Can libraries learn from The Rocky Mountain News?

Here is a thought provoking presentation by John Temple, former editor, president and publisher of The Rocky Mountain News. Founded in 1859, The Rocky Mountain News was Colorado’s oldest newspaper. However, it published its final edition on February  27, 2009. It was the first major paper to close after the economic crash and Temple outlines the events that led to the paper’s closure, many of them related to the paper’s inability to deal with new technologies. He believes that the lessons he learned can be broadly applied, and I am sure librarians can draw insights from his presentation to help us understand our engagement with both emerging technologies and our users.

Temple’s ten lessons are as follows;

  • Know what business you’re in.
  • Know your customers.
  • Know your competition.
  • Know your goal.
  • Have a strategy and be committed to pursuing it.
  • Measure, measure, measure.
  • Keep new ventures free from the rules of the old.
  • Let the people running a new venture do what’s best for their business, regardless of the potential impact on the old.
  • To compete in a new medium, you have to understand it.
  • Invest in R&D.

October 12, 2009 · Filed Under Conferences, Librarians, Present, Social software, Technology

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