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Submitted by olympianwatch on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 8:27am.
Lots of senior leadership at the Tacoma News Tribune walked through the door. Mike Gilbert, a 21 year veteran and military reporter; Susan Gordon, 25 year veteran and environmental reporter; Casey Madison, the papers photo editor; Bill Hutchens (no idea what he does, but he's been around a long time); and photog Russ Carmack, who has been with the paper since the early 70. The Olympian, for the most part, was spared the loss of senior people. Mary Tracy, a newsroom assistant; Kirk Ericson, a senior copy editor, blogger and 20 year veteran; Keri Bremmer, Thurston County and Health reporter; and Karen Crist, another copy editor are out the door. Makes sense that senior people would take the buyouts, they're cheaper to replace and the packages were probably good enough to allow them to transition to retirement or some other career. Its probably good that even more senior folks didn't hit the door. It will be interesting to see how the Olympian copes with the loss of two copy editors. You might see more mistakes and errors in the paper. Also, anyone see the irony in letting go of the one person writing "health" news at the Olympian while the paper is "playing offense" with a new health website? In the end, it might be that Ken Balsley is correct, the South Sound (south of Vashon) will be a one newspaper region:
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OlyBlog.net OlyBlog is devoted to citizen journalism, including hyperlocal news and discussion specifically about Olympia, Washington. If you care about this community and are tired of corporate media, then this is the place for you. If you'd like to contribute, please register for an account. Here is a list of local news beats that need to be covered. You can post your news as a personal blog entry, and it will be reviewed (and possibly edited) for promotion to the front page. Once you've established a record of responsible blogging, you can become an autonomous user. You can also send news via email. All members of OlyBlog agree to abide by our comment and fair use policies. If you are frustrated about something said in a comment thread, go here. Now playing at: 
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Realistically...
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 9:12am.Olympia only has 44,925 people. Lacey is at 38,087 and Tumwater at 13,495.
Covering major or unique stories - like today's headline on the website - makes sense. We'll get less "Fire Department Pulls Kitten Out of Tree", but with newspapers all over the country making cuts, I'm sure it doesn't make sense for a major corporation to produce a paper for Small Town, USA.
we're also the state capitol
Submitted by emmettoconnell on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 1:17pm.interesting...
Submitted by chad360 on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 1:23pm....I never knew, and would be interested in any background info you have on that PDC stuff (I worked at PDC during my time at TESC, and grew up with the Pierce County Herald =)
There is SO much legal/political stuff going on in Oly that the coverage and debate could fill an entire news paper.
That means
Submitted by FRESH on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 11:03am.You're it.
Submitted by Rick on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 11:50am.(Along with everyone else on OlyBlog!)
Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt
I don't really consider this a news source.
Submitted by FRESH on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 11:54am.Depends on how you think about news.
Submitted by Rick on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 12:47pm.The rules are changing. And it's about damn time, too.
Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt
Comix
Submitted by chad360 on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 12:54pm....I wonder what would attract comics to OlyBlog?
That and a local horoscope guru would be super~
I'm interested
Submitted by einmaleins on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 1:48pm.and excited and willing to explore some option on what a local publication could look like and how it could work. I think this can be a terrific idea, but to Laurian's point somewhere here:
http://www.olyblog.net/playing-offense-canned-copy-and-canning-local-copy#comment-67685
A sustainable model will somewhere include it turning into a business.
Ouch, there I said it. It's true, it does not HAVE TO be a business, it really depends on your understanding of "sustainability".
mathias
einmaleins
Co-ops work pretty well...
Submitted by Rick on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 1:59pm....especially in this town. Why can't news run on that sort of model?
Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt
Yeah....
Submitted by The Original Yoda on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 2:09pm.Co-op
Submitted by einmaleins on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 2:33pm.The food co-op and REI for that matter, are proving th Co-Ops can result in very successful businesses. No doubt. I don't really worry about the underlying model, as long as it's sustainable and professional.
mathias
einmaleins
The Alpine Experience...
Submitted by FRESH on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 2:44pm.amen!
Submitted by einmaleins on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 2:46pm.I agree with you 100%.
The pros call that "triple bottom line"
mathias
einmaleins
exactly
Submitted by FRESH on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 2:48pm.Great
Submitted by einmaleins on Fri, 10/10/2008 - 5:31pm.no wonder they are so successful!
mathias
einmaleins
Isn't Works in Progress a Co-op?
Submitted by Laurian on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 2:56pm.Or are they a Collective? Is that a difference without a distinction? Either way WIP's editorial position is very uniform. They come from the historical position of partisan muck raking journalism but a real difference between now and then was there was enough revenue to support several local papers of record. I would appreciate someone from WIP enlightening us on their economic model.
WIP is a collective
Submitted by jlw on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 3:17pm.Works In Progress is free, and nobody gets paid. Everyone volunteers their time. Our operating costs are very low, and are covered by advertising, subscriptions, and donations. Important decisions, including almost all editorial decisions, are made by consensus.
I'm no expert on fine economic distinctions, but I think the difference between a cooperative and a collective is that co-ops are worker/member-owned enterprises whereas a collective like WIP is an ongoing project, not a business.
Can you be more specific?
Submitted by Laurian on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 4:09pm.What is the years budget of WIP? What is your circulation? How much does a print run cost? Do advertising revenues cover expenses? If not, does WIP receive grants? I know these are sensitive questions and understand if you are reluctant to answer my questions. I'll ask the same of Rick and Mathias. What does it cost to run Olyblog, Olyforums, Everyday Olympia, Olympia Standard and where does the revenue come from?
I ask these questions respectfully and I ask them not to challenge anyone but to get some concrete data on the economics of local media. And yes, I will write the Olympian's ombudsman and ask the same questions.
one could also look...
Submitted by chad360 on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 5:00pm....at the cost for local neighborhood associations to print newsletters, and also note that TESC has info from "The Evergreen Free Press" run and the "Cooper Point Journal", so maybe also good places to get data like what you are asking for...
Some numbers
Submitted by einmaleins on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 5:20pm.Laurian, to support "open-source" and "community" I will go first:
Everyday Olympia and olyFORUMS are both hosted on a server that costs me $20 a month. Add to that the domain registration of another ~$10 a year.
I build all the website off of open-source code (free) and spend way too many hours every month on it, updating it and creating content. (free).
I do sell the advertisment on Everyday Olympia for, as of last month, $10 a month. And offer trades as well.
So, if you not consider the countless hours I put into the site, I actually run a profit.
Now, considering that I am "billing" my hours I spend on those sites as marketing I am actually having a ROI that is so amazing that I can't even begin to put that in words. Especially if you consider how First Friday is growing.
Now, obviously I have a computer, know how to build website, have lots of time and already own a server space. So expenses are none.
olyFORUMS and Everyday Olympia are now running together since a couple of month and in September we had over 300,000 Hits. Now this is not huge yet, but growing nonetheless.
I believe, especially as a small business owner in downtown, that there is a need for us to advertise and promote our products. I also no, that business owners around town either don't have the cash to advertise in MSM like The Olympian or traditional radio, yet at the same time they are don't "trust" new media sources like OlyBlog or olyFORUMS.
That's why I believe we need a new media source, for news, press releases for community and events announcements and for businesses and organizations to promote what they offer. But we need to present a level of trust, for businesses possibly advertising and paying for the work we do. We need to raise the level of professionalism mostly through editorial oversight, so we can offer a voice that's respected and really repesent the community of Olympia.
So, my two twenty cents.
I think we could all work together and create something really cool, but our big heads might get in the way...
mathias
einmaleins
don't have numbers....
Submitted by einmaleins on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 5:22pm.... for a print version yet, but I'm working that!
mathias
einmaleins
I'll have to refer your questions to our treasurer
Submitted by jlw on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 6:51pm.Thanks jlw and Mathias
Submitted by Laurian on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 7:03pm.Salon.com
Submitted by einmaleins on Fri, 10/10/2008 - 5:31pm.What do you think? Like the look? Like what it does?
mathias
einmaleins
Tips!?!
Submitted by Thad Curtz on Sat, 10/11/2008 - 9:09pm.I don't think writers on the web can make a living on tips... If Salon wants to divide up its advertising income on the basis of how many readers an article attracts, or on readers' ratings of an article, it might be a different story.