Commentary: Finding a different path for success

The recent failure of a San Diego news website offers the temptation to engage in a schadenfreude-laced diatribe of “I could have told you so.” But that’s never been my style. So, rather than taking any pleasure in this particular failure, my feeling is better expressed by the frustration of Marlon Brando’s character, Terry Malloy, in “On the Waterfront.” To paraphrase Malloy, “they coulda been a contender.” And that is what is so disappointing.

The failure of San Diego local news site SDNN, aka The San Diego News Network, was driven by unrealistic expectations and a bad economy. Wealthy and successful people failed to recognize their own limitations. It may be that because of their own self-image they believed that success in one field would guarantee success in another. In the case of SDNN, entrepreneurs Neil Senturia and Barbara Bry--they're married--were good at raising money and getting a respectable, though undistinguished, product on the web, but never mastered the basic economics of why people go to a local news site.

SDNN tried to succeed at local news by, in its words, creating a conversation. After a little more than a year, the news site is no longer operating. I offered my services to SDNN, early on, and also gave Bry some free advice. When SDNN had an opportunity to hire a senior executive to help run things, Bry and Senturia chose to go in a very different direction. So, that’s the full disclosure.

Beside the dynamics created by overconfidence, SDNN lacked a mastery of how to fit into the San Diego marketplace. Finding the right niche is not an easy to solve or short term problem. But it must be addressed early on. Making a better personal computer did not drive Apple’s success. Creating innovative products that were useful—and not available elsewhere—made Apple the growth stock it is today.

The other problem is usually internal. I can only speculate about SDNN's work atmosphere. But creative enterprises require motivated teams that become better with time and are driven by factors besides a paycheck. That’s where leadership comes in. Attitude and leadership should not be confused. SDNN had plenty of attitude. That is good. But it’s not enough. Solid leadership is not about charisma. It is built upon predictable behavior, a sense of service to the team, and steady focused attention on achieving clear goals.

The final piece of the puzzle involves using money wisely. Media enterprises burn through dollars rather quickly. Deciding how to spend money can never be driven by personal ego. Ego can be a useful driver in successful organizations but only if it is purposeful. To slightly alter the words of the late Hunter S. Thompson, the media business is a cruel and shallow money trench.

According to former business professor and “Good to Great” author Jim Collins, the most successful organizations and executives are built upon personal humility and professional will. As we learn from failures--even noble failures—like SDNN, it is instructive to see if Collins is right. In my experience, he’s nailed it.

Of course, this commentary is based on my own opinion, personal observation, and what could be inferred by reading SDNN over the past year. At this writing, the fact that the site's link is still active may indicate that Senturia and Bry will sell the site, re-tool and relaunch, or try again in another form. I can only guess, because when I contacted Bry to find out what happened and about future plans she politely declined to comment or engage in a conversation. In any case, I sincerely wish them well. There's no pleasure in watching the community lose a news organization.

Trying to fix the news

(To the tune of Me and Bobby McGee, by Fred Foster and Kris Kristofferson)

Ratings flat in Houston town,

Where thunder leads the rain,

Tried to find a way to “fix” the news.

Abrams sent the anchors home,

Then took off in a plane,

Took the Texas crew some time to find its way.

Feelin’ good was easy, lord, ‘cause the old ways had to change,

And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free.

It’s no surprise that The Tribune Company’s innovation guru, Lee Abrams, is not a fan of incremental change. “Why delay,” he says, “if something hasn’t been working.” Abrams shared his thoughts with us, the other day, about the upcoming “NewsFix” format that will compete in the Houston TV market, beginning this fall. The most publicized aspect of the new format-- Tribune’s KIAH is going to ditch its anchors and lead what it calls “a revolution” in TV news.

Anybody who has read this blog over the years knows that I share the view that the current model for TV news is in need of a fix. It’s been essentially the same since the 1970s. And the low ratings at KIAH hearken to another line from Me and Bobby McGee. “Freedom’s just another word, for nothing left to lose.” So with low ratings comes a lot of freedom. But an anchorless newscast will have to have characters and personalities to connect with viewers.

Successful television, perhaps more than any other medium, is built on characters and personalities. Every successful show, from Jersey Shore to Masterpiece Theatre, is rich with characters. For traditional TV viewers, the para-social relationship with anchor teams has been the foundation of viewer loyalty and success. Viewers often relate to anchors as family members or friends. So whom will viewers relate to on the NewsFix?

That’s a strategic question that requires creative answers. Unlike the movies or radio, TV is, in Marshall McLuhan’s analysis, a cool medium. We don’t watch in a darkened theater with focused attention or while driving down the road isolated in our car. TV competes with other distractions, which is one reason it has to be so character driven to be sustainable. So, an anchorless newscast will require thoughtful casting to generate meaningful connections with viewers. And yes, that can be successfully accomplished without a traditional anchor team.

Like any creative experiment, NewFix will probably strikeout a few times before it connects. Abrams believes that’s okay. In the current environment, successful news media entries need to have a grass roots feel and attention to breaking news This is particularly important for short form hand held delivery, actually more like radio than TV. For the TV part of daily news delivery, real people telling their own stories may offer the personality connection that will be necessary to sustain viewer loyalty with the absence of anchors. In many ways it is a casting challenge. Who gets to tell her story today and is it of ongoing interest? That’s the kind of question that might be appropriate at the new news morning meeting.

The other challenge will be how to connect on big stories. TV news is often at its life saving best during disasters. Houston is hurricane and thunderstorm country. Identifying the non anchor story-tellers for major storms will require preparation and a bit of training for the real life experts—not suit and tie observers but in-the-trenches-pros—who will take the place of anchors on major stories. Each market has the sort of articulate leaders who can jump in and offer real insight for those big news marathons.

Ultimately, a successful news fix will need creative producers who can work the latest technologies, but also have real news judgment to identify interesting story lines and the people who are affected. Flash without content will wind up like a September hurricane, very noisy with a lot of damage.

In the interest of disclosure, I’m not a disinterested observer. I’d enjoy working with Abrams and his team to make the NewFix a success. But unlike Abrams, I’m more a fan of incremental change than revolutionary overthrows. We agree that if something is not working it needs to be tossed. But to me the difference between success and failure is more like the difference between a major league hitter and somebody who spends his whole career in the minor leagues. As Hall of Fame hitter Tony Gwynn once explained on a Padres broadcast, what separates big league batters from the guys who never make it past Triple A is the ability to make adjustments, often small ones. You can try it without anchors, but the news needs storytellers with real stories to make it on TV.