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19 Jun 2009 15:55

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Biz, Politics: Thoughts on the news industry in light of a recent crisis

  • What happened? A group that our site has personal ties with, the Society for News Design, lost its president in an ugly and public way. Other sites have covered it much better than we can and will, but suffice it to say, a professional newspaper organization with a long, storied history and thousands of members will struggle to regain its formidable swagger. And honestly, it sucks.
  • Why is this? Ultimately, SND’s problems are a microcosm for the rest of the news industry. They’ve lost members in the wake of massive news-industry layoffs, and many former members complain that the organization focuses too much on big picture surface details at the loss of its rank and file. News companies do the same thing; they’re laying off their future right now.
  • What happened? A group that our site has personal ties with, the Society for News Design, lost its president in an ugly and public way. Other sites have covered it much better than we can and will, but suffice it to say, a professional newspaper organization with a long, storied history and thousands of members will struggle to regain its formidable swagger. And honestly, it sucks.
  • Why is this? Ultimately, SND’s problems are a microcosm for the rest of the news industry. They’ve lost members in the wake of massive news-industry layoffs, and many former members complain that the organization focuses too much on big picture surface details at the loss of its rank and file. News companies do the same thing; they’re laying off their future right now.
  • What do we change? Ultimately, SND – and the news industry in general – has to function with the Internet instead of around it. Most newspapers are organized around themselves. The Internet doesn’t cluster to walled gardens – it clusters to smart little ideas here and there. Find ways to play inside the new rules. The old rules don’t work. The structure of news needs a redesign.

22 Mar 2009 23:59

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Biz: Yesterday, we tried to come up with innovative ad models.

Revenue 2.0 rocked. Here’s our attempt at an improved version of Craigslist for newspapers. Tell us what you think. source

20 Mar 2009 21:01

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Tech: Tomorrow, we’re gonna try to save newspapers at Revenue 2.0

  • What it’s about Revenue 2.0 is a workshop and think-tank which will attempt, among other things, to figure out new outside-the-box ways for newspapers to make money through advertising. It’s being headed by current D.C.-ite Matt Mansfield, president of Society for News Design, and newspaper consultant Alan Jacobson. source
  • What it’s about Revenue 2.0 is a workshop and think-tank which will attempt, among other things, to figure out new outside-the-box ways for newspapers to make money through advertising. It’s being headed by current D.C.-ite Matt Mansfield, president of Society for News Design, and newspaper consultant Alan Jacobson.
  • Playing with ideas The ideas being considered include ways to advertise to iPhones, building a better Craigslist (we like our friend Eston Bond’s attempt, iList), and improving the basic layout of display advertising online (beyond these super-prevalent Apple ads). We’ll try to brainstorm, bash heads and prototype the results. It should be cool. source
  • What it’s about Revenue 2.0 is a workshop and think-tank which will attempt, among other things, to figure out new outside-the-box ways for newspapers to make money through advertising. It’s being headed by current D.C.-ite Matt Mansfield, president of Society for News Design, and newspaper consultant Alan Jacobson.
  • Playing with ideas The ideas being considered include ways to advertise to iPhones, building a better Craigslist (we like our friend Eston Bond’s attempt, iList), and improving the basic layout of display advertising online (beyond these super-prevalent Apple ads). We’ll try to brainstorm, bash heads and prototype the results. It should be cool.
  • Why we’re going A few reasons. First off, we’re really curious and have some ideas. Working on ShortFormBlog (and at Express, and previously Link) has inspired us to look beyond the obvious. Secondly, we think there’s value in these kind of discussions. As Clay Shirky says, everything might work. Finally, it’s in D.C., which means it’s local! source