TNT's New Publisher Is ... David Zeeck

14 comments

• U UPTiki July 30, 2008

  Ed’s Diner blog is saying that Ed quit this morning. Coincidence?

• S Squid July 30, 2008

  Irony: Zeeck gets passed over twice for the top dog position and finally gets the call but only when the paper and the industry is in a state of irreversible decline. Rather than overseeing the production/desemination of news, Z now gets to manage prolonged downsizing.

  Good News! You just got named publisher of the TNT.

  Bad News: You just got named publisher of the TNT.

• C CA July 30, 2008

  I dont really know much about the newspaper business, but it seems like the TNT is going through some very difficult times right now. Which is sad for me. I’m actually a big fan of the TNT and want to see it do well. I think they should re-focus and once again become Tacoma’s paper, instead of the south sounds’s paper.

• N NSHDscott July 30, 2008

  Zeeck’s awesome, he’s the best man for the job and he’s earned it. Years ago he gave a talk to my staff before my second year as Ed in Chief of the UPS student paper, and it was just what we needed. I’ve been a fan ever since.

• C Christine July 31, 2008

  I agree with CA. I would like to see it become the “TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE” again. More intensive local coverage, back to the meat and potatoes of the greater Tacoma area, not the vague “South Sound”.

  Obviously, I know nothing about the finances of newpapers, but I miss the connection I once felt with the TNT. If Ed is going away, I’m sorry for that. He is interesting and a bit of a character, which is much needed in the bland Morning News Tribune.

• C CA July 31, 2008

  Do newspapers really need to devote entire pages and illustrations to the weather forecast? With the internet, tv, and radio being so accessible, does anyone really rely on the newspaper for weather reports? I would imagine that the TNT, or any newspaper, could save lots of money by dropping their weather page.

• M morgan July 31, 2008

  The funny thing is, everyone knows what the TNT should do – except the TNT. Maybe they forgot that way back when they were “Tacoma’s” paper they still covered news beyond the city limits. I don’t think Lakewood harbored resentment for it.

  By being devoted to no one, no one can be devoted to them.

• K katie July 31, 2008

  They don’t just cover Tacoma. What about Lakewood, University Place, Fircrest? These are very much a part of our community. Would you want them excluded? And I always go with the TNT weather. I think I it is more accurate then other sources i.e. the weather channel.

• T Thorax O'Tool July 31, 2008

  “… My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
  My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
  The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
  From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
  Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
  But I, with mournful tread,
  Walk the deck my Captain lies,
  Fallen cold and dead.”

  -Walt Whitman

  It means little to be the captain of a sinking ship. And this isn’t the Trib’s (err, McClatchy’s) fault entirely. All forms of print media are in irreversible decline.
  Remember, Seattle only has 2 papers because of the JOA. Both are hurting too, despite the federally approved (and encouraged) duopoly.
  If the Trib wants to survive, they gotta go local. This day in age, anyone can get the latest AP headlines on their phones!
  I hope Z understands this and can help slow the ultimate irrelevance the Trib is currently doomed to.

• S Squid July 31, 2008

  The big question is whether or not the economics of going local in a place the size of Tacoma will work in the Brave New Internet World. Will you pay $3/day for your fishwrap? $2? $1? Because that will be the cost. Covering news locally means paying writers (salaries, health, retirement, etc.), which is very, very expensive compared to wire subscriptions.

  Local businesses, long the financial bread and butter of the daily have found alternative means of getting their message out that are cheaper and more effective than a print add. Subscriptions and paper sales aren’t really the problem – those are steady. It’s advertising revenue that dried up and isn’t coming back. It’s not a blip, it’s gone, baby gone.

  It’s a thorny, many-headed problem and if it was as simple as “going local” then the code would have been cracked long ago.

  Perhaps soon, some local paper will figure out how to not just survive, but thrive, and that will provide the model for others to follow. It hasn’t happened yet and if it doesn’t soon you are going to see lots of community papers going under.

  Dave is a great guy, and I have the utmost respect for his abilities. Still, he is going to have to bring his A+ game to this gig.

• C CA July 31, 2008

  It’s logical for the TNT to cover UP, Fircrest, Lakewood, etc. I just dont understand the reasoning for being the “south sound newspaper.”

• S Squid July 31, 2008

  CA@11: Simple. Expand your base of potential business advertisers. Newswise, they’d run practically the same stories, covering a virtually identical geographic area if they went back to being the Tacoma News Tribune.

  Follow the money.

• C CA July 31, 2008

  That part I understand squid. But does the News Tribune really need to be Olympia’s paper also? They have their own paper. I think “the south sound’s paper” is too broad a geographic range. Id keep it to Pierce County.

• S Squid July 31, 2008

  I’m just sayin’ CA, that it’s a WAY bigger problem than a few Oly stories. The problem isn’t the news side, it is mostly the advertising side. Advertisers didn’t flee because of reductions in readership, they left for other outlets and different tactics to reach customers.

  I’d like to see greater Tacoma/Pierce emphasis and deeper local news coverage as well, but doing that won’t solve their problems.

  Ultimately, I think the short-answer solution is they have to find a way to monetize their web presence. I’ll get back to you (with a fat wallet) when I figure that one out.