2006 Resolutions

E&P's new media columnist Steve Outing has published a list of New Year's resolutions for the newspaper industry.

There are some worthy goals among them:

1. "I will discuss more, talk less."
2. "I will dare to wiki."
3. "I will be more interactive."
4. "I will seek out 'citizen advertisers.'"
5. "I will learn to turn free classifieds into money."
6. "I will publish where the young people are."
7. "I will devise a better Web site registration scheme."
8. "I will become a podcast god."
9. "I will not become complacent; I will remain alert."

I especially like No. 6. I worry that No. 9 has about as much chance for success as my resolution to lose 50 pounds and enter an Iron Man competition.

Athenae, who blogs at First Draft, reacted to Outing's resolutions with more pointed -- and maybe more useful -- advice:

Here's some resolutions: Stop sucking. Stop running front-page features on flip-flops and the Sopranos and The Passion of the Christ. Stop cutting your newsrooms in half because you only pulled a 20 percent profit last year. Stop acting irritated that your readership isn't what it used to be. Nothing's what it used to be. Stop saying you have no money for journalism and sending your ad sales execs to Jamaica as a reward for meeting quota. Learn to wiki? How about learning to FOIA? Do the little things: Local official giving you a hard time? Request his travel reimbursement records. Tell the story you don't think is a story because it's always been that way, or because everybody does it. Stand up to power ...

Happy New Year!