Daily Archives: November 11, 2008

A letter to Martin A. Nisenholz, The New York Times

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Dear Mr. Nisenholtz,

 

Do you realize you are at the reins of what should be the world’s largest media property, an online property poised to be the world’s news source — with circulation dwarfing that of the paper?  Newspapers are not going away, paper is. The New York Times is a news reporting organization. Yet one, I submit, whose officers are sitting around a conference table wondering about paper vs. video vs. podcast vs. mobile vs. HiDef. 

 

You are thinking medium not news. Here a social media idea that might help: How about paying people around the world to report stories as they happen in a Twitter-like application, supported by a news algorithm that culls for accuracy. Now there’s a meeting.

 

Mr. Nisenholtz, I think you’ve dropped the ball. According to Alexa, CNN.com is ranked #50 and you are #90.  You need to be in the top 5. Globally, 300 million uniques a day is within reach. Please don’t think that’s out of the question.  Web penetration is planet ubiquitous.

 

The world’s most famous brands are Jesus, Coke, Mohammad Ali, U2, and The New York Times.  You can do this. Peace!

 

New York Times, Martin A. Nisenholz, Alexa, CNN, NYTimes.com, whatstheidea, whats the idea, marketing blogs, Jesus, Coke, Mohammad Ali, U2, twitter