The NY Times is in trouble, again. They are scaling back the paper, laying off more people and discontinuing an app targeted at Millennials. Despite the problems the Times can be relevant again if they just follow a couple of very important steps. Here is how I would fix the Times.
1ne: Exclusive content by authors today’s readers want to read. That means reporters who have high integrity and can write to today’s audience.
2wo: Get rid of the Arts section. It’s not mainstream and is the first section I throw away. What they need instead is a section on “Today’s Media”.
3hree: Include summary bullet points for each story because sometimes we just don’t have the time to read it all.
4our: Reduce the width of the paper to make it easier to tote and read.
5ive: Ditch reporters who don’t relate to readers and hire people who already have an established following.
6ix: Bring back the Technology section. It was read by a lot of people, but again you need reporters who can write exclusive content.
7even: Reporters have to be journalists, not just people who can write.
8ight: Move more to the center. The Times needs to be more in the center to give readers the facts and let them decide (think) rather than leaning heavily to the left.
The Times iOS app works very well and is a good resource, but in an age when social media are garnering more of users online time they need to have stories (content) that people want to read. They also need to use web analytics to optimize both on and offline content to better understand what readers are reading.