StarMetro National Expansion Exposed Hi All,
I recently had the opportunity to review several editions of StarMetro. The only conclusion I could arrive at is the senior leadership of Torstar has taken complete leave of their senses. This is a mess of epic proportions – a strategy that had to have been hatched by someone with no understanding of how commuters consume news.
One is struck immediately the fact the Toronto edition has no content worthy of pausing on for more than 5 seconds; looks like it was edited by an 8 year old; points to links that no one is ever going search or find; has little advertising and is filled with classified filler ads; will only be picked up once by commuters because it is an unsatisfying waste of time; will have no appeal to advertisers because no credible advertising agency would direct their clients into this wretched product; and this strategy completely misses the reason that Metro was once a successful publication – a product meant to serve as a pleasant 20 minute diversion for commuters trapped on public transit.
I thought Scoop Weekly was the pinnacle of bad business decisions around product development. In short order this will surpass Scoop. The addition of 20 desperate journalists out west only adds to the insanity of this initiative. I would advise those journalists not to get too comfortable as this will be a very short-term job. When no one picks up the product or goes to the links hopefully someone will stand up and tell Emperors Boynton and Honderich this idea is a complete fraud on its way to becoming another epic financial failure.
Perhaps Michael Cooke, on his way out the door, will screw up the courage to scream from the rooftop at One Yonge Street the insanity of this initiative and of the complete organization. He probably won’t because nothing to be gained by him for revealing his complicity in the value destruction era at the Toronto Star.
I still also need to point to Linda Hughes, the lead independent director. She is a former journalist, editor and publisher. How can she in good conscience sit back and watch this insanity play out? It must be for the money and the occasional expense-paid escape from Edmonton. Shame on her! By her silence she is contributing to the toxic environment that has consumed Torstar and the value destruction that has gone unabated for more than a decade. She is not the architect of this mess, but as lead director she has a responsibility to stop these types of crazy initiatives.
Finally, I don’t know how Honderich can look anyone in the eye and say this is a good idea with any merit. The mythical “transformation” is the latest fraud to be perpetrated on shareholders and employees.
The “transformation” strategy is shrouded in secrecy because if it was revealed in its totality everyone in and outside the industry would know it made no sense. Not even employees understand those parts of the strategy that has been revealed, and they can’t all be stupid regardles of what Boynton thinks.
Boynton and his gang of arrogant cronies are on an island of their own making and will eventually be revealed as opportunistic fraudsters. Hopefully they won’t bankrupt the company before they are shown the door.
If driving everyone to thestar.com is at the core of this strategy and erecting a paywall – GOOD LUCK. There is not a single compelling element of thestar.com or the Toronto Star that would inspire anyone to pay good money for access to this content. This is a desperate strategy conceived by a marketer with no understanding of a content generating company with the once rich history of Torstar.
Gathering all the data in the world is getting less valuable with each passing day as evidence by emerging privacy concerns. Torstar has bet on the wrong horse and the sooner they recognize that humiliating reality, the better off everyone will be.
Prem – time to step in now before the inmates destroy the asylum!