Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 05, 2009 at 13:12:36:
Trib's next step: big blog
By: Ann Saphir
May 04, 2009
The Chicago Tribune is planning a network of blogs as the centerpiece of a digital push designed to win younger audiences.
The blogs, to be run under an umbrella site called ChicagoNow.com, will cover everything from sports and lifestyle to arts and culture, according to one person involved in the site's creation. Former White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell will write one; Mark Liptak, an Idaho resident who writes for WhiteSoxInteractive.com, will write another. The network will start small and expand to include "dozens and dozens" of bloggers, according to this person.
As it loses print readers and advertisers, the Tribune has been looking to the Internet for new revenue sources. The question is whether ChicagoNow.com will be able to deliver an audience that advertisers want to reach.
"Advertisers get a little wary of the content that sits within blogs" because they worry about credibility, says Shelby Saville, senior vice-president at ad agency Spark Communications in Chicago. But with a blog network backed by the Tribune, "I think there is opportunity there."
A Tribune spokeswoman did not return phone calls. The paper's parent, Tribune Co., filed for bankruptcy protection in December after an ill-timed buyout by Sam Zell went south.
The paper has been building its reliance on blogs, funneling breaking news through a dedicated blog and showcasing "Chicago's best blogs" on its Web site. For a time it ran ChicagoSports.com, which included blogs and other information, but shut the site down late last summer. Most of its audience came from out of town, which made it a hard sell to media buyers, who tend to use the Tribune to reach a local audience.
ChicagoNow.com is undergoing testing and is expected to be launched in the next month. Bill Adee, the Tribune's editor of digital media, is overseeing the project. Jimmy Greenfield, Web producer for the Trib's RedEye tabloid, is directing the site's sports coverage, which will include Mr. Liptak's blog.
"If I can provide some insight, maybe make someone's day a little happier, as cornball as that sounds, yeah, I'm willing to do it," Mr. Liptak says.
The push comes just after Tribune cut dozens of newsroom jobs, including sportswriter Melissa Isaacson, who started her own blog last week. "They obviously have quite a challenge ahead of them building up blogs pretty much from the ground floor, even as they've let go writers who had followings," she says.