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Posted 3:16 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Web Editions Don't Cannibalize Print, and Aid Single-Copy Sales
Vin Crosbie on news consumers' behavior
Belden Associates has released an updated survey that indicates newspaper websites don't cannibalize print circulation and instead aid single-copy print sales. Belden surveyed 13,952 visitors to seven U.S. newspapers' sites: the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Austin American-Statesman, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Orange County Register, Colorado Springs Gazette, and the Florida Panhandle Freedom Group newspapers. It found that these newspaper websites "have equally positive and negative effects on subscriptions" but had "positive impact on single-copy purchases."According to Belden, Web editions reach different audiences than do print editions. 67% of the sites' visitors did not subscribe to print editions. Furthermore, 47% of the visitors hadn't read any print editions at all during the past week, and another 17% read only Sunday print editions. Since they started reading the Web editions, 5% of the sites' visitors said they have started print subscriptions but 5% who already were print subscribers canceled due to availability of the Web edition. However, among those visitors who didn't subscribe to print editions, 15% reported that reading Web editions led them to buy more single copies in print, while only 6% bought fewer.
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Posted 12:38 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Improving Commercial Radio (at a Price)
Steve Outing on new technology
The Los Angeles Times reports on technology that allows radio stations to broadcast text messages along with radio signals — capable of being displayed on newer radios that have LCD screens. This isn't new technology, but it's gotten a big push forward by Clear Channel Communications beginning to utilize it. This is cool because radio listeners will be able to see what song is being played by looking at their radio's small screen — something that Internet radio listeners have been able to do for some time. The radio industry will monetize this by sending text advertisements, too, so it will be a mixed blessing. As for improving the dreck that is commercial radio, don't count on that.
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Posted 11:46 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Perils of Hosting Weblogs
Steve Outing on Salon's experiment
The Salon/Userland weblog-hosting project brings up some interesting issues — such as, how much latitude do you give the bloggers who decide to use your hosting service in terms of controversial content? Salon's "amateur bloggers" are paying for the hosting service (free for the first month, then $39.95 a year), so does Salon really want to tell a controversial blogger he/she's got to go? Why it might be tempted to kick out certain hosted blogs is because it lists all of them; part of the appeal of having a weblog on Salon is the exposure that Salon can bring to it, which makes the hosting worth the money.I raise this issue after noting one of the early weblogs that moved to Salon Blogs: Pornographer's Picks, a weblog that points to the best and most unusual sex sites. I suspect that for Salon this one won't be an issue (Salon has run mild sex content of its own), but what if the hosted blog shows graphic pictures of aborted fetuses or advocates the killing of Jews? Every media enterprise that decides to host amateur weblogs needs to figure out where it will draw the line.
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Posted 10:55 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
A Newspaper Is Re-born
Juan C. Camus on an historic website
The first newspaper in Chile was La Aurora de Chile, born in 1812, when the country was struggling for its independence. Thanks to the Internet, that paper will be born again on a screen. According to El Mercurio, there is a project to publish it on a website during August, part of a public-financed project. The new Aurora (which means dawn, in English) will be published by Newtenberg, a Chilean developer of content management systems.
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Posted 9:40 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
How to Make Money With Weblogs
Steve Outing on online business models
Salon is experimenting with a scheme to make money from weblogs (as noted here yesterday), although most "bloggers" still aren't in it for the money. But there is money to be made in weblogs, believe it or not. Mike Masnick, president of Techdirt Corporate Intelligence, wrote to tell me that he's been profiting from weblogs since before the phrase was coined. His schtick: private, branded, enterprise weblogs produced for corporate clients. He explains: "Techdirt's analysts keep the blogs stocked with all the info the company needs. We customize each blog specifically to that client's needs." So if you're among the crowd that thinks weblogs are cool but not a business proposition, think again, and get more creative.
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Posted 9:37 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
A Celebration on the Web
Juan C. Camus on print+online cooperation
An interesting example of collaboration between online and print media comes from Puerto Rico. As the island is celebrating 50 years of becoming a part of the U.S. Commonwealth today (July 25), El Nuevo Día has published a special section both in its online and print editions. The online plus is the offering of multimedia elements, like historic video and sound clips and a photo gallery.
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Posted 9:35 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Blog On, Brits
Steve Outing on yet more on weblogs
The Guardian's Simon Waldman reports on the expansion of weblogs at his company, which recently launched a £1,000 contest to find the best UK blog, and has had its own Weblog for a couple years. He says, "There's been a pretty lively debate about the idea. ... To some, the idea of a big media company setting itself up as an arbiter of blogs is tantamount to heresy. However, the (few) hundred entries we've had (in the first week) seems to suggest there are plenty who think it's not such a bad idea at all."
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Posted 6:17 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Americans, Catching Up to Europeans, Get Tour Results Mobile
Vin Crosbie on news messaging
A quick quiz for Americans: What international sporting event consists of different daily races during three weeks over a course totaling more than 2,000 miles that include some of the steepest mountain roads in the world? A Texan has won it the past three years in a row. Oh, did I mention it's a bicycle race held in France? Well, if you're a cycling fanatic living in the U.S., you can now receive live Tour de France updates on your cell phone, PDA, or pager. Outdoor Life Network (OLNTV), which this year has the U.S. broadcast rights to Le Tour (Fox Sports has rebroadcast rights), has begun offering mobile text message updates and results from the race, which ends Sunday in Paris. SMS messaging of the Tour is very popular in Europe, where advertisers such as Heineken, McDonald's, and Dunkin Donuts sponsor the messages. OLNTV's text messaging of it in the U.S. isn't yet advertising-supported, but the cable TV network hopes that the messages will be next year. By the way, that Texan, Lance Armstrong, currently has a commanding lead again this year.
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Posted 12:41 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Can Blogs Save Salon?
Steve Outing on online publishing business models
Perpetually struggling webzine Salon and weblog software developer Userland today announced a deal that pushes forward the concept of weblogs — and turns them into a revenue source. (Userland's Dave Winer explains the deal in his Scripting.com blog today.) This is an interesting notion (and one I outlined in my recent weblogs package on Poynter.org): Salon is opening itself up as a centralized host to weblogs produced by amateur writers, who will pay a modest fee to use weblog hosting software from Userland. Salon and Userland will share the revenues.Will this work? Who knows. But bravo to Salon for being first. Other media — especially local newspapers — should be thinking about trying this approach. While Salon can attract amateur writers for blog hosting, a local-newspaper site could get local business owners to write blogs and have them be hosted by the news site. Examples: the wine merchant's weblog on wine advice and reviews; the bicycle shop's blog on local biking events and trails; the Realtor's blog on local home sales and tips for buyers/sellers.
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Posted 11:53 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
China's Government and the Net: A Love-Hate Relationship
Madan Rao on controlling information
According to a new book, "China Dawn: The Story of a Technology and Business Revolution," by David Sheff (2002, Harper Business), the Internet in China co-exists awkwardly with the Chinese Community Party, which seems to share a love-hate relationship with information technology. Ranging from online protest campaigns coordinated via e-mail to international dissident websites, the "relatively free online underground press and other Internet offerings have become thorns in the side of the Beijing government." Filter-busting software like Safeweb lets users access controversial sites like those of Falun Gong. "Will the flow of information increase, or will the controls tighten? Likely both. Which side will win? It's unknown, but I'm betting on the entrepreneurs. In the meantime, there is more cat and mouse," says Sheff.
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Posted 11:40 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Online Newspaper That Looks Like a Paper
Peter M. Zollman on news archives
There are newspaper websites, and then there are online newspapers — editions that look and feel just like the real thing, except they're on screen instead of on newsprint. NewsStand and Olive Software offer different versions of this type of service, with either today's issue or archive issues. And now ProQuest, an affiliate of UMI (once-upon-a-time University MicroFilms), has completed its Historical Newspapers initiative to digitize the entire backfile of the New York Times. Surprisingly, you don't find the backfile of the Times on its own website, where the archive page only searches articles back to 1996. Wouldn't integration make some sense here?From the ProQuest press release: "Every backfile issue of the New York Times has been digitized from cover to cover, including news stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and advertisements. Searchers can use basic keyword, advanced, guided, and relevancy search techniques to locate information. Or, they can browse through issues page by page, as one would browse a printed edition. Search results lists provide bibliographic information, including date, issue, article headline, page number, and byline (where given). Users may choose to display the full page image of any page in any issue."
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Posted 11:29 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Brazil Sports Websites Jumped Thanks to World Cup
Juan C. Camus on online audiences
A growth rate of 327% over the same month last year, and 41.3% over May 2002, was experienced during June by sports websites in Brazil. Helped by the World Cup, they were visited by nearly 2 million users during that month, according to Ibope eRatings. The overall leader in Brazil's website audience is UOL.com, with 5.4 million unique visitors per month.
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Posted 6:23 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Weblogs for Businesses
Steve Outing on innovative ideas
As part of my recent package of stories about how news organizations can use weblogs, I included advice about how local businesses can be encouraged to host their own blogs — as an alternative form of advertising and communicating with customers. Gerhard Schoolmann from Germany sent me some examples of local-business weblogs from his country: two of his restaurants, Kulmbacher Brauerei and Café Abseits. Local-business blogs are an interesting idea — but are tough to pull off effectively. Any business must offer compelling reasons for its customers to regularly read its weblog. (Not advertising copy; discounts or special offers are good; information or news works, say wine advice and recipes from a wine shop.) But done right, the concept has potential.
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Posted 1:58 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Mad Link Disease Outbreak
Steve Outing on crazy court rulings
Katja Riefler earlier today mentioned the German search engine ruling — in which a newspaper succeeded in its case against a German news search engine. Not only do we now have a Dutch ruling that deep linking is not OK, but now a court is denying the legality of Web search engines! To make sense of this, I turned to search engine guru Chris Sherman (editor of SearchDay). His comment: "The disturbing aspect of this ruling is that it appears to be broader in scope than the recent Danish case, since it's a German interpretation of the European Union database directive. As Germany is obviously an important member of the EU, this could heavily influence other EU member states' jurisprudence. Perhaps we should start referring to this as an outbreak of mad link disease — one that hopefully won't reach epidemic proportions."
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Posted 12:18 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
eBay Makes Inroads Into Car Sales
Paul Grabowicz on e-commerce
In another potentially ominous sign for newspaper classifieds, eBay is having success selling automobiles online, including many listings by car dealerships. The San Jose Mercury News reports that eBayMotors sold $1 billion worth of cars last year — 20% of eBay's total sales volume — and about half the auto postings are by dealers. Much of the success is due to a warranty program that eBay offers, according to the Mercury News, and about 70% of the auto sales now involve buyers and sellers who live in different states.eBay also has moved into the new-homes market with an auction site where home builders can list their houses. The Realty Times had a story describing this initiative and a June auction of 130 new homes in 18 market areas.
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Posted 12:12 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Old Face of New Media
Steve Klein on the AOL Time Warner merger
Back in January 2000, when Time Warner merged with AOL, the denizens of Dulles truly believed that they were genetically re-engineering old media. "We believed we were changing the world," says Mark Walsh, a former AOL executive who also worked for Time Warner's HBO unit in the '80s. "Momentum is intoxicating. It was palpable, tactile. It made your hair stand on end when you came in the building. We thought what we were doing was at a different DNA level than traditional media."A lot has been written in the past week or so since the resignation of COO Robert W. Pittman. But perhaps the most concise assessment appeared in the Washington Post. Now, according to Frank Ahrens and Shannon Henry, the fallout of the merger "reduces a humbled AOL to a unit within a division" and "AOL Time Warner Inc. is being genetically reverse-engineered to bear Time Warner markers."
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Posted 11:59 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
A New New-Media Weblog From Brazil
Juan C. Camus on online journalism
Monday saw the debut of Ponto JOL, a group weblog (in Portuguese) about online journalism, Web writing, and cyber culture, edited by four experienced journalists from Brazil. This weblog is related to the Jornalistas da Web website.
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Posted 11:48 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Why Buy a Newspaper?
Peter M. Zollman on RocketInfo and The Scout Report
There were more than a few raised eyebrows the other day on the news librarians' e-mail list (NewsLib — registration required), where an item from The Scout Report was posted. It was a reference to RocketInfo's search engine, which retrieves news articles, up to five days old, from more than 5,000 websites. The Scout Report shook 'em up with the comment: "Fast and user-friendly, this search engine makes news stories easily accessible and perhaps will make you think twice about spending money for a newspaper."
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Posted 11:33 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
More Court Action on Deep Linking
Katja Riefler on new lawsuits in Germany and the Netherlands
Publishers in Europe continue to fight companies that link to content of their websites. In Germany, the regional newspaper Main Post just won its case against the news search engine NewsClub.de, and has a good chance to succeed further as other newspapers have in similar cases gone before. The Dutch newspaper publishers PCM and Wegener, on the other hand, lost their lawsuit against the job site Nationale Vacaturebank, since the judges did not consider newspaper websites to be databases according to the EU database directive.
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Posted 5:37 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Score One for the Good Guys
Steve Klein on online media ethics
Sony Electronics would like you to think that its new $10 million online ad campaign is legitimate journalism, but it's really an advertorial series written by its own freelancers. The main stories read like features, and sidebars incorporate links to products and send readers to SonyStyle.com for more information. The only Sony identifier is a small subhead at the top of each main story that reads "feature by Sony." The New York Times isn't buying it, however, according to a story in AdAge.com.Says a Sony exec: "We're breaking paradigms here. We consider ourselves a content provider — we are buying the space." Says another: "We're trying to blur the line between the advertising and editorial boundary." Who's buying the ads? Time Inc. through AOL, and you can see one of the ads on NationalGeographic.com off the News front.
Sony's attempt to blur the line between advertising and editorial content isn't anything new; just dig back a little in media history. Back in 1912, Congress passed the only Progressive Era, media-related legislation, the Newspaper Publicity Act, to make newspapers and magazines more open and accountable. Until then, it was common for ad copy, often hawking quack cures, to be interspersed with legitimate news stories on the front pages of newspapers. The legislation, backed up a year later by a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, required that ads be clearly labeled as such and not confused with news items.
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Posted 3:31 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
BBC News Begins to Offer a Choice
Steve Outing on a Web line-up change
A significant change in the website of BBC News debuts tomorrow (July 23). Users of the site will be able to choose between an International Edition or a UK Edition — and be automatically directed to their chosen Web edition on subsequent visits. The idea is to give non-UK Web users quicker access to the service's international news coverage, while also better serving UK users by highlighting news of highest interest to a British audience. Neither Web edition will include ads, and both services are free to readers. (BBC News at one point floated the idea of charging for the International Edition, but backed away.) The costs of this change are being met entirely from the BBC World Service's grant-in-aid from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and a BBC spokesman says the additional costs are modest as no new editorial content is being created as part of the change.
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Posted 1:24 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Technology Behind Blogs (and There's LOTS of It)
Steve Outing on weblogs
As I've said often, weblogs/blogs are a big deal (and I think they'll continue to be, though there are many critics who look upon them as just the latest fad). Supporting this trend (or fad) are a LOT of technology solutions for creating and publishing weblogs. Microcontent News' John Hiler (who among other things develops his own weblog publishing software) has done the weblog community a wonderful service by publishing this article which summarizes and reviews all the available options. He details the proliferation of the companies offering "blogware," and maps out the features and benefits of each. Even if Hiler can't exactly be called an unbiased observer, he's presented a great compilation of information for those interested in weblogging.
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Posted 12:59 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The Internet: A Generation Gap in Europe
Eva Domínguez on the information society
The Internet is basically a medium for young people in Europe. About 80% of Europeans between 15 and 24 years old are Internet surfers. That figure is only 17% for the above-55 group. These are some of the results of the recent report, "La Sociedad de la Información en Europa: Presente y perspectivas" (Information Society in Europe: Present and Prospects), produced by the Telefonica company. Among its conclusions, the survey confirms that searching for information is the main activity on the Net, where Europeans spend 6 hours per month on average. Differences between North and South are big. Holland, Sweden, and Denmark are leading in penetration while Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and Greece are behind on the list.
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Posted 12:47 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Slate's New Publisher
Steve Outing on Microsoft's webzine
Cyrus Krohn, a one-time producer of CNN's Larry King Live TV program, is the new publisher of Slate, the Microsoft-backed webzine. This completes the shake-up left by the resignation as editor of Slate's founder, Michael Kinsley, whose replacement (Jacob Weisberg) was named in May.
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Posted 12:08 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
La Tercera Strikes Back in Chile
Juan C. Camus on website audience
What is most important: page-views or unique visitors? That's the question for La Tercera, a major newspaper in Chile which published a story in its Saturday print edition contending that the numbers used by Emol.com (and published here recently) to say that its website is the most visited in Chile are suspect. As La Tercera pointed out, only unique visitors can really measure audience, and as it has 1.3 million per month ... its own and related websites are the winners. At Ami.cl you can review that numbers.
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Posted 11:54 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
My Internet, My Way
Steve Klein on how the Internet is changing media
OK, so the Internet hasn't made everyone rich. But is there any question that it's changed the way we access media in the 21st century? Not much question all, according to a story by the New York Times' Amy Harmon and Felicity Barringer. "Investors may have repudiated the Internet," they write, "but consumers have not."The biggest cultural change may be that the "Now Generation" is indeed getting media when they want it and how they want it. "This is an audience that wants to make their own schedules," says Betsy Frank, executive vice president for research and planning at MTV Networks. Newspapers have certainly been changed by the Internet, "adopting a 24-hour news cycle in order to update stories on their websites," Harmon and Barringer write. Well, maybe not all newspapers, and certainly not a true 24/7. Yet. But it's happening, perhaps slower than some Internet pioneers predicted.
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Posted 11:34 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Buying Subscriptions Online? Not Here
Peter M. Zollman on another dot-com casualty
I don't remember buying a magazine subscription through ENews.com, but I guess I must have. However, I won't get another chance. ENews, which was the online equivalent of Publishers Clearing House (without the $10 million giveaway) or American Family Publishers (without Ed McMahon and the battle with consumer protection advocates), has closed.At least it's winding down, instead of quickly collapsing. The e-mail read: "We are writing to you because in the past you purchased a magazine subscription through ENews.com. ENews.com is no longer selling or supporting magazine subscriptions. You'll continue receiving your magazine for the full term of your current subscription without interruption. However, we will not offer you the opportunity to renew your subscription through our service. If you wish to renew your subscription, or if you have any questions about your subscription, we encourage you to directly contact the magazine's publisher." The ENews customer service department remains open a little while longer.
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