1. 21st Century Media
New Voices
JOUR 2300 Principles of News
Mayborn School of Journalism

2. Economic Realities: “New News”
Payment for web access to news
New Funding models for journalism
Web search trends
New approaches to local news

3. Today’s Strategy for Survival
Generate New Revenue
Paywalls
New Ad Models
New Distribution Methods
Online
Mobile
Reduce Expenses
Reduce Staff
Eliminate Sections

4. Need to Know Terms
Non-Profits
• Media organizations that raise money from investors and
donors to run independently from a major news
organization. Propublica. TexasTribune.
Paywall
• A policy of limiting access to a website (or a part of a
website) to users who pay a fee or purchase a subscription.
E-editions
• E-editions include paid online subscriptions, subscriptions
on e-readers (Kindles, iPads, Nooks or others) and e-replica
editions (full online reproductions of newspapers, typically
viewed on a computer).
Source: http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/newspapers-glossary/

5. Competition for Attention

6. Need to Know Terms
Legacy Media
• Media products predating the Internet, typified
by a dependence on heterogeneous
audiences, advertising income and one-way
communication.
Digital First
• An editorial strategy of serving their audience as
quickly and as locally as possible, meaning that
legacy media organizations reorder their
publishing priorities to break news over digital
media first.
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 109, p. 113

7. Need to Know Terms
Hyperlocal
• Intense local news, “zip code news”, community
news defined by geography.
Engagement
• Depth of involvement that a reader/viewer of
news with a media product. Measured by
website traffic and anecdotal evidence.
Monetization
• Converting something that once was free into a
product that is sold.
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 120, 125

8. Nonprofits
• Response to shrinking newsrooms
• Extreme layoffs of experience reporters
• Decline in reporting and writing enterprise
stories
• Pent up “watch dog” function of journalism
• Wealthy investors who value a
free, independent press

9. Source: http://www.knightfoundation.org/features/nonprofitnews/

10. Nonprofit Websites
Propublica.org
• Overview of the company:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr5ijulChXY
• Launched in 2007
• Retired banker – Herb Sandler and his wife, Marion gave a gift of $10 million over three years
• 34-person staff
• Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage
• Goal: Fill in the gaps left by the loss of investigative
journalism in daily newspapers

11. Why ProPublica?
Jennifer LaFleur, formerly Dallas Morning News
and St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
“ProPublica was founded to fill the gap in
investigative reporting created as many news
organizations have cut as newsrooms have
downsized. … Investigative reporting is timeconsuming and expensive and many organizations
don’t have the resources for it. We fill the gap, not
only by doing our own stories, but by making our
stories, data and other tools available to journalists
around the country – for free.”
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 112

12. TexasTribune
• Co-founded by John Thornton, Evan Smith, and
Ross Ramsey
• 41-person staff includes an impressive array of
veteran reporters, young stars and ambitious
newcomers, plus some pretty terrific tech and
business development folks.
• Its mission: “report, write, compile, record, shoot
and post nonpartisan news and information
online at our destination web site and in the
pages and on the sites of our distribution
partners, to which we provide content for free.”
Source: http://www.texastribune.org/about/

13. Nonprofits: The Risks
• Lack of funding from investors, donors
– Need to diversify funding
• Declining interest from readers to become
members
– Moving beyond the “buzz” to sustaining readers,
sponsors, donors and investors
– Better metrics to understand audience
– Developing new and creative ways to use social
media, email newsletters to reach audience
Source: http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/11/what-does-sustainability-look-like-in-nonprofit-journalism/

14. Nonprofits: The Risks
• Beholden to partisan issues
• Risk of losing independence as donors may
place demands, restrictions on what not to
cover or how to cover certain issues
• Demographics: Is this reaching the same
audience as legacy media or a new audience?
• Keeping up with technology
Source: http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/11/what-does-sustainability-look-like-in-nonprofit-journalism/

15. Digital First
• In 2009: The Journal Register Co. filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy
• Reinvented itself
• Changed the culture of media companies, newsrooms:
– “Open newsrooms”
– Taking down the walls, inviting the community
• Six months later it emerged from bankruptcy
• Publishes 18 dailies
• 350 multi-platform products from non-dailies to
weeklies to magazines in six states
• CEO John Paton set the tone from Day One
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 113

16. What’s so different?
Jon Cooper, vice president in charge of
content:
“We took the old manufacturing model, in
which everything went from a printing and
distribution standpoint, and instead we take
all the reporting resources from an entire
region’s assets and array them across media
forms.”

17. Defining Digital First
John Paton. CEO, Digital First Media
http://www.digitalfirstmedia.com/

18. What Makes a Newsroom ‘Digital First’?
• Separated all print production from day-to-day
operations of newsroom
• Publish any time
• Copy editors become “interactive copy
editors”
– Remake homepage
– Add links, surveys
– Post to Facebook, Twitter
– Add Google maps
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 115

19. What Makes a Newsroom ‘Digital First’?
•
•
•
•
Cover news live
Experiment and take risks
Engage the community all the time
Use social media: tweet news, post on
Facebook
• Monitor social media for conversations, news
tips, finding sources
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/stevebuttry/digital-first-workflow

20. What Makes a Newsroom ‘Digital First’?
• Embed pictures, audio and video
• Link, scan or upload links to relevant
documents
• Stream local press conferences live
• Host live chats on the web or on Twitter
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/stevebuttry/digital-first-workflow

21. Digital First: Risks
•
•
•
•
•
Moving too fast
Changing the newsroom culture
Resistance from newsroom and community
Rejection from advertisers
Over reacting to huge spikes in traffic on certain
stories
• A “gimmick” that still avoids address the
fundamental shift in readers, audience and
advertiser demands

22. http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=aQlzEep
JX-w

23. Major Trends
Paywalls
• Digital pay plans are being adopted at 450 of the country’s
1,380 dailies and appear to be working not just at The New
York Times but also at small and mid-sized papers.1
• digital paywall movement has circulation revenues holding
steady or rising with the help of increases in print
subscriptions and single-copy price.
• Together with the other new revenue streams, these added
circulation revenues are rebalancing the industry’s portfolio
from its historic over-dependence on advertising.
• http://paidcontent.org/2013/04/03/a-majority-of-thebiggest-newspapers-in-the-country-now-have-paywallsinfographic/

24. Will Readers Pay for News?
• The theory:
– A higher-quality audience will lead to higher engagement,
and better response to online ads.
• In the early phases of paywalls:
– Media companies experienced huge drops in audience,
leading to many remove the payment mechanism
– Many tried “premium content” models, asking readings to
pay for unique content
• Niche/Specialty content;
– The Wall Street Journal always charged
– ESPN
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 117

25. Types of Paywalls
• Metered model
– You’re allowed to view a certain number of stories per
week or month before you have to pay
– E.g. New York Times: 20 free visits before you pay
• “Freemium” model
– Subscribe to the daily newspaper and get free access
to the website
• Restricted
– You must register and pay to see content beyond the
front page
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 117

26. Why Paywalls?
•
•
•
•
Create a value for content
Generate incremental revenue
Provide a greater value to advertisers
Pushes media companies to create better, more
engaging content since content is so readily
available everywhere
• The Wall Street Journal’s strategy:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IWDwBfwU
Cw

27. Paywalls: The Risks
• People won’t pay
• People don’t want to pay
• Sets up unnecessary barriers for readers who
just want to get the news
• Content is a commodity: it’s everywhere
• A Band-Aid on a big problem
– Too little, too late to try to make up for lost
revenue

28. Hyperlocal
• Covering news in your backyard
• Zip code by zip code
• Local, trustworthy, reliable content written by
writers who live in your community
• Providing news and information that affects
you on a daily basis
• Creates opportunities for local advertisers
who only want to pay for customers who will
shop in their stores in the neighborhood
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 121

29. Patch.com
• AOL’s Patch.com: Launched in 2009 with an
investment of more than $50 million
– Grew to 900 sites
– Employing hundreds of journalists
– Multimedia: “Patchcast”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDQ-TYdnX_w
• Struggling to survive: layoffs
• Too big, too fast
• Local advertisers suspicious of big, out of town
companies
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p122; http://adage.com/article/digital/aol-s-patch-struggling-hyperlocalwork/243674/

30. Sustainable Models?
RiverheadLOCAL.com
• Community website in Long Island
• Four years old with sustainable revenue
The Batavian
• Genesse County in western New York state
• Rem Reider in USA Today: So what's the mission?
"To do our best every day to answer the question,
'What's going on in my community right now?' "
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/rieder/2013/08/20/small-independent-hyperlocal-newswebsites/2676515/

31. Sustainable Models?
Spot.us
• Founded by David Cohn in 2008
• Reporters pitch local and regional stories
• Once the story reaches a predetermined
funding goal through individual donations, a
reporter researches, reports and publishes the
story on Spot.Us.
• Stories appear as print packages, video clips
and audio pieces
Source: Principles of American Journalism, p. 122

32. Hyperlocal: Risks
• It’s been done before:
– Zoned sections of newspapers in the late 1970s
• Many efforts failed due to lack of readers and
advertising
– Closed: TBD.com, The Washington Post’s Loudoun
Extra, Microsoft’s Sidewalk
• Narrowcasts the news
– Readers are limited to what they can learn about
the rest of the community, state and the world

33. Hyperlocal: Risks
• Local advertisers don’t buy-in and choose to use
other sources, craigslist, groupon, livingsocial
• Funding and sustainability
– You need lots of reporters and editors to do it well
which requires money
– You need “patience investors”
• Hyperlocal sites that work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_G-3v5mY7o
• Engaging the community is critical, but leads to
readers potentially questioning credibility

34. Question of the Day
A couple months ago, your local news website
created a pay wall that requires readers to
subscribe if they want to read any story. You’re
getting the emails by the dozens from frustrated
readers who had been used to getting the free
content. You’re under extreme pressure from the
media company’s owner who believe the pay wall
will help save the company from future layoffs.
• What do you do? Get rid of the pay wall. If so,
what’s your argument? If you keep it, how will
you try to retain readers?