both local and national businesses wishing to market to that same target audience. And leveraging this unique combination of reach and flexibility might be too good a situation for cash-strapped advertisers on the lookout for the next big innovation to pass up.
We’ll be watching the development of The Printed Blog with great interest, curious to see if we’re witnessing the arrival of print media’s eventual successor or just a nice idea that can provide inspiration to an industry that sorely needs some.
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Well if they want to revolutionize the publishing biz with “unpaid interns” and ultimately aim to automate the production process as much as possible: Good Luck to them!
http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/new-media-ventu.html#
January 13th, 2009 at 7:41 am
while there’s something to be said about local newspapers aggregating local blogger’s content for their websites / print editions, this as a stand alone concept is horrible.
January 13th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I’m more turned on by tools like tabbloid.com and magcloud.com – that are actually giving readers content that they want, when they want it, how they want it. Want want want.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:08 pm