Presentation to Zeitung Online 2010 conference in Dusseldorf June 2010 by Professor George Brock of City University London

1. Hunting the elusive online business model in news Professor George Brock Head of Journalism City University London Zeitung Online 2010 - BDZV/WAN-IFRA Dusseldorf, June 2010

2. Health warning on this packet Much of what I will say is “obvious” There is a lot that I don’t know Imagine that you are in Mainz, 1458….

3. Online is not print The flaw in the advertising-led model We don’t know what will happen to the “bundle” Transmission of all information is changed Mobiles, not PCs Defend words, not machinery

4. Business models They don’t arrive on schedule (“show me a newspaper website that makes money”) What works in practice may not work in theory: www.naseadresa.cz Fire market researchers: hire anthropologists Ugly truth: it starts with content Media and news are different

5. Journalism’s “crisis” Decline (in UK & US at least) is in income for Printed daily news (worse for regionals) Terrestrial broadcast news + current affairs Demand for news is not an issue; print cost base is. If anybody can publish, what defines a journalist? The definition of engagement has changed

6. Paywalls Everyone is thinking; everyone is waiting. Note that NewsCorp is experimenting Challenges for The Times/Sunday Times Creating a club (http://www.timesplus.co.uk/welcome/index.htm) The key is links, not money If content is king, collaboration is queen Are your inventors looking for the 3rd way? Public broadcasters will gain share

7. Don’t… Confuse platforms with content Assume that you’ve got captive audiences (they’ve escaped). Lay big, expensive plans Get addicted to cutting costs Blame Google and Facebook

8. Do… THROW SPAGHETTI! This is the moment for the crazies Start with engagement (Twitter’s USP) Remember that flexible agility is all Watch how real people use devices Worry about copywright

9. A few hints Use the data mountains that you have Topic pages Train people for the data mountains to come Watch for the marriage between mobiles and the internet (e.g. www.ushahidi.com) Encourage journalists to define their distinctive work: verification, sense-making, eyewitness, investigation.

12. iPad = white knight? Who wrote the iPad’s most popular paid app? Apps aren’t by print designers Watch the devices evolve No…bookmarking, linking, full text search No good for blogging Apple wants us to be an audience again

13. iPadPulse readerhttp://nyti.ms/9gmCk9

14. Mobile/wireless Content wasn’t king: the networks were in charge Struggle between open and closed systems Video slowed by: technical incompatibility and copywright Think long: make your promise of value something that is hard to replicate The demand of the future will be for signals in the noise.

15. The takeaway Compelling content is not made from the conclusions of market research but from what people need, feel and do. News content of quality will be the best values of print journalism made real in new communications media.

16. One last hint Please read www.georgebrock.net