Online News In Lawrence, Kan.: Lots of Attention But Still Subsidized (reg. req.)

Tne New York Times went all out Sunday with a double-jump look at the “newspaper of the future” — The Journal-World of Lawrence, Kan.(circ. about 20,000). Parent World Company, owned by the Simons family, has pulled together one of the most converged newsrooms in the country backed by near-monopoly ownership of broadband, broadcast and newspaper. The online operation wows anyone who hears about it — particularly if the presenter is high-energy Rob Curley, director of new media/convergence — but the question heard most often is can it work anywhere else or is Lawrence too unique? The Simons family has a history of using profits from existing media businesses to start the next one: the paper paid for the cable operation and now online is being bootstrapped by broadband. Broadband contributes 53 percent of the comnpany’s revenue while the newspaper brings in 37 percent; online represents only 1.5 percent. The online operation was losing $15,000 a month before Curley arrived in 2002; it’s slated to become profitable this year.

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