(Via Martin Stabe)

Shawn Smith sets out an economic model for newspapers.

In a conversation with my doctor a few weeks ago, I learned why some educated people don’t care for local newspapers.
Why? Because half of the content in the local paper is wire copy - written by the WaPo or the NYT. The local media outlets don’t cover the stories that are important to him.

There is nothing new in his proposals,niche targeting as Shawn says

Newspapers, in their current form, suffer from an outdated model. Readers can learn a lot from newspapers, but they can’t learn a lot about one particular issue. There isn’t enough room to print it all.

So its worth reiterating his model

Break up newspapers into their related sections. Make the traditional paper into a strictly local front section, largely cutting down on wire copy, and then put out multiple niche publications for the different sections. New print publications can become aggregators of the best content on the wire and web. These niche publications can cover specific issues more in-depth and in interesting ways