No one was buying it on paper (no pun intended), so, after countless e-mails and "official statements" by Miami Herald publisher David Landsberg regarding the non-dying state of his product, he's taking his message to the Internet (a place the Herald should probably start getting comfortable in anyway).
A video of Landsberg giving a pep talk to some young, professional "staffers" is now on YouTube. "We've all been dealing with a steady diet of difficult financial news over the last few months," he informs them. He goes on to explain that the paper has "taken actions to weather this financial storm" and that "our readers tell us we make a difference in their lives."
The video, which is scheduled to launch this month in both English and Spanish, is a virtual version of a statement to readers and advertisers about the Herald's continuing stability. Last month, Herald editor Anders Gyllenhaal (hi, Jake!) attended a symposium titled "Miami: A No-Newspaper Town?" during which he spoke of the damage to his paper that has been created by instilling worry of its demise in consumers and advertisers.
"Watching this ad was like deja vu all over again," writes Random Pixels. "In the early 90's I covered stories involving Eastern Airlines and Pan Am - both were struggling for survival. I witnessed the filming of eerily similar and elaborately produced ad campaigns for both carriers designed to inform consumers that everything was just fine. In 1991 both airlines went belly up."
