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The case for independent news sites as profit-makers: 'I think there's a great business model here'By David Westphal, November 17, 2008 After my recent stories on the state of independent news sites, several folks called or e-mailed to say I was barking up the wrong tree by focusing on nonprofits like MinnPost and the Voice of San Diego. The real future, they said, is with sites that are in it to make money. They may be right."I think there's a great business model here," said Merrill Brown, a media management and strategy consultant. "If you can get a quality product out there, local advertisers are looking for alternatives… I think there's plenty of evidence of that." So far, of course, there's little evidence that profitability will reliably follow. Even many operations that talk about being in the black do so with asterisks – the key players aren't drawing a salary, or the site is subsidized with other lines of business, for example. Others argue nonprofits will be the winning models for robust public-service news sites. Only today, a seemingly promising startup in Seattle, Crosscut, announced it was transitioning from a for-profit site to nonprofit status. But many people say it's not surprising that profits are not there at this point in the innovation cycle, and point to the rapid growth of businesses trying to tease out local advertising dollars. The day of online profits is coming, they say, and for-profit news sites will be best positioned to thrive.  3 Comments |  Archive Link
Training key to helping journalists become comfortable with Web 2.0By Mike Noe, November 14, 2008 When Denver hosted the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1908, American Indians were still referred to as "wild" by famed Rocky Mountain News journalist Damon Runyon. Delegates were entertained by snow hauled in from the nearby mountains. And the Rocky chronicled the convention in a broadsheet format. It would be three more decades before Colorado's first newspaper would take a chance on publishing in the tabloid format that its readers still embrace today.To say the least, 2008 was a far cry from that 1908 DNC. A staff of 150 field journalists covered this year's convention 24 hours a day for five straight days, posting vignettes, photos and video to RockyMountainNews.com. So much content poured into the site at once that we used two scrolling windows on the home page to channel the flow of information. A nurse at a local hospital told me she was glued to the site throughout the week, checking back whenever she could to see the latest updates on protests, celebrities and the delegates. ...Continue reading "Training key to helping journalists become comfortable with Web 2.0" 5 Comments | Archive Link
Add original functionality to original content to build Web trafficBy Robert Niles, November 12, 2008 OJR long has enjoyed a strong following among newspaper website managers and employees. So don't think that we've forgotten about you when we write about start-ups and independent online news efforts. I think there's much that newspaper-dot-coms can learn from the "little guys," ideas and innovations that they can bring back to their papers in an effort to keep them competitive in their news marketplaces.But let's not forget, either, some of the advantages that newspapers bring to these markets. Over the next couple weeks, we'll be bringing you blog posts from newspaper website editors whom I've asked to share some of their recent successes. If you a newspaper website editor with a story to share, too, please, feel free. You can post to the site directly, or e-mail me and tell me your story so that I can post it to the site. Before we get to those stories though... a challenge, if you will. Newspapers often focus on their newsrooms, and even, sometimes, their sales staffs when looking for strengths that they bring to their local markets. But what about their IT departments? Great content build traffic for a day. If you want to keep that traffic, you must continue to add new great content. But great functionality builds traffic, too. And keeps it for far longer than content does before it needs to be refreshed. ...Continue reading "Add original functionality to original content to build Web traffic" 2 Comments | Archive Link
The journalism 'priesthood' destroyed?By Geneva Overholser, November 11, 2008 It was Nieman reunion time last weekend, and the honored veterans of journalism were gathered in the very shadow of Harvard. Our panel was called: “Voices from the New World of Journalism.”“I think we’re fooling ourselves a little bit in how much change is needed,” Michael Skoler of American Public Media said. The needed transformation lies well beyond the use of new tools. “People expect to share information.” But that goes against our ethos – getting the scoop, keeping it exclusive. Nor does allowing people to participate in – not just respond to -- our work come naturally. “Deep in our souls we feel like that’s dumbing down our journalism. I would argue that it’s smartening it up.” ...Continue reading "The journalism 'priesthood' destroyed?" 6 Comments | Archive Link
Online publishers need new heroes in the battle for community relevanceBy Robert Niles, November 7, 2008 Picking up from my piece on Wednesday....The Obama campaign did not build its social network in isolation. In many communities, it built upon an existing "netroots" of progressives that had developed over the past several years. That network, in turn, developed in frustration with both the Bush administration, as well as the new media coverage (or lack thereof) of that administration and its Congressional allies. Markos Moulitsas, a j-school graduate with a law degree and an Army stint behind him, bootstrapped what might be the most influential of all progressive netroots websites, DailyKos. His new book, "Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era" offers a blueprint for political activists, one that well complements the Obama strategies I wrote about on Wednesday. But Moulitsas' book teaches important lessons to would-be journalist entrepreneurs as well. I e-mailed Kos about his book, and point out some of its many lessons, after the jump. ...Continue reading "Online publishers need new heroes in the battle for community relevance" 3 Comments | Archive Link |
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