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New digital resources for Journalism 2.0

A few web sites have popped up recently that aim to serve the seemingly insatiable need for journalism education in the digital age. I haven’t spent a ton of time at any of them, but at first blush, each appear to be worthy additions to your RSS reader.

Beatblogging is “a collaboration between 13 news organizations from around the country and NewAssignment.Net, to figure out how journalists can use social networks to improve beat reporting.” Journalists love to hear the gritty details behind the scenes from colleagues who are struggling with the same challenges and this blog in very informative in that regard.

Wired Journalists is a social network for “self-motivated, eager-to-learn reporters, editors, executives, students and faculty in mind.” The site’s goal is to “help journalists who have few resources on hand other than their own desire to make a difference and help journalism grow into its new 21st Century role.”

Journalism Enterprise is a blog that “reviews websites that are attempting to make money from journalism in the new media age.” One of the common skepticisms in newsrooms today is that the editorial side is innovating, but what’s the point if there’s no money to be made. This blog covers a more entrepreneurial space as well as traditional media, but I am of the belief that these startup sites are the ones that will find new revenues for digital content faster than big media organizations.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Wednesday, January 23, 2008
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Traditional news organizations have a lot to learn about liveblogging the news

Liveblogging is emerging as a powerful Journalism 2.0 technique to cover breaking news, court trials and other developing events. While it appears at first blush to be AP bulletins for the digital age, it is the style and format that technology bloggers have been using for years to cover conferences and speeches that presents the best method of this technique.

Take, for example, yesterday’s Macworld keynote speech by Steve Jobs of Apple. Like thousands of other geeks who can’t be at the Moscone Center for the address, I enjoy following the proceedings with one of the many bloggers in attendance. Part way through the presentation, I received an email from a friend with a link to the New York Times blog that was attempting to do the same thing. (The email was about a particularly snarky remark the NYT blogger made in the blog.)

Which led me to wonder how one of the most important news organizations in the world was faring in trying to cover this grand business news event when compared to one of the most important tech news organizations in the world, Techcrunch.

I assumed that since Techcrunch is a blog first and foremost, it would have the advantage over the NYT (with its newspaper DNA) on the blogging battlefield. (Techcrunch, of course, would be hard pressed to compete with any newspaper on producing the “daily miracle.") That assumption proved to be accurate when I compared the two blog posts side by side.

Each blog dedicated one post to live coverage of the event. The post would be updated with new information as it was posted with all updates displaying in reverse chronological order. This is an effective tactic when it comes to liveblogging.

Techcrunch’s coverage won easily, with more updates, more photos and more user feedback. Although many journalists would give the blog poor marks for grammar, style and the occasional typo, web readers (especially Mac fanboys) who are anxious for the information understand that for the most timely updates, they’ll pay a price in terms of clean copy.

Here’s my unscientific content analysis:

Updates
Techcrunch: 65
NYT Bits Blog: 9

Photos
Techcrunch: 20
NYT Bits Blog: 1

User comments*
Techcrunch: 103
NYT Bits Blog: 2
*As of 11:30 a.m., 45 minutes after the conclusion of the address

NOTE: In case you’re wondering, AP moved its first version of the news at 9:59 a.m., about 45 minutes after the address began.

If newspapers want to compete on the web, newspaper journalists are going to have to learn how to compete on the same playing field. As a reader, I don’t see any reason to bother with the NYT blog for big tech coverage like this when it clearly can’t hold a candle to upstart tech blogs like Techcrunch.

The game is not lost, of course. It should be said that the NYT should be commended for liveblogging the event in the first place. You can’t improve until you get in the game.  Bloggers (and Twitterers) are setting the pace for live coverage online. It’s up to news organizations to capitalize on their built-in advantages (like skillful writing). But they need to change the way they report and publish to catch up with the speed of the web.

Link to Techcrunch coverage of Macworld keynote
Link to NYT’s Bits Blog coverage of Macworld keynote

Posted by MarkBriggs on Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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Stop the music or stop the presses?

Is the news business like the music business? I would argue yes, especially after reading a recent post by A-list blogger Seth Godin. He lists 14 rules that, if followed, would help the music business evolve in the digital age. Almost all would apply to the news business, so I highly recommend you read and circulate them. Each item has a thoughtful explanation with details and examples. See the full post at Seth’s blog.

In order:

0. The new thing is never as good as the old thing, at least right now. (The first rule is so important, it’s rule 0)
1. Past performance is no guarantee of future success
2. Copy protection in a digital age is a pipe dream
3. Interactivity can’t be copied
4. Permission is the asset of the future
5. A frightened consumer is not a happy consumer.
6. This is a big one: The best time to change your business model is while you still have momentum.
7. Remember the Bob Dylan rule: it’s not just a record, it’s a movement.
8. Don’t panic when the new business model isn’t as ‘clean’ as the old one
9. Read the writing on the wall.
10. Don’t abandon the Long Tail
11. Understand the power of digital
12. Value is created when you go from many to few, and vice versa
13. Whenever possible, sell subscriptions

Translated (and abbreviated) for the news business:

The new thing - in most cases with the news business, that would be the web - is not as good as the old thing, at least right now. Of course, in some ways it’s better, but it’s not as lucrative yet so it’s easy to dismiss.

Which leads us to No. 6: The best time to change your business model is while you still have momentum. Evolution is difficult without any new staff, as most news organizations are discovering. Evolution with less staff is even more difficult, as a growing number of newspapers are finding.

So it’s important to recognize No. 8, as well: Don’t panic when the new business model isn’t as ‘clean’ as the old one. The new business model for news web sites is not clean at all. We can’t charge for subscriptions. We can’t deliver inserts. Our classified franchise is evaporating. All things that would logically make a publisher panic. But now is not the time for panic, it’s time to ...

- Not abandon the Long Tail
- Understand the power of digital
- That value is created when you go from many to few, and vice versa

That’s Journalism 2.0, and it should power Media 2.0. Where there’s quality, where there’s community and where there’s connection, there will be audience. And where there’s audience, there is money to be made.

Which brings us back to No. 1: Past performance is no guarantee of future success. News organizations have made a lot of money over the years, and most continue to do so today. But it won’t last. New business models need to be launched now, before the resources completely dry up to fund innovation for the future.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Friday, January 11, 2008
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Ohio newspaper retires the paper, keeps publishing the news

The Cincinnati Post published its last print edition on New Year’s Eve after 126 years of continuous coverage of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. On Jan. 1, the Scripps-owned operation unveiled kypost.com, an online-only news site covering northern Kentucky.

That same day, the online-only publication scooped the winner in Cincinnati’s newspaper war, the Enquirer, with news of that city’s first murder in 2008. It appears that some synergy from the local Scripps-owned TV news outfit assisted in this story, as it will likely do so in the future.

This is a fate, of course, that many observers are predicting for printed newspapers. It’s also one that we in the Puget Sound thought we might see if the Seattle Times and P-I weren’t able to settle their dispute. It will be interesting to watch the development of kypost.com in 2008 to see how it fares. I have no doubt the site will be able to compete with the still-in-print Enquirer for news, content and online audience. The challenge will be on the revenue side. Hopefully there will be lessons learned by kypost.com that other news companies will be able to apply to their operations.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Wednesday, January 02, 2008
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