As indicators of the mainstream media’s decline continue to accumulate, I have noticed that the Richmond Times-Dispatch has been trying to adapt to new realities.
Those realities include this wry observation by projects editor Gordon Hickey:
Surveys, studies, focus groups, and countless letters to the editor inform us that we are losing circulation in the ages 4-98 demographic.
I’ve become so convinced that people aren’t reading the paper anymore that I feel safe in telling you that you’re not reading this.
Hickey goes on to subtly disparage one of the paper’s competitors, blogging, in a tongue-in-cheek way, but one has to take seriously the idea that blogging by RT-D staff is under consideration.
More substantively, President and Publisher Thomas Silvestri introduced a major change to the Sunday Commentary section that debuted today. He also described a “Public Square” initiative to tie the paper more closely to the local community. Apparently, one public event will be held this year to test the concept before a large number are held next year.
While the RT-D is to be commended for attempting to change, that kind of lumbering pace doesn’t exactly instill confidence.
