Growing pains, yes. But the advantages of interactive publishing far outweigh any negatives. When e-paper becomes a reality, things will get really interesting.
Now is the time for web developers, designers, and digital strategists of all stripes to lead experiments with making (and saving) money from the things technology and the web are good at: reach, scale, disintermediation, and a multiplicity of sources, both institutional and civilian. Smartly used, these attributes can help construct the next generation of newspaper and magazine businesses—ones that focus more on opportunity than on loss.
I have no idea what this means. Perhaps individual posts on (1) reach, (2) scale, (3) disintermediation, and (4) working with a multiplicity of sources would clarify.
With regard to offering a “service”, what exactly does that mean? Is this simply a matter of news media making better use of their archive (linking stories/sources together better to offer something that the individual news article cannot), or some kind of editorial function? I’ve always felt that big newspapers need to offer something more than what I can get from a Reuters or AP feed, and I think that revolves around the experience and insight of a news org’s staff, but I’m not sure what that would look like. Thoughts?
@chrisburd: Yes, this article is meant as a jumping-off point. All of these things merit further exploration. (I’m afraid doing so in the context of a single article though would have rendered it a wee tad epic.)
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slevino
@kzurawel, when editorial writes an article they interview, research and analyze data. The resulting story is one convenient wrapper for some/most/all of those facts and any conclusions the writer draws. Extracting that knowledge so that it can be queried and aggregated, perhaps from multiple disparate sources into a new bespoke “story” lets publishers maximize their ROI on writing that article by selling the story twice, once as the original story and again (and forever?) as a data service?
Good analysis, what’s often missed though is the value of journalism to a healthy society. A free and robust media is an indispensable part of a functioning democracy – how can you vote effectively if you’re not informed?
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mb21
Thanks for the great article!
Does anybody know how many articles of major newspapers are published verbatim both online and in print? I found only this source for a few regional newspapers: http://blog.nla.co.uk/nla-blog/2012/10/1/whats-in-print-newspapers-is-not-always-on-the-web.html
With regard to offering a “service”, what exactly does that mean? Is this simply a matter of news media making better use of their archive (linking stories/sources together better to offer something that the individual news article cannot), or some kind of editorial function? When e-paper becomes a reality, things will get really interesting.
This topic has always been one of my favorite subjects to read about. I have found your post to be very rousing and full of good information. I will check your other articles shortly.
11 Reader Comments
Back to the Articlegregawesome
Growing pains, yes. But the advantages of interactive publishing far outweigh any negatives. When e-paper becomes a reality, things will get really interesting.
chrisburd
Now is the time for web developers, designers, and digital strategists of all stripes to lead experiments with making (and saving) money from the things technology and the web are good at: reach, scale, disintermediation, and a multiplicity of sources, both institutional and civilian. Smartly used, these attributes can help construct the next generation of newspaper and magazine businesses—ones that focus more on opportunity than on loss.
I have no idea what this means. Perhaps individual posts on (1) reach, (2) scale, (3) disintermediation, and (4) working with a multiplicity of sources would clarify.
kzurawel
With regard to offering a “service”, what exactly does that mean? Is this simply a matter of news media making better use of their archive (linking stories/sources together better to offer something that the individual news article cannot), or some kind of editorial function? I’ve always felt that big newspapers need to offer something more than what I can get from a Reuters or AP feed, and I think that revolves around the experience and insight of a news org’s staff, but I’m not sure what that would look like. Thoughts?
David Sleight
@chrisburd: Yes, this article is meant as a jumping-off point. All of these things merit further exploration. (I’m afraid doing so in the context of a single article though would have rendered it a wee tad epic.)
David Sleight
@kzurawel Precisely! That’s one possible route.
slevino
@kzurawel, when editorial writes an article they interview, research and analyze data. The resulting story is one convenient wrapper for some/most/all of those facts and any conclusions the writer draws. Extracting that knowledge so that it can be queried and aggregated, perhaps from multiple disparate sources into a new bespoke “story” lets publishers maximize their ROI on writing that article by selling the story twice, once as the original story and again (and forever?) as a data service?
Chris Reynolds
Good analysis, what’s often missed though is the value of journalism to a healthy society. A free and robust media is an indispensable part of a functioning democracy – how can you vote effectively if you’re not informed?
mb21
Thanks for the great article!
Does anybody know how many articles of major newspapers are published verbatim both online and in print? I found only this source for a few regional newspapers: http://blog.nla.co.uk/nla-blog/2012/10/1/whats-in-print-newspapers-is-not-always-on-the-web.html
louisvuittongz
With regard to offering a “service”, what exactly does that mean? Is this simply a matter of news media making better use of their archive (linking stories/sources together better to offer something that the individual news article cannot), or some kind of editorial function? When e-paper becomes a reality, things will get really interesting.
5 Panel of Less Sold here
This topic has always been one of my favorite subjects to read about. I have found your post to be very rousing and full of good information. I will check your other articles shortly.
Bala Pillai
David, wondering if you have thought of reality markets as an activity/revenue source for periodicals.
Just as research reports/stock markets are for financial views.