Yesterday we linked an article about WKRN’s uncertain digital strategy now that most of the station’s key executives have left. We’ve discovered a barrage of new reaction that includes former GM Mike Sechrist, NashvilleIsTalking’s former blogger Brittney Gilbert, architect Terry Heaton and some of the Nashville blogosphere. NashvilleisTalking itself does a great job summarizing it all, but pay special note to Heaton’s (or someone calling himself Heaton) frustrated comment on a Nashville blog. “Like everybody in corporate America, it’s all about the quarterly report to shareholders. Nobody invests in the future anymore,” he writes. “I don’t advise WKRN anymore, but if I have a voice that people in Nashville wish to hear, then hear this. NiT is there for the taking as a community venture. Take it and run with it.” In the meantime, new WKRN GM Gwen Kinsey hints at changes to come with NiT. “Like any innovation, change presents an opportunity to assess and evaluate,” she writes. “We are close to finalizing a working solution that will take NIT to a next step.” Some believe this may be downplaying NiT.
I find all of this very fascinating. As many of you know, I recently launched CitizenRain.com over at KING 5 — a Seattle version of NashvilleisTalking, but we took it a step further and split the blog aggregator into categories. The initial response and traffic have been strong, and I don’t really understand all the fuss over in Nashville. Engaging and empowering the original citizen journalists — local bloggers — is a natural progression for a local news and information company. If you ask me, the biggest question mark I have about WKRN’s online strategy is its practice of pushing video over text to the point it makes it difficult to browse WKRN.com for the news — just a little too ahead of its time.