On Sunday, Times-Union Media announced their all-access launch after months of hard work and preparation.  Just like our previous launches in Augusta and Lubbock, print subscribers get our phone apps, e-edition and iPad app as part of their membership.  But on the web, the strategy differs.

Augusta and Lubbock took a metered approach, where web users are allowed to read a certain number of stories for free each month.  In Jacksonville, subscribers gain access to members.jacksonville.com, which will include all the journalism from the Florida Times-Union plus extras.  Jacksonville.com  will remain free and will include breaking news and much of what readers have come to expect.  

Subscribers, now called members, will be asked to pay more when their current subscription expires.  Advertising just doesn't subsidize our investment in news and information as it once did.  To maintain the quality of journalism our readers have come to expect, we need a more balanced mix of subscriber and advertising revenue.

T-U Editor Frank Denton did a masterful job of explaining the Times-Union's commitment to journalism.  This column is definitely worth a read. While he speaks about Jacksonville specifically, this commitment exists across Morris and around the industry.

All-access is an important strategy that should immediately help stabilize and grow consumer revenue.  But it is not an end-all solution.  No single digital strategy is.

I encourage you to read a recent article on Gigaom.  As with all disruptions, we are seeing divergent, almost contradictory strategies by media companies.  Some companies are trying new things, others focus more on traditional competitive tactics.  Many are trying to do both. We know things like all-access subscriptions will have short-term positive impact on revenue, but the long-term is not a given.

Repeat:  The long-term is not a given.

But if we continue to move forward with urgency on our existing digital initiatives while continuously seeking new business models, I like our chances.

We are working very hard to make our organization agile enough to leverage opportunities in front of us while simultaneously building growth areas for our future.  It’s not an easy thing to do, and requires that we embrace change as part of our DNA.

As always, I would love your feedback.  Please feel free to email me your thoughts and suggestions.

~Derek