The L.A. Times, They Are A'Changin'

LAist.com blog editor Tony Pierce takes over the Times’ online kingdom by Peter Gilstrap


But at LAist, you didn’t pander to youngsters.
I think one reason our demographic at LAist got older when I showed up was we were not afraid to embrace or diss younger people. Unfortunately young people don’t like that, and they left. Good. Have fun on Myspace. What was interesting was, the older people were challenged by the younger material.

How did the Times react to your ideas?
I proposed a lot of ideas to them. Some were completely radical, some not so radical, yet every single one was met with smiles. It didn’t matter if it was one of the guys running the data base, or John Arthur, the managing editor, who I thought was going to be the one guy who wasn’t going to like any of my ideas. I kept thinking, am I being punked? Are they just smiling and nodding and aren’t going to hire me?    

How much do you need to know to run the diverse Times blogs?
Somebody’s got to run all the blogs, and that person is going to have to have a wide variety of knowledge. I’m not saying I’m an expert, but you start reading and see what’s out there and see what other people are doing. I don’t think that’s how any newspaper has been approaching blogging, looking at the successful blogs, or even knowing where to look for successful blogs.

Where will blogging be in five years?
Five years ago, there was nothing close to the Huffington Post, I don’t even think there was a Technorati 100. Blogging has come such a long way since back then. That’s tough to predict. But, I will say that I think the newspapers are going to get it together, and that’s why I’m happy to be in the position that I’m in. They see circulation going down, and see that they’re going to have to change in some way. I don’t think that’s as radical a change as they might think. I think you’ll see blogs on the Technorati 100, probably from the New York Times, LA Times and Washington Post, but I don’t think they’re going to be straight news. You might see a blog from the Houston Chronicle, which has a very nice selection on their site, higher than the New York Times.

Not only is the bloggosphere an open playing field, it’s an open playing field that’s incredibly volatile. So if you don’t adjust with the times every six months in an honest way, you’ll be dropped like a hot potato. It’s a finicky place, and you have to constantly be improving.



 

 

Share/Save/Bookmark 1 | 2 |

 

Bliss World, LLC