I’m no fan of Bill Hobbs*, but I try to give props where they are due, so here goes nothing. Hobbs left a comment at the farewell post at Volunteer Voters that deserves praise on a couple of levels. First, I’ll make with what he said:
It’s been a week, and I’ve come to a conclusion about the demise of VolunteerVoters.com. It’s not a big loss. It’s a MAMMOTHLY HUGE loss. There is a giant hole in the media fabric in Tennessee when it comes to political news. VV was the indispensable go-to source for all things political involving Tennessee, and provided depth and context that the various disparate news outlets often lack.
Additionally, while MSM outlets mention or quote from press releases and documents and such, VV often uploaded the whole thing, or gave readers a link to it - making it a far more valuable resource than any single MSM outlet for politics junkies.
It’s a damned shame that WKRN couldn’t figure out how to monetize the single most valuable political news property in the state. Here’s hoping that some other news outlet, one which understands the new media - and the new media consumer - and wants to be an information portal for its readers rather than just an information destination, decides it wants to take over VV, or at least hire Kleinheider to build a VV replacement for them.
This comment from Hobbs is about as close to how I feel about the situation as it can be. That site was special. It did something no other site does, at least not on the same level (hard for those with other jobs to compete with a full-time, paid blogger), which is streamline local and related national political news and opinion for an influential and sizable audience. Nashville editors, Tennessee senators and journalists all over the country logged in on a daily basis to read what Kleinheider brought. Surely someone with some smarts and a little vision can turn that into a profitable endeavor, at least in the long term. Bill’s dead on with that statement.
Here’s what also deserved recognition, and what prompted me to write this post: Kleinheider gave Hobbs hell. I mean, he deserved it, but VV was relentless when it came to the GOP blogger who is, no matter how you slice it, a force to be reckoned with. And yet, Hobbs comes to one of his biggest critic’s defense because what Volunteer Voters gave to its readers was bigger than all that. Cheers to Bill for being a big man. At least about that.
*Oh hai, understatement.
6 comments ↓
For as much hell as I’ve given WKRN and local media in general for Not Getting It, I do sympathize with their situation.
At the end of the day, these stations are businesses with salaries to pay. VV was no doubt a valuable asset, but to whom? Clearly it wasn’t valuable to WKRN, because it wasn’t making them money.
Monetizing things that are new and nebulously valuable to a community without alienating that same community is tough. It’s easy for me to rip on WKRN for their decisions, but consider if you were the one making the decisions. What was the answer for them? Ads plastered all over? (The advertising model is a decreasing win, these days). A subscription model that alienates/loses probably half the userbase? I’m not sure what the answer was..
There probably definitely was and is a viable model there, but it’s not what that can be underwritten by a corporate-owned local station facing budget cuts and bottom lines that subsist on traditional, old-school, dying media.
It clearly wasn’t the best decision, as it’s clear that in the “evolve or die” dichotomy, WKRN has chosen “die” — but I can sympathize with the difficulty of the situation. Change is never easy, particularly when real people’s salaries and livelihoods are on the line.
Agreed completely. It’s too bad that Young Broadcasting is tanking so hard, because what Sechrist started there had all the roots of something fantastic. As much as I dig my blog job here, it wasn’t born of the same supreme passion and vision that Sechrist brought to the table. What was seeded there blossomed and then was cut down. There really was no other choice considering the challenges, but I still consider it tragic.
Part of me thinks that ACK should go out on his own.. Server space is cheap. It would take a lot less advertising and/or subscriptions or whatever to cover the overhead of one person than it does to cover the overhead of a large TV station trying it..
He’s got a dedicated readership already, and they’d be a lot less alienated by attempts to solicit donations, have ads foisted on them, or to subscribe, since they know that he’s doing it to make a living and keep the site up as opposed to lining the pocket of a corporate behemoth..
Not an easy task though..
If my suspicions are correct what may be next could be very similar to that. With a little financial backing to make things easier.
Again, just a hunch.
[…] it often, but I’ve been thinking. What started it was the aggregator. I looked over there and Brittney Gilbert was praising Bill Hobbs. Seriously doing so. First I thought zombies had taken over her blog, then […]
Please drop by KRON and give them the finger for killing VV please.
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