By: E&P Staff In a farewell print column, Publisher Joe Kennedy declared print news "dead," and said he is ceasing publication of his Bellevue, Wash., weeklies, the Bellevue Business Journal and Eastside Business.
Instead, the enterprise will focus on reaching readers and advertisers online and through social media, Kennedy said.
"It's no secret that the print news industry has been hurting for some time," Kennedy wrote, "but with the amazing and exciting evolution of social media, it has become all but irrelevant. We have reached many, many more people online with our news sites than through the print papers for the past couple of years. It is about time that we focus all of our resources reaching the majority of readers online and where they want to be engaged."
Kennedy added that as an environmentalist, "every time we printed a new edition it was pure inner turmoil." Ceasing print publication is a "social responsibility," he said.
In contrast to the print papers, which reached "thousands," Kennedy said through social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, "I can now reach tens of thousands targeted people every day for clients with specific needs and goals."
Kennedy has already created two online social networks, Eastside Entrepreneurs, which he said has attracted nearly 1,300 local members in less than 10 months, and Eastside Wine, which lists local wine events and aims to connect wine enthusiasts.
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