Welcome to the Digital Edge blog version of the Online Publishing Update! Note to Digital Media Federation members: We’ll resume our normal e-mail publishing schedule Monday morning.
About the OPU
The purpose of the OPU e-mail newsletter is to help newspaper digital media professionals keep up on the latest industry news by providing a digest of top stories from dozens of industry-relevant sources. The items include news on social networking, online advertising, video, and newspaper.com developments and other interesting items. Plus, OPU readers get early notice about new reports and best practices case studies from the Newspaper Association of America.
If you like what’s here, you can get it 3x/week over e-mail by joining the Digital Media Federation. Other benefits include exclusive access to our e-forums, unrestricted access to Digital Edge reports, discounted Webinar and conference rates and more.
Thanks for reading!
- Beth Lawton, Manager, Digital Media Communications, NAA
Onto the headlines…
MinnPost Officially Launches
Yesterday marked the official launch of MinnPost, the Minneapolis-St. Paul news venture from former Star Tribune publisher Joel Kramer. Kramer first announced plans for the online news venture this summer.
The Editors Weblog reported, “Kramer’s project is receiving national attention, in part due to his staff. He has only ten salaried employees as of now and will rely on about 50 freelancers, many being former Star Tribune or Pioneer Press reporters. This is successful for two reasons. The first is the experience of the reporters. The second is that many are close to retirement and can afford to work for a lot less.”
The Web site is at minnpost.com.
Sources: The Editors Weblog, Minnesota Public Radio
IAC to Launch Fake News, Humor Site
InterActiveCorp. (IAC) will launch 23/6, a fake news and humor Web site, today. The name 23/6 is a play on the phrase 24/7 (short for 24 hours a day, seven days a week), and the site will be at www.236.com.
The Wall Street Journal reported, the site is a “partnership with the political site the Huffington Post, plans to satirize people in the news through funny articles, videos and photos. Pieces range from fake political campaign commercials such as ‘Swift Kids for Truth’ to made-up headlines poking fun at the media's predictable coverage of oil prices. The site is put together by a wide array of contributors and comedians, including people who have written for ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ and ‘The Simpsons’ and bloggers from the Huffington Post.
The launch is the third major news and humor online project announced this fall. The Onion launched a video Web site called the Onion News Network, and AOL and HBO teamed up to launch This Just In.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Reactions to Facebook Ad Program Varied
Earlier this week, the social networking site Facebook announced a new advertising program that allows companies to become friends with Facebook users and place relevant advertising on users’ profile pages. The program also allows users to become brand evangelizers and gives marketers aggregated, anonymous data about Facebook users. Learn more about the ad program at facebook.com/ads.
So far, reaction to the new program is mixed. Here’s a sampling:
Fear Among Facebook Developers (Forbes): “Tuesday’s news may have served as a wake-up call to developers that they can’t survive on Facebook alone, says Leonhard, who imagines many developers may be thinking a lot more seriously about the new OpenSocial platform from Google. But OpenSocial hasn’t yet told developers if they’ll be able to make money from the platform. Facebook still has developers’ hearts and minds in that regard,” Forbes.com’s Rachel Rosmarin wrote.
The Facebook Ad Backlash Begins (TechCrunch): The best referrals come from people who know you have a particular need or are looking for something. They usually come out of a conversation. “Have you seen any good movies lately?” “Oh yeah, just last week we rented . . .” I only want referrals when I need them,” wrote TechCrunch’s Eric Schonfeld. “If all my friends and casual acquaintances start bombarding me with referrals that are not matched to what I need, that could very quickly just become another source of noise I need to filter out. And yet, it is just too soon to tell where all this will go.”
Web Ad Spending to Slow, But Still Double by 2011
“Spending on Internet advertising in the U.S. is projected to double over the next five years, growing from $21.4 billion this year to $42 billion by 2011, according to a report from market research firm eMarketer,” Digital Media Wire reported.
The credit crunch and other economic uncertainties may slow the growth of ad spending in the remainder of 2007 and 2008. See the eMarketer report for more information.
Sources: Digital Media Wire, eMarketer
Hollywood Writers Strike Could Drive Television Viewers to Web
“Here's a lovely irony of the Hollywood writers' strike: In the name of winning a bigger share of revenue from the sale of TV shows over the Internet, TV writers could wind up driving viewers to the Web in search of original online video,” The Washington Post reported. Network-affiliated sites such as Hulu.com may not fare as well during the strike as sites such as YouTube, which is debuting a polished Web-only series called “quarterlife” this month.
Source: The Washington Post
TTC Launches ‘The Citizen Journalism Toolkit’
Tactical Technology Collective has developed ‘The Citizen Journalism Toolkit’, which includes training materials on free software Web applications to give people information and tools to create and distribute content, Editor & Publisher reported. “The materials will cover print publishing, using images, online publishing and audio. The kit also has modular, hands-on guides to help people use the tools and quick start projects,” according to E & P.
TTC is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) advocating social justice and human rights.
Source: Editor & Publisher
Lost? Get Directions at the Pump from Google
At some gas stations, there may be no reason to go inside the gas station store when you get lost. Google will be placing touch-screen computer panels at gas station pumps to provide Google Maps directions to lost drivers. The pumps will be made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root Inc. The Associated Press reported, “Unlike most of Google's services, this one won't include ads to bring in income. But participating retailers will be able to make extra money from other merchants that offer coupons on the service.”
Source: The Associated Press via The Los Angeles Times
Google Searches Reveal Importance of Bottom-Up Branding
“On today's Web, everything begins with Google -- and that's driving a sea change in how brands are built and succeed. While brands remain vital online, the old top-down model of building them (think of a new magazine launch) is increasingly irrelevant to the Web,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “These bottom-up brands already exist, and here's an easy way to identify them: You're more familiar with individual slices of their content than you are with their home pages -- some of which you may never have visited.”
For newspaper.coms, this means making every article, event listing and local information page a landing page that branches out to other relevant sections, leading site visitors to even more helpful, engaging information on your site.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Coming soon! The Future of Newspapers Blog
What does the future have in store for the newspaper industry in the next ten years? NAA enlisted 22 insightful thinkers and asked them to provide their perspectives on how newspapers can shape their own future. Some are currently employed by newspapers, but most are outside observers (analysts, futurists, academics, customers, etc.). They all decry “incrementalism” and urge bold action to find new business and organizational models, becoming much more customer-centric in product development and service. An introduction by Randy Bennett is now available, along with links to three of the 22 commentaries and a list of the perspectives to come. All the perspectives will be featured in a blog with commenting functionality in early November. Go to www.naa.org/blog/futureofnewspapers for more information.
NAA’s Newspaper CareerBank Offers 50% Off Postings Through Nov. 15
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article indicating that hiring managers are searching for quality, not quantity. That’s why more and more companies are steering away from the monster-sized job board and the mass quantities of resumes they generate. Instead, they are looking to industry-specific job sites in their own fields for higher-quality applicants.
NAA has created the Newspaper CareerBank to be your online employment resource in the Newspaper Media industry. Here, you’ll find only qualified, industry professionals, which means that instead of being inundated with stacks of unrelated, irrelevant resumes, you’re much more likely to find the candidates with the skills and experience you’re looking for—and spend less time doing it. After all, where better to find the best newspaper media professionals than the association that represents them?
Visit the Newspaper CareerBank today at www.newspapercareerbank.com to post your jobs and search resumes. Enter promotion code "enews" to receive 50% off your postings through November 15, 2007.
Registration Opens for NAA Marketing Conference; Feb. 24 - 27 in Orlando
The Marketing Conference educational sessions and networking opportunities are just what you need to build audience and drive revenue. The Marketing Conference is NAA’s foremost education and exhibits event for executives in newspaper circulation, marketing, display and classified advertising, research and digital publishing. The conference features six educational tracks and general session programming, top industry exhibitors, and networking opportunities with retailers, merchandisers and industry colleagues.
Register online and be included in a drawing for a VIP golf package at the Orlando World Center Marriott. The Package includes a pass at the 18-hole golf course and club/cart rental. You must register online by January 23, 2008 to be included. The winner will be notified before the conference.