My contention, of course, is that for a news site to successfully attract a significant audience, it cannot rely only on repurposed material from other media. We update our site weekly with a small selection of stories from our weekly newspaper.
Readers are people with a connection to our area and enjoy staying in touch with local affairs.
I can't see that we'd gain anything by rewriting the content for the Web. For small publishers who lack the resources to fund a fancy Web presence, that's a pretty typical Web strategy, relying on little more than repurposed print content. So let's look at how a small weekly might employ a Web strategy that stands a better chance of success, by employing online-original content. First, let me comment on the strategy of this publisher. That's a fine and appropriate market to address with the Web, but it's unlikely to account for revenues of more than a pittance.