The newspaper industry is beleaguered by problems both cyclical and secular, but what really scares me is that we still haven’t dealt with issues that are just basic blocking and tackling. To wit: This horrifying account of one man’s attempt to give a newspaper his money. (Via All Things Digital.)
Here’s a choice tidbit from the post:
I hung up the phone, exasperated.
5 replies on “What’s wrong with newspapers”
Hah! Maybe my old Projo pals offshored the front desk.
It’s really funny – but in the sickest most disheartening way… I wonder how bruce would react if that were KNS!!!
It’s a crying shame. The worst part is that posting these things online seems to have no effect. We all feel the frustration and shame, but I don’t think any of the people involved read this stuff. What to do?
Is this example really the norm or an exception? Please do not misunderstand me. I
Excellent point, Art. We do spend a disproportionate amount of time and effort beating ourselves up, focusing on the negative aspects of our business and largely overlooking the positive. For instance, I’ve been a newspaper subscriber for my entire adult life, and the only truly bad delivery experience I had was during my time in Austin. That was one year in more than 25. But it did prompt me to cancel my subscription to the American Statesman.
On the ad side, we focus on the problem without noting the results. Newspaper advertising (and editorial content) remain incredibly effective. Seth Resler concedes as much in his post. But experiences like Seth’s tend to define us whether we like it or not, and we have to gear ourselves to exceeding expectations and competing in a world where consumers have myriad options when they decide to spend money
I’d still maintain that making Seth a happy customer in this instance really wouldn’t have been rocket science. It should just be the way we do business. Granted, if that had happened, I doubt we would have seen him raving about us in his blog …