Updated on May 31, 2009 to include a story by Politico and reflect the addition of MSNBC's, The Ed Show, at 6 p.m.
The salacious news of the moment is that CNN's latest formula has left it in third place, trailing behind MSNBC, which runs repeats in three big time [...]
Successful business strategies are characterized by hard work and patience. But as newspapers fumble online their tendency is to favor low-effort, high-return schemes.
Take for example the partnership of Jeff Jarvis and the New York Times. They plan a handful of "hyperlocal" sites that are uniformly named "The Local." [...]
Many fellow journo-bloggers loathe the return of the make-readers-pay movement. As media companies file for bankruptcy or furlough employees, it’s no wonder this ugly issue has made its haunting return from the grave. This time, though, I offer a twist.
Go ahead and charge for content – some of it.
I’ll outline [...]
The infallible TV critic, Jeff Jarvis, said the following to me today on Twitter: "You were better at blogging." So what follows is everything I've said about Jeff on Twitter, reposted here on my much better blog. This one's for you, man. I mean it.
about 15 hours ago
[...]
I'll be posting here only occasionally. Otherwise, check me on Twitter.
[...]Pretend you are a newspaper that has no classifieds section, facing a crowded playing field. The best way to strategize a classifieds program that will work for modern newspapers is to imagine what you’d do as a newbie to the market.
Well, I don’t have to imagine. That’s exactly where I [...]
Although I don't claim to be an expert on eBay, I know an instance of the Innovator's Dilemma when I see one. The company announced it will emphasize its "buy now" program over the auction model that provided its start, the Times reports.
"Acknowledging that most online shoppers cannot be [...]
Check out this glowing story about the apparent success of CBS's purchase of CNET, which I recommended as part of my list of top Web companies that media should buy.
[...]I've been sitting on a great, fantastic, awesome, super-duper idea for how newspaper's can take back the classifieds market. And boy do we need it. Tribune Co. reports that revenue declined at its interactive division, of all places. Here's what PaidContent said:
"Publishing revenue was particularly hard hit, falling 11 percent [...]
The New York Times reports today that Google's Knol is sending waves of concern throughout the media world, which is suddenly realizing that Google has the power to giveth and takeaway all that traffic on which they so depend.
Here's the pivotal quote in the piece:
While Google helps drive the [...]
After sending more than 100 million visits to partner newspaper Web sites across the country, Yahoo labeled its consortium a glowing success. But I'm not convinced.
When users are asked where they get their news, respondents in Media Audits all over the country repeatedly name Yahoo in large numbers. [...]
When it comes to local niche sites, being first to market can be the determining factor in who wins long-term.
The first to market has likely attracted a community of users who are engaged with the site through user-driven content such as blogging or even basic commenting. This is increasingly [...]
In the category of "signs newspapers are about to die," the New York Times reports:
"While all publicly traded newspaper companies have seen their share prices fall in the last year — drops of 50 to 70 percent are commonplace — some have tumbled so far that any number [...]
Before the clock ran out at BostonNOW.com, our advertising sales staff was busy pitching this idea to advertisers. The response, when presented to the right advertiser, was enthusiastic. Feel free to copy the idea, which I've offered to people across the country.
At least one Web director who tried [...]
Maybe if there wasn't an impending recession, then newspapers could have skated past the thin ice protecting them from drowning in red ink.
If advertisers still spent like during the boom days, then the latest report from Borrell about which companies are raking in the local online ad dollars would [...]
This warning should sound familiar, except this time it's coming from the lips of the venerated Valleywag blog instead of mine. Maybe now you'll listen!
"Marissa Mayer, the Google executive who runs all the parts of the search engine, just put her legal team in a pickle. She [...]
Google's new 'how to' site, called Knol, is something I've pitched to newspapers for the last four months during my job search. Now I'm sharing the plan with everyone.
When I arrived at BostonNOW, one of the first programs I created was called "How To Boston." The graphic designers created [...]
Washington Post is bringing on Marcus Brauchli as executive editor and he's bringing with him a significant change to the Web strategy.
EditorAndPublisher.com reports that Jim Brady, head of washingtonpost.com, expects to merge the print and Web newsrooms sometime after Brauchli takes the reigns. His quote from the article:
"We have [...]
When huge breaking news happens, don’t expect awesome leaps of multimedia prowess from your Web site. Only that which happens daily becomes possible on the big day.
Newspaper editors like to pull out all the stops when facing large-scale tragedies like hurricanes or acts of terrorism. Their instinct is to tear [...]
While interviewing for a few jobs recently, I asked a prospective boss whether the Web department had its own budget or was part of the larger newsroom budget. He asked me to repeat the question just to see if he’d heard it correctly.
Of course the Web has its own budget, [...]
Editors note: After reading my post, Jeff Jarvis claims he's not advocating outsourcing your Web site ... just the CMS. That's not what I gleaned from the following quotes, but we'll take his word for it.
Jarvis quotes Bob Wyman extensively and then says we should all take his advice. Here's [...]
The New York Times points out that Google News has evolved little during the six years since its launch, but the story only hints at the reason – fear.
Google is afraid that Sam Zell, who owns the troubled Tribune Co., and other struggling media moguls will get angry enough [...]
Unless your Web site is stuck in the 1990s, increasing traffic can be accomplished only by increasing content. Long gone are the days when a little usability research could produce a better design that significantly boosts page views. No whiz-bang tool will be your salvation. Content is once again king.
Increasing [...]
If you’ve ever watched “Extreme Home Makeover” on ABC, then you know that good deeds can be compelling, tear-jerking content that also makes someone a heap of money. The show gives away an entire houseful of free stuff, from refrigerators to jungle gyms, that not only make a positive difference [...]
In retaliation for a negative piece about the ratings race in cable news, Fox News aired a doctored photo of a New York Times reporter.
Thinking back on the scandal that erupted when a newspaper photographer erased a piece of the background from a photo and was later fired, [...]
The ever-loyal group of folks who noticed my return to blogging also inquired about whether the job search is over. And I'm happy to announce that my tangle with unemployment has ended. Later this month, I begin a new role as Online Managing Editor at NationalJournal.com in Washington, D.C.
I'm [...]
Even after all these years of declining circulation numbers, declining revenues, and increased layoffs and page count cuts, most people in newspapers still don't understand what's happening to printed newspapers. Instead, they wait for a magical Web business model to rake in enough dough and become savior to their journalism.
For [...]
In response to the numerous e-mails I've gotten but haven't had time to respond to, that headline pretty much sums it up.
From every indicator, BostonNOW was heading in all the right directions. Circulation was shooting upward and revenues were following. Since I took over the reigns at the Web site [...]
After about seven years at HeraldTribune.com, I am sad to leave it and all of our accomplishments behind. But it's time.
I just completed my first week as Interactive Media Director for BostonNOW.com. It's a start-up free newspaper with more than 100,000 circulation and growing. We're taking on some [...]
In the spirit of aggregators, I've compiled the most important reactions to Adrian Holovaty's new neighborhood site, EveryBlock.com. My thoughts are saved for last.
THE BEST EXPLAINER ON WHAT EVERYBLOCK DOES
MethodsReporter has the most complete look at the site that I've read. And it makes a good observation [...]
Readers' need for a common registration platform is being answered by at least one newspaper -- the U.K.'s Telegraph. Community editor Shane Richmond announced the change via his blog:
The Telegraph will soon become the first newspaper in the world, and the first British media company, to become an [...]
The significance of Yahoo's decision to back a universal registration system is being lost in reports I've read, which fail to recognize it's the foundation for any futuristic social networking master profile.
Regular readers know I'm expecting someone (maybe Google) will try housing all of your profile information in [...]
My new hero in the world is becoming billionaire Sam Zell, who is using a speaking tour of the Tribune Co. to explain the virtues of letting employees take the wheel instead of corporate know-it-all's.
This line earned cheers from an audience of employees at Newsday: "I don't think that this [...]
A combination of entertaining story selection, casual presentation, and cool design make MiamiHerald.com's new video program an instant success -- at least in my book. It's been around a while but I'm just noticing.
The thing I never liked about the now deceased TimesCast was its lack of [...]
HeraldTribune.com's own Melissa Worden talked about her recent speaking engagement in California, where newsroom folks asked her advice on how to crack the clique that runs multimedia. And she has some advice from inside the clique.
What I learned is some of them feel there are so many hoops to [...]
All we know for sure is the Mercury News' editor suddenly resigned. The rumors say she proposed too many changes, some of which fulfilled my prediction that standalone Sports sections could soon hit the cutting room floor.
Here's how E&P reports the proposed changes to the newspaper:
(Deputy Managing Editor [...]
In a memo to staffers earlier this week, The Morning Call's editor said he planned to use software by Tansa to shrink the copy desk staff. I quickly proclaimed it the latest match of man versus machine. President Robert Lazlo says not so, and answers some reader [...]
Amidst a long memo announcing staff cuts and reorganization, The Morning Call lets it slip that copy editors are slowly being replaced by a glorified computer spell check.
As someone who supports new technology, I can't argue against the logic of this move. By letting the computers check spelling, grammar, [...]
Professor Edward Wasserman used his column today in the Miami Herald to slam what he calls "popularity pay" and based his entire argument on inaccurate reporting. Consider this post my request for a correction. Here's Wasserman's lead:
Penelope Trunk delivered career advice on Yahoo Finance until two weeks ago, [...]
With circulation plummeting, online revenues not catching fire quickly enough, and newsroom culture still named as the top need for change, Yoni Greenbaum says it's time to clean house of senior editors who "claim that they get 'it' but really dont."
Yoni wants an editor who models the [...]
Taking my advice on which Web businesses are prime for purchasing by media companies, Portfolio called a panel of experts who speculate on just how much Drudge Report is worth.
The bottomline suggested price was $10 to $20 million. That's a bargain. Ask Portfolio to run this same [...]
The man who founded one of the first user-submitted newspapers says the future of citizen journalism might require - of all people - journalists.
Michael Maier is the founder and CEO of Blogform Publishing and wrote "Journalism without Journalists: Vision or Caricature?" as part of the his Harvard fellowship [...]
PaidContent.org reports that my punditry is dead-on accurate in numerous areas . . . or something like that. Here's the story about why JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan says Web revenues are set to skyrocket. A roundup of my earlier predictions follows.
Muted growth in 2007 will give way to better [...]
It's official. Here's the first-ever addition to my list of businesses newspapers should buy: PerezHilton.com.
Keeping with my earlier rules to qualify, the prospect must not be some new whiz-bang gadget. It should be content that just works online. And PerezHilton.com not only works online, but also has [...]
In a memo to the Orlando Sentinel staff, NASCAR coverage was officially cut today.
"With the increasing demand to produce local news, we've decided to eliminate our national NASCAR coverage and focus more on local sports coverage," it states.
This is part way toward fulfilling my prediction made just [...]
The biggest surprise in social networking is the missing player at the table - Google. And if the user profile page is the backbone of all social networking, then what would a Google profile page look like?
Google should expand from its core competency, which is still its strength [...]
If newspapers are no longer able to keep pace with the big players for salaries, then maybe we'll have to start offering a new way of paying reporters and columnists. Pay extra based on the number of page views that stories generate.
Jack Lail over at Random Mumblings responded to [...]
PRESSTIME asked: "Where do you think newspapers should stand in the social networking universe? How would you mesh community and traditional editorial content?"
Most everyone on PRESSTIME's panel got this question right, but very few newspaper sites do any of what they suggest. And there's a good reason.
Newspapers ([...]
A new game from Politico.com aggregates the wisdom of the crowds by letting us average folks play pundit and predict the winners of the presidential primaries.
The game is aptly titled, Kingmaker, and is from the makers of Fantasy Congress, which is also cool but not as easy [...]
Scott Karp questions the value of being linked from Digg, and I couldnt agree more. As regular readers know, I question the value of being linked by the likes of Google News. Aggregators are not sending you potential longtime users. Theyre sending drops in the bucket that generate [...]
PRESSTIME asked: With online news often described as a commodity product, where does traditional newspaper content fit?"
To which, Topix.net CEO Chris Tolles seems to agree with the premise that news is nothing more than a commodity and then makes a pretty thick swipe at traditional reporters and editors.
I [...]
PRESSTIME asked: Many newspaper sites have begun focusing on hyperlocal content. Do you think that approach will ultimately pay off?
Billionaire and famed dance aficionado Mark Cuban got this answer right when he said, They dont have a choice. Its a checklist item if its not there, they fail.
Remember [...]
PRESSTIME asked: "What parts of a traditional newspaper site would you discard completely? Which traditional elements do you think hold the most promise?"
With this question, PRESSTIME is searching for a specific project to shoot with a silver bullet. But there just isn't any single feature on all newspaper Web [...]
Using Caspio's database software, HeraldTribune.com became the first newspaper in the country to post a newly released government database of punished teachers. Here's how the Associated Press reported it:
A confidential, nationwide list of 24,500 teachers who have been punished for a wide array of offenses was made available [...]
The latest edition of PRESSTIME includes a Q&A with Web entrepreneurs who get nearly all the answers wrong. Thankfully, I'm here to set these millionaires straight. There's so many things to correct that this entry is the first in a series.
PRESSTIME: What parts of a traditional newspaper site would [...]
Not every media co. executive out there has read my list of the best Web sites they should buy, but with another of the companies in the midst of a "deal," everyone should consider taking a look.
Budding Web site mogul Henry Blodget, who is famous for his lifetime ban [...]
The Nightly News recently debuted Michael Douglas as its official announcer, and Anderson Cooper says the whole thing was his idea first. He's on a search for a new announcer that has apparently spanned some six months of indecision. So I'm offering the services of our esteemed blog readers [...]
When I heard the FCC finally amended its rules to allow a newspaper and television station in the same market to merge, I rejoiced at the prospect of how this could become a boon for ailing media.
But in today's story about the change, the Washington Post basically called [...]
After reviewing a number of online dining guides recently, I realized social networking hasn't broken free from MySpace and Facebook like I expect it eventually will.
Most newspapers still use the old fashioned feedback tool that lets users rate a restaurant between one and five stars. The system tells you [...]
Check out the content of any reverse-published, user-generated publication around the country, and you're likely to find content that is, quite frankly, pretty boring. There's a reason journalists are trained writers. It makes for better storytelling.
The next wave of community journalism will take advantage of experienced editors instead of shunning [...]
Despite my numerous warnings, newspaper companies continue to sign partnerships with the likes of Google and Yahoo that put their market reach in jeopardy. So here's the really tough question: Would you partner with Craigslist?
Let's say, just for the heck of it, that Craigslist is interested in upselling [...]
During my break from blogging, I stopped checking for references to this blog as they happen out on that crazy network of tubes, the Internets. And I missed quite a dust-up about, of all things . . . me.
A while ago, I agreed to participate on a University of South [...]
Yet another media company has followed my advice and snapped up one the Web sites on my list of top prospects. News Corp. recently announced its purchase of religion-focused Web site, BeliefNet.com
News Corp. was one of three major media companies bidding for ownership, according to the [...]
To pick up on our conversation about the importance of taglines, TBO.com has provided us with the perfect example. The site released some tweaks to its design, and the most prominent among them is a return to the original, utilitarian tagline. Gone is the meaningless, marketing iteration.
Now: TBO [...]
The third financial quarter just closed and soon enough numbers will be tallied in Accounting offices everywhere, leading to the re-emergence of the budget ax. When that happens, dont panic and cut another section of the newspaper.
There is a better way. Mail sections that are waning in popularity only [...]
Given my reputation as perhaps the only person in the world to outwardly dislike the TimesCast, a couple folks have brought to my attention that its demise was just announced via the Roanoke development blog:
The announcement didn't offer any reason for the TimesCast's cancellation, except to blame [...]
What Ive seen while helping to launch our first user-submitted Web site, PortCharlotteVoice.com, is piqued excitement and involvement from the Advertising and Marketing sides of the business. Their level of participation is enough that it begs the question about whether the newsroom is needed to succeed.
After all, theyre [...]
What Ive seen while helping to launch our first user-submitted Web site, PortCharlotteVoice.com, is piqued excitement and involvement from the Advertising and Marketing sides of the business. Their level of participation is enough that it begs the question about whether the newsroom is needed to succeed.
After all, theyre [...]
Slideshows at NYTimes.com account for an amazing 10 percent of all traffic to the site, according to its general manager, Vivian Schiller.
Is it just me, or is that an insane amount of traffic? Schiller divulged this trivia while bragging about NYTimes.coms online-only content during an interview [...]
Slideshows at NYTimes.com account for an amazing 10 percent of all traffic to the site, according to its general manager, Vivian Schiller.
Is it just me, or is that an insane amount of traffic? Schiller divulged this trivia while bragging about NYTimes.coms online-only content during an interview with [...]
Every newspaper secretly knows its kryptonite. But newspapers real flaw is a hubris so pervasive that it stops them from admitting weakness and actually doing something.
The latest example of this principle is fleshed out in a journo-debate spotted by Romenesko. The question is whether Chicagos [...]
Every newspaper secretly knows its kryptonite. But newspapers real flaw is a hubris so pervasive that it stops them from admitting weakness and actually doing something.
The latest example of this principle is fleshed out in a journo-debate spotted by Romenesko. The question is whether Chicagos Red [...]
Im supposed to talk with a journalism class on Monday at the University of South Florida, my alma mater. Knowing what I know about how frustrated young graduates become when they hit the wall that is newspaper culture, what should I tell them?
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently participated in the Learning [...]
Im supposed to talk with a journalism class on Monday at the University of South Florida, my alma mater. Knowing what I know about how frustrated young graduates become when they hit the wall that is newspaper culture, what should I tell them?
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently participated in the Learning [...]
Ask your boss why increasing video content is important, or why any of those buzzy projects happening now across the industry is worth your time, and the answer is likely to cite attracting new audiences or making money. Both are wrong answers. Too empty.
If any of you out there [...]
Ask your boss why increasing video content is important, or why any of those buzzy projects happening now across the industry is worth your time, and the answer is likely to cite attracting new audiences or making money. Both are wrong answers. Too empty.
If any of you out there is [...]
Its time to consider an uncomfortable reality: What if newspaper editors are doing a sucky job of picking the days top stories?
A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism shows news lineups are far different from the norm when users are allowed to pick their own stories. Heres [...]
Its time to consider an uncomfortable reality: What if newspaper editors are doing a sucky job of picking the days top stories?
A study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism shows news lineups are far different from the norm when users are allowed to pick their own stories. Heres [...]
I've been so busy I forgot to shout from the mountain tops (or at least this little blog) my favorite phrase: "I told you so!" Google News replaced those links that send loads of empty traffic to your sites with its own Associated Press stories, thus keeping the [...]
I've been so busy I forgot to shout from the mountain tops (or at least this little blog) my favorite phrase: "I told you so!" Google News replaced those links that send loads of empty traffic to your sites with its own Associated Press stories, thus keeping the page [...]
It's always a good sign when the reporters who honed their multimedia skills while working with your Web team then feel comfortable/excited enough to go out and share what they know. In the clip above, Herald-Tribune reporter Steve Echeverria does just that.
[...]It's always a good sign when the reporters who honed their multimedia skills while working with your Web team then feel comfortable/excited enough to go out and share what they know. In the clip above, Herald-Tribune reporter Steve Echeverria does just that.
[...]Whenever an employee leaves, its a bittersweet feeling. Moving onto bigger things hopefully means youve done something right as a manager, not wrong.
The latest employee to depart my Web team is Jackie Luper, who starts work today as Vice President of Interactive for Bradenton.com. Its a pretty impressive [...]
Whenever an employee leaves, its a bittersweet feeling. Moving onto bigger things hopefully means youve done something right as a manager, not wrong.
The latest employee to depart my Web team is Jackie Luper, who starts work today as Vice President of Interactive for Bradenton.com. Its a pretty impressive leap [...]
Investors shouldnt let a good opportunity pass by again. If I were to buy the Albuquerque Tribune, which Romenesko points out was put up for sale by Scripps, heres a list of things I would do to reinvent the newspaper.
First, some ground rules: Its [...]
Investors shouldn’t let a good opportunity pass by again. If I were to buy the Albuquerque Tribune, which Romenesko points out was put up for sale by Scripps, here’s a list of things I would do to reinvent the newspaper.
First, some ground rules: [...]
Business and features sections are to newspapers what art and gym classes are to public schools -- the first to go when the budget gets tight. The latest in a long list of examples is the Winston-Salem Journal, which cut its daily business section and decided to paste [...]
Business and features sections are to newspapers what art and gym classes are to public schools -- the first to go when the budget gets tight. The latest in a long list of examples is the Winston-Salem Journal, which cut its daily business section and decided to paste [...]
Back in April, I made what should be a low-hanging-fruit type of prediction. Here's exactly what I said: "I envision a time when struggling newspapers cut budgets and reporters, who then unite to start their own rival Web sites."
Later I actually called that a best practice for starting [...]
Back in April, I made what should be a low-hanging-fruit type of prediction. Here's exactly what I said: "I envision a time when struggling newspapers cut budgets and reporters, who then unite to start their own rival Web sites."
Later I actually called that a best practice for [...]
One of the arguments I hear frequently against my zoning by interest plan is that distributing numerous versions of the newspaper would be a logistical nightmare. Well, apparently not for the Chicago Tribune.
In a deal announced this week, the Chicago Sun-Times outsourced home delivery to the Tribune [...]
One of the arguments I hear frequently against my “zoning by interest” plan is that distributing numerous versions of the newspaper would be a logistical nightmare. Well, apparently not for the Chicago Tribune.
In a deal announced this week, the Chicago Sun-Times outsourced home delivery to the [...]
When I first heard about Google buying rights to all Associated Press content, I thought for sure that meant Google would stop linking to all those AP stories on newspaper Web sites. After all, then they can keep millions of page views.
When I first heard about Google buying rights to all Associated Press content, I thought for sure that meant Google would stop linking to all those AP stories on newspaper Web sites. After all, then they can keep millions of page views.
Whenever one of these budget-related changes happens at the Herald-Tribune, where I work, I post it here in an effort at full disclosure. After all, I write a lot about how newspapers are handling declining revenues.
The latest development is the Herald-Tribune will cut several staffers (they won't say how many) [...]
Whenever one of these budget-related changes happens at the Herald-Tribune, where I work, I post it here in an effort at full disclosure. After all, I write a lot about how newspapers are handling declining revenues.
The latest development is the Herald-Tribune will cut several staffers (they won't say how [...]
Wired reported last week that the supermarket tabloid, Weekly World News, is ending its print version and going online-only. But the Washington Post just called the publication "dead" and made no mention of its life on the Web.
Someone's wrong. If it's the Post, I'm concerned about any [...]
