Universal broadband, new delivery, tablets and home printers

A publication, but no presses. The Next Newsroom is a digital publication.  At first, The Next Newsroom may have an ink-on-paper element, or a printed guide to the digital edition. Any print edition will have some digital sections available online as part of the subscription. This gives The Next Newsroom a pathway to paid online content. Any printing will be farmed out to others, or be based on address-specific desktop printers. The Next Newsroom will aggressively test new forms of delivery. These include Web only, home printers, and electronic tablets. Partnerships with technology companies appear very promising. Research on digital publications like The New York Times Reader and the University of Missouri EMprint edition clearly show a well-designed digital newspaper is far easier to read that a Web site. And, readers of digital publications spend more time with digital editions than they do on Web sites.

Commitment to a plan to build universal local broadband digital access. This access may be in place, or it may be part of the start-up effort. Wireless digital access for a significant portion of the community will be a goal.

Different approach to delivering content

And, CSOP members will be offered the opportunity to lease or buy two higher-tier digital delivery vehicles. These options include:

• Electronic reading tablets. The Next News Newsroom project will contract with Sony, Fujitsu, or others, for leasing tablet/laptop devices that, in turn, will be leased to news consumers as part of a tiered service package. The Next Newsroom already has been working with the University of Missouri, and others, to develop digital reading software that creates a pleasurable reading experience on a tablet.

• Address-specific home printers. The Next Newsroom project will work with Hewlett-Packard and others to develop a home-printer model of content delivery for those who want to print out and read content.The Next Newsroom will strive to provide universal digital access to news for everyone in the community. The plan aspires to either build or tap into a community-wide wireless broadband Internet network. News would be distributed to tablet PCs, cell phones, Blackberries, home computers, or via laser printers in the homes of those who want ink-on-paper to read with a cup of coffee.  We would have no presses, no big rolls of newsprint. The Next Newsroom will produce a demand-distribution Guide to the News that would be printed and distributed at key locations in the community on a daily or weekly basis. The guide would be a primer for the digital delivery.