The pioneering spirit that got Bakersfield Californian into online social networking is gone. The paper is considering closing local community events and classifieds site Bakotopia, and the Bakersfield Voice.
“The social networks have really never made us money,” said Wells, the paper’s ad, marketing, circ and operations VP.
The Californian began selling its home-made social-networking software to other papers but apparently that didn’t work. Now layoffs reduced the newsroom staff by 40 percent.
It’s back to the print edition and the genius idea of putting the classifieds on the back page. That alone will increase ad revenue $450,000 a year?
“So the question is what are the goals of these user-generated sites? They are all generating revenue, however, to date they are not covering all their costs,” Wells said. “Yes, they have helped The Bakersfield Californian expand or hold their market footprint while the core product has declined. There are unique users of these non-paid daily products that do not read The Bakersfield Californian.