I've seen the idiocy of Digital First Media up close

Well, online up close.

My career builder feed had a job at one of DFM's papers, one of the relatively few rural properties.

Digital First Media, for folks who don't know, is kind of the Puff Hoes, or Demand, or whatever, of modern papers. It's had two rinses in bankruptcy court, had to gut a central "content" hub because it (and I believe the idea in general) was/is a big fat flop and more.

And, despite the name, the company has resisted implementing elementary modern strategy such as paywalls.

 But, beyond that, it is pretty dumb otherwise.

On the website of this rural High Plains semiweekly serving a county of 20K and primary town of 10K, there's four or five local advertisers.

There are ads that are either programmatic buys from the DFM headquarters, or at least from its major dailies near this High Plains city. They advertise things like shoe stores that sell spiffy $300 shoes that will be worn by plenty of Denver clubbers but nary a High Plains farmer or rancher.

But no paywall.

It also has Twitter streams etc. from these big dailies, with news and even more with features that those ranchers and farmers also surely don't give a damn about.

But no paywall.

It also has links to sponsored media stories at bottom.

But no paywall.

With no daily around for more than 100 miles, and no semiweekly, a cut above weeklies, around (I think) for at least 50, and no other DFM paper around for 200 or so, it's cheap on titles.

General manager instead of publisher. News editor instead of managing editor.

Have fun with a third rinse in bankruptcy. I wouldn't be surprised if you head there by the end of 2015.