Without more underlining data (e.g avg revenue per sub) which could turn this into a more positive note) I see this as very discouraging for 2yrs. Because they produce must-read stories & their reach is regional (much greater than local), I think they should have more. https://twitter.com/larryryckman/status/1273234246094577664

In one light, the daily audience reach for the Colorado Sun is 2 Million households of which 90% have a computer, or 1.8M. At 10,000 subscribers they will have converted only 1/2 of 1% of their potential.

One area that other news organizations could probably expect to do better is through interacting with the audience. Many digital subscribers like to spend time interacting and the folks from the Colorado Sun, IMO, appear uncomfortable with it.

Beyond a local, as a regional, the Colorado Sun has syndication opportunities and hopefully, their licensing revenue arm is relevant compared to subscriber revenue.

Another likely area of loss for the Colorado Sun, IMO: They should not expect to reach minorities as they appear unconcerned and uncomfortable with the voice of non-white people.

The thing that works best for Colorado Sun IMO is their talent with story ideas. Journalists would probably learn a lot in attending their story idea meetings to understand how they find and determine their story ideas. From there, the stories write themselves.

This might be their main asset. It’s probably one of the best and most important assets any journal could have, and might be the most difficult for others to consistently maintain.

The Denver Post and Daily Camera for example have a less valuable asset with regards to their ability to find a story.

The Camera & Post have as their main asset an established brand name that allows them to manage their stories mostly by incoming. If anyone in the community has a story, who will they call first? Their local newspaper. So they can field incoming story ideas w/o much seeking.

This type of asset for the established media is so grand, but also ethereal.

What if a competitor comes along? And what if within 5-10 years they become bigger and more reputable? The incoming will go down proportionately, and imagine where The Daily Camera eg would be if they were not getting the calls anymore?

If people stopped calling, their main asset would be the historical volume of articles generating SEO attention through search authority to their ads, all of which is declining with interest and monetary value over time.

If you wanted to buy The Daily Camera, and people were not calling with incoming, I feel you would be buying an archive that would be only a marketing value. That money might be better spent by the Colorado Sun or another startup on their own targeted marketing, or product build.

As for a new news startup in Boulder, say, with a group as able as the Colorado Sun in selecting story ideas out of the gate, the single metric of taking over the incoming volume is all that would be required to remain perpetually healthy.

As for the Sun, they are at a disadvantage for incoming because they are not local to anyone, but also not national and this limited mostly often to the state.

What the Sun could use to compensate in a major way is unfortunately their main weaknesses IMO: the lack of digital interaction. Full circle.

Digital interaction is an explosive value that can cause your audience to become the marketers consequently. They’ll also have more emotion to share for you and their audience — more empathy and humanity —major drivers of brand affinity and digital revenue.

The Sun can eyeroll the idea of interaction as statistically the majority of their readers & target will not interact & do not want that. It’s prob true, most news readers don’t care about or even see the online interactivity. It’s the group who does that becomes a major asset.

The Sun has 10,000 members though I believe (correct me if I am wrong) a member can join (and maintain a membership) for as little as a one time payment of $5. How many, I’d be concerned about, are fans? As in ‘true fans’? https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

A digital reader who likes to interact, and who feels welcome and part of it, even if it’s just a feeling that they have, is a valuable true fan potential ready to extend your reach through more like-minded audiences, acting as major hubs for digital growth.

Some orgs have a very valuable asset in their array when the journalists are also human, and they are not just here ‘for’ you, but more clearly they are here ‘with’ you, on the journey together.

It doesn’t happen by allowing editorials or getting personal in newsletters. It doesn’t happen by sending out a personal tweet. It requires conversation, sharing in *their* emotions, sharing ideas, riffing, questioning, being a human being also.

I’ve seen many successful cases where jounalists grew large audiences of fans and followers for being great at their work, while also human online, but they also kept their privacy and most of their personality separate. One can find an angle to develop.

Another way of looking at is that The Colorado Sun has the content but it doesn’t have a platform. This is the ‘content is king’ conundrum. Content is king and it isn’t. Same for the Camera and the Post, they do not have platforms.

When I say ‘platform’ I do not mean a political platform. I mean a digital platform for their readers. The Sun is just an index of articles. The Post and the Camera are just mine fields of ads. They have no where for people to go to belong.

News business has a love/hate relationship with tech business though, it shouldn’t. Tech is not The Answer or The King, it’s just a department. But it’s also largely the product dept at this point, esp for the Sun which is paperless. Thus they have no tech. And so no platform.

These limitations can be overcome. I can’t help but think of how positive this result of 10,000 members would be for other journalists interested in starting a local effort w/more diversity & a platform. Perfect time to take the ball & run.

There are two things that I am absolutely 100% sure that the Sun does right. They are working with a non-ad based model. Please read up on the history of how ads came to be married with news, it's just horrible. Advertising is THE WORST for news biz 2. The news is open & free.

Any new news startup that puts their work behind a paywall, or attempts to go with an advertising model is likely dead in the water.

I wonder about the Sun's decision to go with a profit model versus a non-profit model. While situations will be different for different groups in different places with different missions, I believe the Sun would thrive more with a non-profit model.

If the news business entruepenuer comes to ask, shall I take a profit model or a non-profit model for my new news business, what is the reason for taking a for-profit model? To remove the limits on the amount of money the entrepreneur can personally make.

If the Sun were to convert to a non-profit, what do they have now that they would not be able to keep? Nothing. They would still make the same salary. They would still run memberships, they would not run into any regulation problems. Nothing would change & they could march on.

The question then becomes what would the Sun have to gain on top of what they have now if they converted to a non-profit?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

The Sun is performing w/the end result work and they would appeal to businesses. They have all of the businesses in the state of Colorado to solicit for revenue that these businesses must pay. They must pay taxes, and they will happily decide where to allot it for a write-off.

The non-profit can be an advantage for a state-wide, regional news co over a local because a local non-profit will be limited by the number of businesses they can reach for funding. In a small town without a lot of prospering business, a non-profit may not work.

In #Boulder, we have the perfect set of variables for a local non-profit due to the number of wealthy businesses we have, as well as the cultural understanding that news is important.

There is also a reason why I think the Sun, in particular, should not be a for-profit, and it has to do with the same reason why adverting should not be paired with the news.

At the Colorado Sun, the entrepreneurs who stand to make the profits are also the journalists and editors. It's very difficult to be in a position of writing and editing the news while also being concerned about news profits. These should be at an arms-length relationship.

This is why the Post "allegedly" keeps their advertising department and the editorial departments separate. The person who is selling ads is not supposed to talk to the editor, else the editor could decide not to run a story out of fear they'll lose their ad money.

As a non-profit, the owners can still justify super healthy salaries and incentivize their staff with super healthy salaries. Healthy salaries can be part of their mission that the word needs for journalists right now.

For these reasons, I think the @coloradosun should convert to a non-profit and immediately diversify its people. /END