With "the death of newspapers" so much a part of the discussion lately, it's a pleasure to note the apparently succesful launch of one:
A weekly newspaper for fraternity and sorority members is gaining a foothold on college campuses across the Midwest, and the two Indiana University graduates who launched the publication say they hope to have a nationwide presence by September.
The Odyssey is the brainchild of Evan Burns and Adrian France. It made its debut at IU last year and is now also found at Purdue, Michigan State and Miami University in Ohio.
Burns and France say the tabloid-sized publication has been profitable from its first issue and has a projected revenue of $2 million this year. They hope to appear on 40 campuses by the 2011-2012 school year.
They found an unserved niche -- fraternity and sorority members who want to read about themselves and their activities -- and filled it.
There's nothing here, unfortunately, to suggest a path for struggling daily newspapers. We've always known that our "niche" is local news, but others are starting to encroach on that territory, and we still haven't quite figured out how to make money on the Web. A heartening story, anyway.
