The Onion quits print • Hacker News Board

Re: The Onion quits print

#71

Post by damncabbage » Sat, Nov 09, 2013, 12:06 PM UTC

jmadsen wrote: post #54

smacktoward wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It started out in print, founded back in the late '80s by a couple of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They were smart and jumped on the web very early (the mid-90s), which helped them build a national audience instead of just a local upper-Midwest one.

I'll toss in my "isn't life weird?" story... When I was at Madison during that time, I applied at one of the 2 student papers to be a sales rep. I went on to be the Sales Manager for the paper. The guy I won out the job over decided to start the Onion with his friend. You've never heard of me :-( ---- When they first started, their sales tactic was that the paper was a small tabloid -ize, with the entire bottom 3 inc…

I enjoy reading The Onion. I thank you for your sacrifice. ;)

Re: The Onion quits print

#72

Post by csinchok » Sat, Nov 09, 2013, 4:24 PM UTC

danso wrote: post #60

lmkg wrote: post #5

I'll shed a single tear because I have nostalgia for the print version, but this isn't really such bad news. The Onion has evolved, not died. They grew quite successfully into digital (especially with video & social media), and they're now completing that transition by cutting off what has by now become a vestigial distribution channel.

I dunno, unless The Onion has an incredibly forward-thinking managerial class, then this cutback -- as well as the previous ones (including in its own hometown in Madison, WI) -- are reluctant measures taken in the face of budget shortfalls, i.e. these are cuts to the bone, rather than trimming the fat. And while fat organizations aren't exactly ideal, I think the expectation that the Onion maintains its finest group…

The Onion hasn't really been in the print business since 2010, when they made it a franchise operation: http://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/you_too_can_own_a_piece...

Re: The Onion quits print

#73

Post by ward » Sat, Nov 09, 2013, 5:49 PM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #61

bmelton wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure they were coin-op? Everywhere I've ever seen them, they were free. They were definitely in a ... well, I don't know what you call the newspaper distribution boxes, but they were in one (presumably to protect against rain and such), but they were always free to take everywhere I've seen.

They very well may have been free, I'm not sure. That same general sort of machine though at least.

I believe they were free, or maybe the box...thing was just broken. I remember being amazed seeing The Onion in a printed version when I was in Philadelphia for a bit (I live in Belgium), always just assumed it was but a site. Saw them outside the Superfresh on South and 10th, I believe.

Re: The Onion quits print

#74

Post by jmadsen » Sat, Nov 09, 2013, 11:41 PM UTC

jmadsen wrote: post #54

smacktoward wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It started out in print, founded back in the late '80s by a couple of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They were smart and jumped on the web very early (the mid-90s), which helped them build a national audience instead of just a local upper-Midwest one.

I'll toss in my "isn't life weird?" story... When I was at Madison during that time, I applied at one of the 2 student papers to be a sales rep. I went on to be the Sales Manager for the paper. The guy I won out the job over decided to start the Onion with his friend. You've never heard of me :-( ---- When they first started, their sales tactic was that the paper was a small tabloid -ize, with the entire bottom 3 inc…

Didn't realize this comment would get so much attention. I'll just add in passing, at this same time, Anthony Shadid was over at the 3rd paper (The Daily Cardinal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Shadid