The Capital Times: Is change good?

On Feb. 20, New Mexico residents received a shock. The Albuquerque Tribune, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper would cease to publish after Feb. 23 due to a decline in circulation.

The Tribune was one of two Albuquerque newspapers. The Albuquerque Journal and the Tribune had coexisted thanks partially to a joint operating agreement signed in 1933 that allowed the companies to merge advertising and share a press.

Two weeks earlier, The Capital Times newspaper in Madison had announced major changes. Effective April 26, they would no longer publish a newspaper version of their product.

Instead, it would publish two weekly print supplements: a Wednesday publication focused on editorials and news; and a Thursday magazine geared towards entertainment. The main daily focus for The Capital Times will be their website, CapTimes.com.

“You try to explain we’re not dying, we’re just changing formats and we’ll still be there and people look at you funny,” says Judy Ettenhofer, managing editor for The Capital Times about their transformation to the web. “They sort of get it, and they sort of don’t.”

Sue Robinson, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and former business reporter for Gannett newspapers agrees.

“My hope is that rather than stepping into some grave, the Cap Times has found an innovative way to shift its focus so that the brand can live on,” says Robinson.

A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism points a gloomy picture for print publications. Circulation for daily newspapers continues to fall 2.5 percent per year, while Sunday circulation drops 3.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of people going online for news on a regular basis continues to grow. The study says that the audience for major news sites is also rising.

According to Ettenhofer, The Capital Times is the first major newspaper to transition most of their resources online.
“It’s exciting for a publication to devote that much to a website,” says Phil Hands, an editorial cartoonist for the Wisconsin State Journal.

The Deal

One reason The Capital Times can make the move to a web-based news source is due to a revenue agreement with the State Journal. The agreement states that both newspapers split profits equally. Ettenhofer admits this gives The Capital Times an advantage other newspapers might not have.

“We can try something experimental and see if we can figure out new ways to generate revenue,” says Ettenhofer. “We are aware of our responsibility to try and help produce revenue.”

But not everyone is convinced the change is good.

Hands says the revenue agreement “holds back both publications.”

“It’s not great for the State Journal,” says Hands. “They’re not under an obligation to ‘make it’ because they’re subsidized.”

Dee Hall, an investigative reporter for the State Journal, worries the push of content to the web might hinder in-depth stories and research.

“Everyone wants instant news these day,” says Hall. “But every hour that an editor or reporter spends posting ‘breaking news’ is an hour they aren’t spending developing sources, doing a probing interview or plowing through piles of documents.”

“We may end up feeding the beast,” says Hall, “while starving the majority of newspaper readers, who get their news from print precisely because it has depth and context.”

Paving the way

Ettenhofer admits they have no one to use as a model when making the change.

“I think what we’re doing is pretty cutting edge,” says Ettenhofer. “There is excitement over the potential and imagining all the different types of content we can offer on the website.”

Robinson agrees.

“I think their future -- as with all newspapers -- depends on how well they can utilize the interactive and multimedia attributes that will come with their new online presence while combining good - and ultimately, profitable - journalistic practices,” she says.

Ettenhofer says that while the local community sees the change as the death of a newspaper, national sources have contacted her voicing their support.

Media institutes such as Poynter have praised the transformation. “You guys may be on the cusp of what the industry will be doing in the future, you may be the start of a trend,” was one response Ettenhofer received. “There will probably be other newspapers that will be doing what you’re doing within a year.”

Robinson, who focuses on new media, agrees.

“They have the opportunity here to be a pioneer,” says Robinson. “I am holding out hope that this will mean a step in the direction of newspapers' resurrection.”

The change prevents The Capital Times from suffering the same demise as the Albuquerque Tribune.

At least for now.