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Citizen Journalism, Part Two
By Deb Shaw
Dale Peskin, left, and Geoff Dougherty took part in the 'Power of We' discussion
at the recent SNA conference in Minneapolis.
Editors Note: This is part two of a story relating to ‘The Power of We’ discussion
held at the SNA Fall Conference in Minneapolis in 2008. Dialogue participants included
Kate Marymont, Vice President / Information Center Content for
Gannett Company, Jan Schaffer, Executive Director of J-Lab,
Geoff Dougherty, Editor, Chi-Town Daily News and Dale Peskin,
Co-founder and Managing Director, iFOCOS. The group was practically bursting with
pedigrees in the world of professional journalism yet each and every one was espousing
the benefits of citizen journalism in one form or another.
Click here to read part one of the story.
Media participation by community members is a new form of civic contribution and
local media houses are well advised to become involved in this movement. So says
Jan Schaffer, of The Institute for Interactive Journalism (www.j-lab.org), who emphatically urged the media execs gathered
in Minneapolis to think beyond traditional journalism when it comes to ‘letting
community in’. read more
Northwestern University’s “News Mixer” Project Promotes Better Engagement and Conversation
By Susan Karol, PhD
Executive Director, SNA Foundation
Earlier this month, six graduate students from the Medill School of Journalism’s
New Media Publishing Project at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois presented
a new Web site concept, News Mixer, designed specifically to increase citizens’
engagement with their local news. Two of the students are enrolled in the school
through a scholarship program funded by a Knight News Challenge grant encouraging
experienced computer programmers to apply their skills to journalism projects.
Working in conjunction with Gazette Communications in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the students
sought to incorporate social networking tools to promote conversations around the
town’s news, particularly among young adults. Their project seeks to go beyond standard
open-ended news story comment boxes to allow for greater interaction and use of
existing Facebook profiles and social networking tools to enhance the experience
and be more attractive for a younger audience. Based on the project, The Gazette
is interested in launching a site in 2009. And the project source code is available
on an open-source basis at
Google Code so other news organizations can utilize it as well.
read more
Yellow Pages Versus Newspapers — Delivering What SMBs Want
By Sharon Hill
As we write this, Idearc stock
has fallen from a high of over $30 to a low of two cents — yes, not dollars,
cents. As the owner of Verizon’s SuperPages.com and one of the largest Yellow Pages
providers, its financial struggle is symbolic of the battle within the entire YP
industry — and the newspaper industry as well — to evolve from print
to multimedia.
The Yellow Page industry, despite its poor stock exchange showing may well have
the jump on newspapers — not necessarily in its robust online directories
but at least in its aggressive outbound approach to new business advertisers.
We recently attended a Webinar presented by Dick Larkin, president of Weblistic, Inc., an online marketing firm created by the
inventors of YellowPages.com and now owned by SpotRunner. Weblistic specializes
in local search engine marketing, video creation and saturation, and mobile advertising.
Borrell delivered a slide presentation about the attempts of the various legacy
media to convert a portion of their revenue to the Internet. The Yellow Pages industry,
he demonstrated, was the most successful at doing so.
“[The Yellow Page industry has] made the transition to the Internet a lot more quickly
and effectively, in being able to sell their print advertisers to the Internet,
and, as we’re beginning to see now, reach out to a new customer base that is not
in the print book,” said Borrell. “That’s a significant sign of this industry being
able to grow its business. The others are trying to do that too — the newspapers,
TV and radio stations. read more
Brand New Weekly Hits 50% Margins
Competes with commonly owned daily in same market
Mike Murray, left, chats with Jay Beaton of Pioneer Press Newspapers at the 2007
Circulation Distribution Conference.
By Deb Shaw
If a 50% profit margin just 11 weeks out of the gate doesn’t get your attention,
then how does the notion of launching a free weekly in your paid daily’s market
sound? Lunacy, you say — heck no, according to Mike Murray, who was one of
the keynote speakers at the recent SNA Circulation & Distribution Conference held
in late November in Las Vegas. Describing the project as experimental and having
a week to week lifespan, Murray is both proud of the results to date and eager to
share insights so others might give something similar a try in their own market.
As of late November, they’re 11 weeks into the launch of Greenbush Life, with a
bottom line averaging better than 50%. “Cautiously optimistic” is how Murray, Senior
Vice President Circulation for Journal Register Company, described the outlook and
unless and until something rocks the boat, their plan is to keep the project moving
forward. read more
Citizen Journalism, Take Two
By Deb Shaw
Attendees lined up to talk with John Temple about his entry into the world of citizen
journalism. Much has changed in the interim 3 years.
A few years ago, at the tail end of the SNA fall conference in Denver, Rocky Mountain
News Publisher & Editor John Temple talked about what was then the somewhat radical
idea of citizen journalism. It was new, bold and perceived as risky by many in the
audience given the unfiltered nature of open Web postings. Were there liability
issues? How do you deal with tyrannical comments? Foul language? Blatant commercial
messages? Temple was talking about blogs when most in the audience didn’t understand
the term or the concept behind it. He was not only inviting community into neighborhood
based Web sites (www.yourhub.com),
he was reverse publishing the comments and photos in weekly localized newspapers.
The idea caught on with rapid speed, so much so that Temple was beginning the plan
to monetize it further with a national roll out offering for other local publishers
to replicate in their markets. The brand is going strong today with a presence in
many markets across several states.
read more
Democratizing and Crowdfunding Journalism
By Sharon Hill
David Cohn, 26, is a new breed of journalist, a graduate of Columbia University
and UC Berkeley, but firmly planted in the world of online social media. Not surprisingly,
he has developed a new brand of reporting.
Spot.Us, just launched this past
month with the help of a Knight Foundation News Challenge grant, is a crowdfunded
freelance journalism Web site. It not only offers community members the opportunity
to solicit coverage of their preferred topics but also helps freelance journalists
hone their skills and make some money. Community newspapers can benefit from Spot.Us
as well.
Cohn started his reporting career at Wired.com. “I was the research assistant for
Jeff Howe, an associate editor at Wired, who coined the phrase crowdsourcing,” he
said. “Because I was reporting on technology day in and day out it gave me an edge
on some of my peers. I was Howe’s book research assistant, looking into crowdfunding.
While doing that research I learned about microfinancing sites Kiva and Donors
Choose.” read more
It’s Time to Fight Back
By Deb Shaw
Northwest Herald's "Reaching More Than Ever Before" campaign.
A clean slate, an unmarked sheet of paper, a blank computer screen. Just about any
empty space will do. It’s time to fight back folks and one way to do it is to start
fresh and create a campaign to tell the story about the strength of community media.
Specifically, it’s time to tell your story in your market. The unrelenting bad news
is pushing everyone’s last nerve — STOP now and pull your creative and most
enthused people together to develop plans to overcome the misperceptions. There’s
no better place to start than your own back yard and you’ve got the best mediums
at your disposal to get that message rolling.
The folks at the Northwest Herald, a 40,000 daily in the greater Chicago area, have
done just that and are in the early stages of a campaign that will ultimately go
beyond ROP ads to include outdoor and cable TV. The genesis of the campaign came
from John Rung, Chief Operating Officer at Shaw Suburban Media. Like many of his
counterparts at strong community media houses throughout North America, Rung became
increasingly frustrated at the broad brush strokes of big-paper woes swashing over
his papers and Web sites. “We can't let perception become reality,” says Rung. “We
can't let the nay-sayers continue to spread the gloom without fighting back!!” read more
Developing The Local Media House
By Deb Shaw
Example of a layout-driven template.
Just like its members, SNA is forging into new technology and using new media methods
to tell its stories. Yes, the organization remains highly focused on the vitality
and importance of core media vehicles, a.k.a. the newspaper (SNA publishes monthly
Suburban Publisher and continuously invests in improving its design, content and
delivery). SNA President Nancy Lane exhorts members to constantly strive to make
their own print products better and more attractive to readers and urges evolving
cultures and practices to improve the process and product, i.e. invite reporters
and photographers into the critical content and layout decisions — a move
that editors in Scandinavia made with tremendous success. More on that later.
In early November, SNA offered the first of four Webinars that are focusing on the
different lessons learned from the recent six-day Innovation Mission to Scandinavia.
The Webinar was free to SNA members who signed up via blast e-mails that were sent
in advance promoting the 3PM Eastern, one hour call. read more
Free Report: Developing the Local Media House
Lessons Learned from Norway & Sweden
Scandinavian newspapers and their Web sites are experiencing explosive growth while
maintaining print readership in the 80% range. What is their secret? What can US
and Canadian community newspaper companies learn?
To find out the answers to these and many other burning questions, the SNA Foundation
commissioned an innovation mission to Norway & Sweden. Last month fourteen newspaper
executives made the trip and met with more than a dozen companies. Planes, trains,
automobiles and ships took the group from one end of Norway to the other end of
Sweden. And the lessons learned were valuable indeed.
The SNA Foundation is pleased to make "Building the Local Media House —
Lessons Learned from Norway & Sweden" — available to the industry
free of charge. This comprehensive report offers nine lessons learned and comes
complete with suggested action plans, resources and discussion points for community
media companies to consider. read more
Scandinavia Innovation Mission;
Newsrooms: The New Landscape for Conversation
Posted 10/6/08 by Dave Greber, Innovation Mission Multimedia Reporter
When designing newsrooms, the Bergen Tidende has created
an interesting “boat” concept. Their offices allow for open conversation areas in
a unique layout.
To learn about this interesting design, view my new video titled,
"Bergen Tidende Tour" in the video player on the right.
Also, be sure to read my trip highlights and ask me some questions in the
Innovation Mission Forum.
And finally, don't forget to check out my photo gallery
for more information.
Listen to the Wachovia/SNA Call
Community Newspapers Report 2nd Quarter Results
Last week, SNA co-hosted a call with Wachovia Equity Research to share the second
quarter community newspaper advertising results with the financial community. The
audio recording of that call is now available free of charge.
Donna Barrett, President/CEO of Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. and David Black,
President/CEO of Black Press provided extensive commentary during the call that
was handled in a Q&A format by John Janedis, Media Analyst, Wachovia Equity Research.
read more
Community Papers — Sweet Spot of the Industry
Announce 2nd Quarter Financial Results
“Community
newspapers are doing well because they provide much needed hyper-local news and
advertising,” said SNA President Nancy Lane. “Advertisers, especially at the community
level are reaching an engaged audience that no other medium can effectively serve.”
August 13, 2008 — Community newspapers remain the sweet spot of the industry
with only a slight downturn in advertising revenues, according to second quarter
2008 financial data collected by the trade association — Suburban Newspapers
of America (SNA). The SNA financial reporting group reports total ad revenue at
$482 million, a 2.4% decline from the same quarter in 2007.
Hundreds of daily and weekly community newspapers, representing nearly 14.5 million
in circulation with annual revenues of over $2 billion, now participate in the SNA
financial reporting group. A beta report conducted earlier this year by SNA showed
a 2.7% decline for the first quarter of 2008 against the same quarter of 2007. The
group also reported total ad revenues were up .5% (2007 vs. 2006) as compared to
the overall industry decline of 7.9% as reported by the Newspaper Association of
America. read more
LocalPoint Media is an Extension of Your Sales Force!
LocalPoint Media Sells National Advertising for Suburban/Community Newspapers
Is your newspaper signed up yet?
With the first sale under their collective belts, the LocalPoint Media sales staff
is fired up and on the move, with 100+ proposals on the table. As media buyers from
across the country seek a more valuable alternative to metro dailies, they’re recognizing
that LocalPoint Media and the community and suburban newspapers it represents, more
than fits the bill. With its one order, one bill structure, media buyers have an
awesome opportunity to delve deeper into local communities like never before and
at fantastic rates. Media buyers are now able to advertise in a number of community
newspapers with just one simplified buy. It's simply never been easier for media
buyers and planners. What was once a good, hard buy is now a good, easy buy.
read more
Recent LocalPoint Media News:
Member News
And the Winners are...
2008 SNA Newspaper of the Year /
General Excellence Contest
It is the most competitive contest of the year and 2008 was no exception. Hundreds
of newspapers competed. The judges labored over many worthy entries. In the end,
six newspapers stood out from the field.
read more
2008 SNA Advertising and Promotions
Contest
With over 1,200 outstanding entries, this was the most competitive contest in our
history! Competition was fierce and our judges certainly had their work cut out
for them. read more
2008 Dean S. Lesher Award
Among SNA’s highest honors is the esteemed Dean S. Lesher Award, a lifetime achievement
award recognizing outstanding leadership within the community and suburban newspaper
industry. The 2008 nominating committee has bestowed this year’s honors to Murray
Skinner. read more
2008 Local Community Web Site Contest
With a record setting number of entries in 2008, our judges for the SNA Local Community
Web Site Contest were faced with some very challenging decisions this year. This
contest represents the top Web initiatives from community and suburban newspapers
across North America. We're extremely proud of all the Web sites that entered the
contest and the amazingly hard work and innovation that goes into creating a winning
site. read more
2007 Editorial Contest
The SNA 2007 Editorial Contest brought forth more than 3,000 extraordinary entries
from SNA members and non-members alike, covering 37 different categories. We’re
proud to announce the exceptional winners, and prouder still of the excellent content
and substance presented by our community and suburban newspaper industry. Congratulations
to all on a job well done. read more
Media Buyers
There’s no doubt that suburban and community newspapers offer substantial opportunity
for target marketing, and SNA makes it easier than ever to gain access to nearly
2,400 suburban newspapers from across North America. Our Media Buyer Resource Center
will help guide you through the buying process; providing research, testimonials
and a searchable newspaper database. read more
Conferences
SNA conferences provide members with extensive educational training and support
and just as importantly, yield outstanding networking opportunities. Our members
are consistently pleased with their conference experiences; from the innovative
industry specific sessions to the creative exchange of ideas — SNA conferences
are jam-packed with educational value, helping to raise the standards of excellence
for our suburban and community newspaper members.
read more
Member Profile
Jason Heid
Who is Jason Heid?
I’m the editor and publisher of People Newspapers, a group of weeklies serving the
most sophisticated, affluent audience in the Dallas area. It’s a thrill week in
and week out to put out our publications in the heart of this dynamic, growing metropolis.
I love a good challenge, and planning our strategy as our company and our industry
undergo a massive transformation is energizing. I love learning new things, and
the newspaper business is a great place to be for someone like me.
read more