A week ago, (or so) I made the firm decision to go to registered comments only. This was a risky choice to make, (or so I felt) as we were somewhat concerned this could hurt our daily visits. It turns out quite the opposite happened.
Now, I truly can't put a finger on exactly why our numbers have gone up by at least 10%. Could it be that the announcement of the Daily Times letting go up to 28 Employees and completely shutting down their press operation here in Salisbury and moving everything to Wilmington, I don't know.
What I do know is, everything stated above is a fact and Salisbury News continues to grow, no matter what the reason is. After spending $3.5 Mil on a new Press and relocating to a rental property, if you can't see what's in the future, well, your blind. Salisbury News stated more than 7 months ago that the Daily Times would in fact be shutting down their printing operation in Salisbury and we were right. This simply means that the Daily Times will more than likely be some two days behind, (in print) from Salisbury News, especially in events that happen in the evenings.
A close friend of mine said that he paid $1.50 for this past Sunday's Newspaper and stated he was so angry, he knew he'd never buy the paper again because there was just no worth while news in that paper. That's quite interesting because last Sunday we put up quite a lot of very interesting articles, so its not as if there wasn't news to be had. It's become more about the poor choice of managing the articles in the Daily Times and getting, (or not getting) what you paid for.
Now, some might try to pat Salisbury News on the back for chipping away, (yet again) at the disposal of the Daily Times all together. However, some might then complain that it's because of Salisbury News 28 more people are now out of jobs. Those of us involved in Salisbury News are not going to gloat over any of this. It's unfortunate that so many people have lost their jobs but you can't say, (after 7 months) they weren't warned.
Unfortunately Newspapers are a dying breed. This generation is getting their news from the Internet and Salisbury News has proven to be the leader on the Eastern Shore for that Industry. TODAY, Salisbury News added yet another new advertiser in which we are now delivering you Obituaries. That's right. Go to the third ad down on the right hand side and click on the Holloway Funeral Home Ad and it takes you right to the most current Obituaries.
Day by day, bit by bit, we're chipping away at the Newspaper Industry and sooner than later you're going to see Legal Notices and so forth published on the Internet. Salisbury News will sell that ad space for ten cents on a dollar as compared to the Daily Times once it becomes legal and that will be the final straw for the Newspaper Industry.
I'll never forget my conversation years ago with Joe Carmean when I said, if you don't publish this information I'll start my own newspaper. His reply was, "we'd love the competition". So for those people wanting to point a finger at me for 28 people losing their jobs, point your fingers at the Daily Times Management instead. If they would have printed the TRUTH and finished what they had started, Salisbury News wouldn't be here today.
In the mean time we'll kick back and try and figure out why we continue to grow each and every day. Not too shabby for almost a one man show, eh!
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
6 comments:
The Daily Times is on the ropes for one big reason-- they're the lap dog of so many corrupt local politicians, and they've played their readers for fools.
Do they think the people of this area are stupid?
And it's not just the DT, either.
Regardless, we've had enough. Of them, the other 'MSM' newspapers, and the lying, leftist TV networks.
Joe, while your traffic may be increasing, it seems as though your comments are decreasing. You used to have comments that ranged 20 or 30+ and now most of your articles only have comments in the single digits. Some have none. That's disappointing. The comments are what makes the blog so interesting. I hope your commenters return.
afactisafact,
Yes, and thank God for small favors.
Look, the idea behind this Blog is not comments, it's providing quality information.
Now, IF a particular article interests you and you're not registered, your welcome to register and make that comment. No one is stopping anyone from doing so and that's why hundreds of people have now registered.
In fact, if you want to win a pair of Fernando Guerrero Tickets, tee shirts and so forth, you have to be registered. Is that too much to ask?
We were receiving some 800 comments a day and in most cases we'd reject sometimes 600 at a time. The hateful and hurtful comments are GONE!
This leaves me a whole lot more time to research news, go out and interview people and do what I started out doing seven years ago.
With all due respect, there are plenty of places to go. I'm pleased you and many others have chosen to visit here but more importantly I've been enjoying all the personal phone calls and e-mails thanking me for going this route.
We're not the old Blog we used to be. We've grown, we're far more responsible and if it takes a while for everyone to register and comment, so be it. We're growing and our numbers prove it every single day.
Thanks for sharing.
I have to agree - no comments are better than the nasty comments that used to make it through on here. Quality is more important than quantity.
The Daily Times went under for one main reason, they sucked at writting the truth. The reporters are the worst at relaying the facts. More officials have refused to deal with them over and over because of it. I have not purchased the Daily Rag since 1999 when they published knowily false information. Joe you did help it along, but you have to say if they wrote great articles they would still be here.
Thanks for shedding some light on what is really going on in Salisbury. As a student at SU, I would always get emails from the school about armed robberies of students around campus (some in broad daylight). Yet none of these ever made the newspaper, so nobody knew what was going on in the area. Finally, thanks to your blog, the truth about crime and gangs in Salisbury is out in the open for all to see. Though I don't agree with everything on here, and who would, I enjoy reading the blog everyday.
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