We're looking for a few good aspiring online publishers

January 13, 2009 by

OJR readers,

I’m excited about a project that OJR is launching, along with our new hosts at the Knight Digital Media Center. In 2006 and 2007, OJR hosted one-day conferences at the USC campus for online news entrepreneurs, and I’ve been wanting to expand on those programs, to offer more in-depth training and development for online journalists who are building the news organizations of today and tomorrow.

Now, it’s going to happen. Below are the details, from the KDMC:

The Knight Digital Media Center in partnership with USC Annenberg School for Communication, the Center for Communication Leadership and the Online Journalism Review is accepting applications for its special News Entrepreneur Boot Camp to be held May 16-21, 2009, in Los Angeles. This intense one-week boot camp is designed for 12 competitively selected digital entrepreneurs with great ideas for community news and information initiatives in the public interest. Topics to be covered include:

  • Identifying the best business model for sustained success.
  • Developing a sustainable business plan.
  • Marketing and audience development.
  • Content production and management models.
  • Legal and tax issues.
  • Identifying capitalization sources.
  • Developing and implementing revenue and advertising strategies.
  • Successful social networking models.
  • Selecting and implementing technical platforms.
  • Understanding and using metrics.

Traditional news organizations are floundering as business models collapse and audiences are increasingly turning to alternative news and information sources. This special boot camp is designed for digital journalists and others who are passionate about new ideas for serving the information and news needs of their communities but who lack the grounding in business and startup skills. Expert faculty from both academia and the private sector will provide intense instruction, coaching and mentoring on developing marketable business plans for providing news and information in the public interest.

The Knight Digital Media Center is a partnership of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Successful applicants will provide a concise and clear proposal for a digital initiative that services specific community news and information needs and will meet the following expertise criteria:

  • Digital fluency. Must be able to independently create and manage digital content in an online environment. Most important, must understand technology as tool and online as a community.
  • Business/math aptitude. Must be comfortable and competent in math and business environment.
  • Topic Expertise. Must demonstrate experience/expertise in targeted topic/service area.
  • Collaborative. Must demonstrate previous experience in working productively with others on projects requiring innovation.
  • Value-driven. Must be committed to values of accuracy, balance, fairness, credibility, inclusion, transparency and public service.

WHEN AND WHERE: May 16-21, 2009
Los Angeles, CA

HOW TO APPLY: Applications must be submitted online at http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/boot_camp_applications/.

DEADLINE: Monday, February 16, 2009

I will be there, as part of the faculty for this event, and I hope to see some of you there, too. We’re looking for people who are passionate about the communities and topics that they cover and know that they must offer a website that collects and presents information in a fundamentally different way than news organizations did in other media in the past. (After all, if the old way worked today, some news organizations wouldn’t be teetering on the edge of collapse.)

Please consider applying for what I know will be an outstanding event, and the beginning of a productive ongoing relationship with KDMC and OJR for the participants.

Filed Under: Frontpage Tagged With: ,

OJR 2007: How to sell your website without selling out

March 30, 2007 by

Violinist.com editor Laurie Niles was covering a story about the purchase of a $5.5 million violin when the seller asked if she accepted advertising on her site.

“When I was driving to meet this guy, I realized I was going to interview him and during the same conversation, I’d be telling him about advertising on my site.”

As an independent Web publisher, Niles [wife of OJR’s editor – Ed.] wears all the hats: owner, editor, sales rep and reporter.

She rhetorically asked OJR 2007 attendees, “Is this a huge breach of ethics?”

The majority response was no, although journalists who are learning Web publishing skills on the fly do need to strike the balance between brand promotion and editorial integrity.

“One of the things about a journalist as opposed to a business person is that journalists will always err on the side of caution,” says Paidcontent.org founder Rafat Ali. “The reality is that advertising is part of the conversation and the editor draws the line about how much it encroaches [the site].”

For Eric Ulken, managing editor for news at latimes.com, the line at larger, established news organizations is clear and distinct.

“To give you an example, I don’t know a single ad sales person for latimes.com,” Ulken says.

Attendees agree that indie publishers can also deliver good reporting and pay the bills.

“When you become a truly professional website you do sell ads, whether you’re doing it all yourself, 19th-century local publisher style, or you have sales reps doing it for you,” says OSTG editor-in-chief Robin Miller.

A plethora of resources are available for novice Web publishers who want to earn revenue. User-friendly ad services include Blog Ads, Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network (Overture). Publishers also can use commission-based affiliate programs such as LinkShare, Amazon Associates and Commission Junction.

Niche sites often attract a highly targeted, coveted audience, so another way to earn revenue is to sell to advertisers directly. But you need to do some research first.

“Find out what you can about the demographics of the readers because you’re selling access to the readers,” says OJR.org editor Robert Niles. “That helps to take care of some of the ethical qualms, too. The advertiser doesn’t care what you have to say; they just want you to deliver some eyeballs to them.”

Indie publishers can gather this data through user surveys and free tools such Quantcast and Google Analytics — sites that will record who visits your site and how they get there.

As novice publishers sell advertising, knowing the site’s readership and gauging their tolerance level is crucial.

Laurie Niles says Violinist.com users let her know when a blinking banner interfered with her site’s usability, and she consequently removed the in-house ad marketing Violinist.com t-shirts. She also struck a compromise with an advertiser who requested a bold-colored blinking ad: she accepted the color, rejected the blink.

“You can be transparent in your advertising as much as you’re transparent in your editorializing,” she says.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

OJR 2007: From blogging to business

March 30, 2007 by

What do you need to do to make your blog profitable? Paidcontent.org founder Rafat Ali encourages OJR 2007 conference attendees to play it straight from the beginning, especially from a business sense. That means sparing a few hundred bucks for an accountant could be worth your while and save you an audit when your site really starts to make money.

“My experience is if you make a mistake the first year, chances are the IRS will forgive you. The second year they won’t tolerate it,” Ali says.

Many novice indie Web publishers still need to work a day job, and Ali and conference attendees agree that being upfront with employers about your blog is key. It’s easier to present your “side project/hobby” to an employer while it’s not making any money, provided it doesn’t compete with the industry you’re involved with during the day. Once your blog starts to earn revenue, then you’ve earned it with your employer’s blessing.

Anticipate this revenue when you’re designing a blog, making sure to leave potential space for ads to run once you’ve gained the readership. Fortunately, you don’t need to spend much to get started as an indie Web publisher. Blogging tools such as WordPress and Blogger.com will set it up for you.

But seasoned bloggers at OJR 2007 say you do need to spend to get the right top-level-domain extension, namely .com or .org. Topix.net CEO Rich Skrenta says his popular site just spent $1 million to buy Topix.com.

Once you set up the logistics, stay focused on your topic and publish frequently. OSTG editor-in-chief Robin ‘Roblimo’ Miller urges attendees to publish multiple times a day to drive traffic to their sites.

One mistake rookie bloggers make, says OJR.org editor Robert Niles, is to wait until a story is completely flushed out before posting it. “Don’t be afraid to dramatically lower your definition of what constitutes newsworthiness … one little fact, vignette or nugget can be a post,” he says.

Deliver that information in multiple ways, adds Ali. Namely, don’t discount the power of an e-newsletter. Paidcontent.org delivers posts via e-mail to its readers daily. “It’s brand reminder for them to keep coming back to the site. Our readers don’t have time [to visit the site] so they read [posts] in their inbox or on their Blackberry.”

Above all else, know who that audience is. Niles adds that successful blogs cater to a smaller audience who isn’t finding its needs met in the mass media. “It’s really great for a journalist because this is your opportunity to go follow your passion and go work that beat you’ve always wanted to work. You’ve got to love what you do because the first couple of years are going to be lean.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
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