Texas Tribune Launches (Yawn)

It is unfair to review a restaurant the day it opens, and the same applies to new platforms in journalism.  But today’s unveiling of the state-wide news site headquartered in Austin confirms some of my suspicions about the concept. To sum it up: I don’t care about El Paso or Tyler or most of what else goes on in the state. That’s why I don’t stay umbillically attached all day to the Texas AP wire. And that’s why at first glance this new boy on the block leaves me unimpressed.

In fact, among the statewide sites, Quorum Report and Paul Burka are the only ones I check, and even then infrequently. As Tim says, political junkies and other journalists may want what the Trib provides, but at least off the bat I’m not sure I do. The problem is that it seems to think that news is important. And sometimes it is. But most often it is not.

Perhaps the premise of the site is wrong. Journalists and writers hold the conceit that people buy newspapers for the news. Actually, people buy newspapers for the paper, that is, for the classifieds, comics, crosswords, and coupons. They still do, even though the classifieds have mostly migrated to the interwebs. Newspapers remain the single best distribution channel for coupons, which are a huge part of American retail.

There’s a reason, after all, that the editorial content of a newspaper is called the news hole. It was originally put there to fill the space around the ads. Most of it still remains filler. Check Section A of the Morning News every morning for a week, then tell me how much you read. As I said, most of it is just not that important.

The challenge for the The Trib is that reporting is not enough. Having great reporters is not enough. Even fresh, original reporting from these great reporters is not enough. If the site is going to be successful, I have to learn to depend on it: on its voice, on its perspective, on its insight, on its analysis. That’s why I daily check the blogs that I do. The news I can get anywhere.

This, of course, takes time, which is why this entire post is unfair. Before the Trib goes so far into the red that it is irredeemable, its very smart leaders will sift through the good and the bad, the read and the unread, the traffic patterns and the things that get no traffic, and target more clearly what service they can provide that nobody else does. Like all media enterprises, it will evolve. For a media guy like me, that in itself will be well worth watching. I suspect those of you who lead more normal lives will find better things to do.