Dave Evans of Forbes.com looks at why the form factor of newspapers is causing them so much trouble. How traditional media makes money: “The newspaper business has a simple model: charge advertisers for getting access to readers whom you attract with relevant content and cheap prices.” The problem: “Traditional media sell advertisers a pig in… Continue reading Why Online Advertising is More Compelling Than Print
Author: Dan Blank
When Journalists’ Sources Have Direct Access to an Audience
There was a weird exchange between entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, and Wired magazine this week, that was picked up by quite a few blogs. (Read about it here, here, here, and here.) There was one piece of it that I found really interesting: some people feel they don’t need to talk to journalists in a way… Continue reading When Journalists’ Sources Have Direct Access to an Audience
Chicago Tribune Sees 81% Drop in Q1 Revenue; Rolls Out Citizen Journalism Site
Amidst an 81% drop in first-quarter earnings, the Chicago Tribune has just rolled out a hyperlocal citizen-journalism website called Triblocal.com. The site has an initial staff of four journalists, who will seed stories on this “largely unedited and self-policing [site]… designed to let citizens and organizations publish their own stories.” “The Tribune hopes to “reverse… Continue reading Chicago Tribune Sees 81% Drop in Q1 Revenue; Rolls Out Citizen Journalism Site
Learn What RSS Is & How to Use It, in 3.5 Minutes
Here is a great video that explains what RSS is, and how to use it.
Associated Press Launches News Blog for 18-34 Year Olds
The Associated Press is courting younder readers with a new blog: Far and Wide. Journalism.co.uk reports: “Far And Wide provides signposts to the news stories flying across the AP’s global news wires, from the agency staff’s own perspective… [meant] to appeal to 18 to 34-year-olds raised increasingly on a diet of personalised, super-fast news snippets… Continue reading Associated Press Launches News Blog for 18-34 Year Olds
Craig Newmark Sees Blurring of Professional & Citizen Journalism in Future
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org chats about the success of his site, and the state of the online news business. Some excerpts: Q: Is Craigslist a threat to newspapers, as people say? Newmark: Not in a significant way. We do drain some revenue from some papers that rely on ads. But I have spoken to… Continue reading Craig Newmark Sees Blurring of Professional & Citizen Journalism in Future
Newspapers Finding Softness in Online Ad Growth
The Wall Street Journal reports that newspapers are experiencing softer online advertising growth this year than expected. Analysts are sharing their estimates of online ad growth: Media-research firm Borrell Associates says:”The growth rate in online ad spending in newspapers will likely fall to a percentage in the low 20s this year from 28% last year.”… Continue reading Newspapers Finding Softness in Online Ad Growth
Tragedy & Social Media
I really didn’t want to write about the Virginia Tech shootings this week, but I can’t escape how it illustrates the shift in media: Journalists now look to their audience & social media for sources. Through blogs, social networks, comments, photos, videos, and forums – journalists are finding sources in new places. Expectations of the… Continue reading Tragedy & Social Media
“Time Spent” Replaces “Page View” as Metric of Choice
The Wall Street Journal reports on the shift from page view metrics to time spent metrics: “Page views have been a major barometer of a Web site’s popularity and help set advertising rates, but the measure is becoming less relevant. Online publishers and advertisers say page views don’t capture consumer loyalty to a site or… Continue reading “Time Spent” Replaces “Page View” as Metric of Choice
Are Widgets Traffic Magnets?
Read/Write Web reports on a recent talk on widgets. “Some remarkable CPMs are being driven now by widgets… widgets have the potential to get a lot more traffic than your web site…” Fred Wilson has four rules for his approach to creating and monetizing widgets: Microchunk it – Reduce the content to its simplest form.… Continue reading Are Widgets Traffic Magnets?