Steal My Ideas, Please

When I was beach bum in California, and lived with the ducks along the Venice canals, I’d hear this buzzing sound at night. It was coming from a nearby house. It sounded like whirring sci-fi equipment, like Dr. Frankstein was turning dead body parts into a movie, stuffed with Igor’s poorly chosen brain. Or like some […]

Lots of people have businesses on the side, and some places cater to these part-time/ small-time entrepreneurs with office sharing setups that may even involve support staff, like secretaries. But why couldn’t regular businesses cash in, too, leasing out their space, complete with computers and other equipment, on weekends and at night – when the regular employees are off? […]

The world as you see will be radically changed by the Flat-Screen Revolution. J.K. Rowling had it right: People will move in paintings and newspaper pictures. But take it further: Imagine how decals with moving images would make race cars even more of a visual riot. Billboards will move. Bumper stickers. (Once wrote a sci-fi […]

That name’s a bit grandiose, I know. But that’s my dream, my hope, my goal. Newspapers are supposed to be dying, heading for obsolescence instigated by the Web. Doesn’t have to be that way. And to make my case, I’ve been working for months on a parallel blog. Finally, it’s time for an unveiling. Take a look. The address is […]

A funny newspaper column or book would be a collection of opinions by kids about adult likes and dislikes. Kids try pate. Cigarettes. Wine. The evening news. C-Span. Shakespeare. Caviar. Business suits. The Wall Street Journal. Brie. Slim-Fast. Might make a very “emperor’s new clothes” kind of point: Maybe adults don’t really some this boring, […]

Not saying Rush Limbaugh should hold court on your editorial pages. (Not knocking that, either.) Asking how the energy and give-and-take of the best radio talk could swiped and put in print. (1) Column of best bits of the Morning Zoos. (2) Host online chats, and slap some of the lively dialogue in print. (3) Do team writing, or […]

Gossip columns are popular, and so are TV series. Doesn’t it seem sometimes that people are almost as interested in TV characters as they are in real people? Aha! Do a newspaper column called Character References that’s “gossip” about what happened last night on TV. Write it up in chatty mock-shock-schlocky style. Boldface the unreal names. Only […]

The needed newspaper revolution could learn from the one on TV: Faltering ratings were boosted, temporarily at least, with the surge in reality TV. Basically, such shows were (a) cheap to produce, and (b) based on providing contrived vicarious thrills. How do real people behave? In a way, isn’t that one reason we read newspapers? […]

I know the news people at newspapers will find this amewsing, but I’m serious about making newspapers more unpredictable and fun. As usual, these thoughts may seem like rambling, but there is a vision to my madness, if only to open minds to more possibilities for making content varied and surprising. Why, for example, can’t that billboard […]

Clearly, newspapers are best when readers have lots of time. And newspapers know they need to have content for the five-minute reader. But how about being multi-tasking friendly? What kind of content could you enjoy while you’re watching TV? Eating dinner with the family? Driving? Out on a date? (Patience: Asking dumb questions sometimes leads […]

Few newspapers ever do the kind of nitty-gritty detail surveys that really reveal what readers actually read. Oh sure, there are phone surveys and focus groups, but who’s going to admit, “Well, I always read the comics and horoscopes, never the national news”? And with so much content to cover, what survey gets into this columnist vs. columnist, this […]

Writers get syndicated. Cartoonists get syndicated. But why not creative graphic artists? The trick on the creative side is being timely and topical, so it’s best to piggyback lingering issues and react quickly to news. Could be serious and data-oriented, with maps and charts and math. Or it could have a humorous, let’s-talk-about it twist, with lists like “10 Cockamamie Excuses Mel […]

Alas, newspapers grow ever shorter on space, so it is with no great anticipation I share some ideas for features that readers might find of some interest. Consider this Part 1 of a series.
Contest Mania. Who isn’t interested in free money and merchandise, ways to win them, and people who have done so? Are there […]

Imagine every day your newspaper had on its front page a little box labeled “Know News.” In that box, you’d find a single timely word, term or name with a simple definition. Could be old: Arraignment. Concerto. Insurgency. Or relatively new: Stem cells. Keylogging. Podcast.
Finish with a quick teaser or page number to a story […]