Skip to main content

De-Froomkined WaPo: the numbers still don't make sense

WaPo_SlateQuantcastComparison_21JUN09
WaPo's editorial page editor Fred Hiatt claimed it was low traffic which did in Dan Froomkin's blog. The truth is still quite sketchy, but uglier and not about traffic. Jane wrote yesterday about the Washington Post's ugly practices which squelched Dan Froomkin's traffic; she's also looked at WaPo's flat traffic in comparison to the increasingly popular Huffington Post and newspaper competitor The New York Times.

And I've already looked at the performance of the op-ed team as well; we can rule out Hiatt's lame excuse about traffic as the reason for Froomkin's exit when half the team is doing badly or worse.

We might be tempted ignore WaPo's less-than-happy performance and cut the crusty old newspaper some slack as they adapt to the internet, but unfortunately, WaPo cannot claim a lack of institutional knowledge about internet-based media.

Most of us have forgotten that WaPo's parent The Washington Post Company owns Slate.com; in internet years Slate is older than Methuselah, neck-and-neck in age with competitor Salon.com. At the decrepit age of 13 years, Slate's editorial and management team has seen it all and managed to survive it -- and in theory, should be a deep resource for WaPo's transition to a future based solely on the internet.

At least you'd think a rational management team at WaPo or its parent would see it this way.

If anything, Slate has floundered for the last handful of years as new competitors entered the marketplace and began eating into marketshare.

What a remarkable coincidence: WaPo's parent bought Slate in 2004.

But here is another missed opportunity, besides the inability of WaPo to convert Slate into an effective launchpad for an internet-based future.

Why isn't Dan Froomkin transferring to Slate, bringing with him his own dedicated fan base? Was this an option? (Somebody want to ask Dan if WaPo's parent ever suggested this?)

Looking at the web analytics again, Salon has a more dedicated base of addicts and regulars than Slate, as well as 20% more traffic in spite of having a paid subscriber model -- a model which failed for Slate. Why isn't Slate and its owner looking at leveraging opportunities right under their noses to increase traffic and reader loyalty?

Is it because The Washington Post Company really doesn't understand the internet and new media, and simply wants to look like it does from a distance?

And why are shareholders like Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway putting up with the financial drain WaPo places on other earnings from more profitable ventures like Kaplan, Inc.? Why aren't they looking to spin off WaPo, Slate, and any other media components out from The Washington Post Company to another Berkshire Hathaway holding, like Walt Disney and its ABC network, or to GE and its NBC network? These firms do understand media and the internet, after all, and might be able to improve profitability through economies of scale.

Anyway you look at it, the problem with traffic at WaPo and its blogs has not been Dan Froomkin. There are a few other names we should be seeing announced as soon-to-be former employees of The Washington Post Company and its subsidiaries if the company was really in the business of increasing shareholder value.


[Cross-posted at Oxdown Gazette; graph courtesy of Quantcast.com.]

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Liveblogged: U.S. vs. Libby -- A primer

As FireDogLake's liveblogging of Libby's trial continues, I note a number of abbreviations, acronyms, slang, shorthand popping up on the fly that most of us Plame-maniacs already know but newbies may not grasp. I'm going to try to document them here, a kind of not-so-secret decoder ring. If there's something you'd like to see added, leave me a comment and I'll cover it here. NOTE: in the event of a server crash at FireDogLake.com, check Windcatpond for announcements, as well as DailyKos for alternative live blogging posts. Complete list of FireDogLake's Libby trial live blog and related posts her e. Acronyms and Abbreviations: "ADD" From notes introduced during testimony by David Addington; abbreviation referred to Addington himself. ADDOPS ? -- Believe to be “Asst. Deputy Director Operations”-CIA (if you can confirm this one, leave me a comment, tks!) CIPA

Just In Case

 It's been a long time since I used this blog  —  nine years. That's an insanely long time on the internet. What can I say? I've over-invested myself in Twitter accounts. Microblogging suited me well for the last decade, in tandem with the writing and support work I've done at emptywheel. Now it's time to return to my roots. I may be here more frequently, especially if the Twitter sale goes through and is closed on. Just in case I leave Twitter altogether I'm floating this message in a bottle for you. Leave me a comment here if you want to chat, let me know how to contact you back. Catch me in comments over at emptywheel. Contact me on Mastodon at @raynetoday@mstdn.social . Those of you who've known me longer can still reach me by email which hasn't changed since I started this blog. You will NOT find me at Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Never. You may soon find me at Discord as I'm thinking about opening an account there. Whatever the case, I hop

Veep in deep

The Veep "accidentally" shoots a fellow hunter. From here on there is absolutely nothing good about this story. It stinks like curdled milk and three-day-old fish on a summer's day in Dallas. How do we even begin to count the ways in which this reeks? The 22-hour gap: WTF? There's absolutely no excuse for this, we can all agree on this point. But why? Was a key person in this story under the influence of a substance that would take a day to clear? Were they trying to get their stories straight? Heck, could they not come up with a story? Or was the victim not in the clear for that long? The "group" of hunters: Why did it take even longer than the 22-hour gap to identify the third hunter? Why is the media repeatedly using the word "group" to describe two people (Dick Cheney and Pamela Willemore)? The composition of the party: A divorcee ranch owner. An older man who does not appear to be married at this time. A woman sans spouse.