But no way will you find anyone to do print-only ad sales.

My analysis applies to local print or TV news organizations. It wouldn’t work for an organization like NPR. I’m very interested in maintaining healthy communities of local journalists across this country — they’re the backbone of the national news ecosystem. As many news organizations have cut staff or closed, they’ve left communities without journalists or enough journalists. As we all know, that’s not a good thing for our democratic process or for an informed public. Luckily, entrepreneurial journos are moving in to fill the gap, but in local communities, it can be a slow process to rebuild what was once there.

I think institutional memory would continue in a scheme where 90 percent of the content would be provided by the digital-first newsroom, and repurposed by a distribution desk in the print organization for the shrinking print edition. Perhaps one or two reporters would remain with print to write Sunday features. This approach can save jobs, it can provide a way for both platforms to grow to be their best without one sucking resources to the detriment of the other, and it can preserve a community’s journalism without interruption.

Deseret Digital Media has taken an approach like this with their legacy TV station, with great success, so far. Because the Deseret News is still in a JOA with the Tribune, the print aspect hasn’t been worked out completely yet. It’ll be interesting to watch.