Mary Morgan: The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Mary, I don't know whether you remember me ..you helped me re-write my letter to the ed. so it better worked in Other Vocies. I called you at AANews and found you gone and so went on line to find your new location. One question. Do you want letters etc still? Eastern Mich U. used to have Jeff Duncan, an English prof there write pantomimes. They were great. However, the dept. voted it down after two very successful years of actually making money. It is now being done in G.Rapids this weekend and I am going. Would you like a write up and pictures? I'd love to see some publicity in this area to let MSU know they dropped a great family entertainment event. My phone is 734-429-5032 (cell -734-709-8137) if you want to chat or email is here too. Most sincerely and thanks for all your help. Christine Crowner

Mary Morgan and her husband, David Askins, have started an online publication, which they have dubbed the Ann Arbor Chronicle. Morgan is knowledgeable in the field, as a former editor for The Ann Arbor News. This was an interesting interview to watch, because I was just listening to the radio yesterday, and I heard Mitch Albom discussing the Detroit newspapers' move to a predominantly online format. Apparently, starting next year, the Detroit Free Press will only be delivered in its paper form three days a week. This is intended to ease an eventual transition to an entirely online format, which is more cost-effective for the company. I think that Morgan will be successful in this venture. The section titled Stopped.Watched., in particular, is very innovative for a newspaper. She is essentially capitalizing on people's technology addiction, which provides her with free correspondents. She is wise in that she has the "correspondents" sign up with her first, and edits/censors the posts before they go online. There is a website, iReport, on which people are supposed to post their own news. The problem is that there are no checks and balances in iReport. As a result, when the stock market started to vacillate, someone posted on iReport that Apple's cofounder, Steve Jobs, had died. For two hours that morning, Apple stock plunged. I'm not sure if the "journalists" were ever prosecuted, but iReport was widely criticized for its vulnerability to that type of abuse. Ann Arbor is a great place to embark on this venture, because it is a very progressive city, which is presumably tech-savvy. There is a greater-than-average chance that this format will be embraced by the market. Many people already get their national and world news fix online, so this seems a natural step towards making local news available online as well.

Mary Morgan and her husband David Askins moved in the right direction when they created this site, the Ann Arbor Chronicle. With the economy in the state that it is, and more and more newspapers closing due to poor circulation and revenue, putting information like this online is the first step in making a living off of the news. Because she is a former editor, Mary is aware of what is needed to succeed in journalism, and she has an idea of what people are looking for in their daily readings. Putting the paper on the internet allows for many more people to be able to view the articles, as well as more convenience in finding them to read. I especially loved the "Stopped. Watched." section; how many times do you wish that the newspaper was capable of telling you what road to not journey down in the morning, as well as an explanation of why, without having to sit there for an hour waiting for it to be reported on the radio, and then to find you're going to be stuck there indefinitely until the problem is resolved? This online newspaper caters to so many people, while getting the news out there. I also liked the local additions to it - the wine column from a local wine expert, as well as cartoons from a local artist, and the emphasis on breaking local news is a huge plus. This is the perfect start that could grow into a larger newspaper, but even if it simply stays small and local, I think that Mary and David could make a living off of it. People want to know what is going on around them, and being able to go to one site and see numerous postings from that day up will truly draw readers to them.

Mary Morgan entered this market at the right time. With the recent announcement that many newspapers would stop or limit their print editions, it's obvious that online news is going to become more prevalent. I like the idea of the "stopwatch" feature. What a fantastic way to get local breaking news whether big or small. Mary says that in the immediate future her and her husband are looking to just make ends meet and that they are looking to make a living, not a killing. Jumping into an entrepreneurial adventure has some risks, so I'm glad that her expectations are reasonable. I believe the Ann Arbor News was one of the papers announcing that they would no longer be printing newspapers. If so, I'm sure they are planning on entering the world of online news. Hopefully they don't gobble up all of the market share from Mary's new business. I can imagine that loyal Ann Arbor News readers will be more likely to view their site than Mary's Ann Arbor Chronicle site. Hopefully, features like their "stopwatch" will appeal to thousands of Ann Arbor residents.

The Ann Arbor Chronicle seems like it entered the market at the right time with most print sources converting over to online publishing’s. Even though this interview was published in 2008, I was glad to see that the business is still around a little over a year later. I also like that this business is Mary and David’s baby, this business is how this couple will make their money, and Mary seems very passionate about it. The “stopped, watched” section seems like a great idea for a newspaper. So many of us now have Blackberrys or IPhones that if we see something going on in the community it makes sense to have a place like that where everyone can go and read the latest news in their area. I also like the idea because it is a faster way you are able to get the news, especially if you are out and about in that area. Since the business is just starting out I like the idea that their contributors are just on a volunteer basis because they are writing things that are actually meaningful to them, like the wine column or the cartoons for example. I also think that volunteering their time helps out to better the community as a whole. I spent some time looking at the Ann Arbor Chronicle website and I thought since they were solely based on funding from advertisements that the site would just be full of them. However, I was wrong to say the least. There are of course advertisements on the site, but they didn’t take over the pages and they looked professional. I also liked the fact that they were all advertisements from businesses in the Ann Arbor area. I also thought the website was laid out very well, but I do think it would be a neat touch to add how many visitors there have been to the site since it opened up. Best of Luck, Kelly Taff

Seeing a void and filling it, to me, is at the heart of innovation. Many residents felt a void at the loss of their local newspaper (Ann Arbor News) but the Ann Arbor Chronicle is an excellent way to fill the void. It not only provides residents with a medium that keeps them informed on local happenings, but it also has the potential to provide many local talents like the artist and wine columnist mentioned in the interview with a medium to communicate with and contribute to their local community. It also gives residents a place to go to stay connected to the community which is very important.

Mary Morgan and her husband’s founding of the Ann Arbor Chronicle is another great entrepreneurship story. They are taking advantage of a huge shift going on in the media world. Print media is steadily becoming obsolete as the internet continues to progress. Morgan’s idea is a news site that is strictly for the internet. The premise is similar to a print model paper in that it provides news to those in the area. However, her and her husband’s focus is on reaching internet users. They are taking advantage of the popularity of social networking sites like Twitter. Morgan’s “Stopped. Watched.” section allows community contributors to update the news site on what is going on in the area. Their coverage is local so they try to focus on local advertising to keep the sense of community within the operation. This plan works well for both sides. Morgan can entice local companies to advertise because of the sense of community, and local companies can benefit from readers viewing their advertisements. They hope that with the growing numbers of readers that ad revenue can increase and coverage will expand. Morgan and her husband’s premise for the company is to turn into something that they can make a living off of. Some entrepreneurs develop an idea as a secondary income, where perhaps one day it turns into a full-time operation. Morgan has plans to make it a full-time income immediately. The idea of a locally-based online news site seems practical, but there are worries about it. Local news can come from many different outlets. A lot of people already have preferred sources for their news. Morgan has the difficult task of steering those people away from their respective news sources and over to hers. She can do this by providing fast, honest, and insightful information. She states that the first twelve months are the most critical for the company. The number of readers is growing steadily, but she wants to continue growth. This twelve month period is make or break because she wants this to be her full-time job. She and her husband are in a position where they must be successful in order to survive. The situation causes urgency and motivation for them to thrive. I enjoy the idea of the “Ann Arbor Chronicle” and I hope that their site continues to grow. They are capitalizing on popular trends that make one believe is will be successful. I wish them the best of luck. Thank you, Kyle Miller

Mary Morgan’s idea for the Ann Arbor Chronicle is such a wise one. While it saddens me to read this and really have it sink in that print media is becoming a thing of the past, I have to admire her business savvy. We’ve all seen how even the big dog newspapers and magazines have been going under these days. So it’s not that strange to see a news provider going to an entirely online format. The main articles on the site are being updated throughout the day, which is exactly what people want these days. In the era of 24 hour news networks, people really aren’t satisfied having to wait a whole day to get an update on a story. This is part of the reason that print media is starting to suffer so much. However, Morgan is tackling that issue with constant updates. The breaking news section that is constantly updated by texts, emails and phone calls from contributors is another great example of her catering to the crowd that wants their news as it’s happening. Also, since the newspaper is just starting the online format gives another great benefit which is lower costs. Without having to pay for paper, ink and distribution, Mary Morgan and her husband are able to save themselves some money that would normally be associated with running a publication. I think that the Ann Arbor Chronicle has tons of potential. It’s a convenient way to receive news, it’s keeping up with current technological trends and it appears it’s off to a good start. Online technology is the way of the future and more and more papers are switching to a more online set up. Mary Morgan and her husband are just one step ahead of the game. Emma Grabarczyk

Mary Morgan and her husband David Askins founded the online only Ann Arbor Chronicle to serve the Ann Arbor Community. With initial impressive readership statistics of 4,000 readers, those numbers jumped by almost 40% by the second month of business to 6,000 readers. This online newspaper has innovative ideas such as Stopped Watched, which is a twitter like feature that allows community members to post breaking news updates. Over two dozen community members are registered with the newspaper to phone, text, or email the site news updates. Mary and David provide most of the content, which is updated two to four times daily. Other correspondents include columnists such as Joel Goldberg, a local wine expert, weekend editorials, and cartoons by a local artist, Alvey Jones exhibited at the Washington Street Gallery. The unique selling proposition to local advertisers is that the newspaper provides value to the community that they would like to be a part of. Mary and her husband realize how critical the first twelve months are. This paper is their main source of income and she mentions how other entrenepenurs can identify with their motivation for the newspaper to thrive. In this day of newsreaders demanding instant gratification, I believe that Mary Morgan hit upon an excellent business strategy. She beat her former employer, the Ann Arbor News into the online only spectrum of providing news and did so in a way that the community can embrace. The user interaction that is encouraged by the paper likely prompts many users to repeatedly check the news site for updates, which in turn provides more exposure for the local advertisers. I also like how the paper focuses on community related events compared to world events. Public meetings, community events, and neighborhood news are all issues that our larger local newspapers do not have the space or need to cover, yet many people desire to see. Tara Welch