Sad news today, as word was confirmed that Patch has let go all of its staff in Essex County and beyond. But this may be a giant opportunity for many - at least in New Jersey.
As per the future, the new company that bought the Patch from AOL may be using their sites for some kind of aggregation of news or perhaps Facebook inspired pages. Hale Global, an investment company, got rid of most of the staff left at Patch today, and word spread as editors and writers were told not to come back to work. Now, with just about all of the AOL Patch sites unmanned, employees will be getting about 2 months severance pay from AOL. The sites, though up, will be as I predicted two months ago - with "re-purposed" entries.
Forbes reports that the Patch sites are reported to become "zombie" sites, which are unstaffed sites with "re-purposed" content.
It's time for many editors and writers formerly of Patch to reach out to publishers like myself.
As the publisher of the first hyper-local daily newspaper (not blog) here in our area, publishing as much original content and journalism as possible, I can tell you it is difficult to remain independent, local, and profitable.
However, it can be done. And, you can enjoy doing it - with the right tools, cheerleader/mentor (me) and business plan, you can make some money and keep on writing and editing. Only this time, without a billion dollar corporation behind you, you will experience the thrill - and sometimes fright - of running your own town and module under our
umbrella and name.
Over the past few years, since the day AOL Patch launched, I have written over 30 articles warning their writers to be wary of the business model being utilized, but at the same time, felt a bond with many of them. The brain child of Tim Armstrong, the head of AOL, the Patch had a lofty and wonderful notion: to help bring local news to the digital age across the country.
The problem to me, however, was that they launched in many towns and cities that already had robust local news digital platforms, and with
the already shrinking ad revenue market and the large overhead for AOL Patch, the success of this venture seemed, to me, to be highly doubtful.
Still, I raise a glass to all Patch writers and editors, and to Tim Armstrong for trying to do something on such a massive scale.
If you are an editor or writer in New Jersey and looking to launch a new town, send me an email. I am open and ready to help you, and with a robust and profitable newspaper, perhaps this is a great opportunity for many journalists.
Diane@thejerseytomatopress.com
Updates to follow.
