News organisations linking out: Is the BBC linking to the right places?

The BBC has revealed figures for how much traffic it drives away from its site to others, and how this has grown rapidly in the last 12 months.

While the figure of just over 6 million referrals should be applauded, and it’s promising it’s going up, I question what the BBC’s policy is for inserting these links? Read the rest of this entry »

The art of live-blogging

Updated: Paul Bradshaw has blogged a great set of ideas and tips for live blogging, he even referenced this post. Please do check it out for even more ideas.

Last week we live-blogged the Assembly election in Wales and the AV Referendum results in Wales – for nearly 24 hours.

Live-blogging is becoming an accepted part of the online journalism toolkit, with the likes of Andrew Sparrow at The Guardian being recognised for his political live-blogging, sports journalism embracing the concept for updates from matches – in particular in cricket and the Test Match Special Team for the recent Ashes series in Australia, and local media groups committing to provide live coverage of council meetings.

I thought I’d explore in this post what makes a good live-blog and some hints and tips for making a good one. Read the rest of this entry »

Engaging a community: bunga bunga, potholes and paywalls

Part of a panel this morning at the International Journalism Festival on engaging communities in journalism which managed to tread its way through ‘bunga bunga parties’, paywalls and potholes. Read the rest of this entry »

Legal challenges facing online journalists

Had some media law refresher training this morning. It was tough going back three years and trying to remember specific cases but the best bit of the session were the debates about the challenges now faced by journalism when it comes to online and the law.

The web is moving quickly and with certain acts dating back to to the last century, you won’t find mention of Facebook in the legal statements. First things first, if you’re unsure about media law go and grab a copy of McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists. You won’t regret it.

The three main things we discussed were dealing with breaking news online, and in particular breaking crime news, the use of content from social media sites (particularly images) and commenting on stories by users. Read the rest of this entry »

Three ways media organisations can make money from online

It’s a very interesting question we’ve been asked to cover in this month’s topic for the Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists blog ring, and not least because it’s one the entire industry is trying to get its head around. There’s a lot of talk about pay walls and how they will work, back in December I wrote about how if news organisations are going to use pay walls they need to do them properly – and invest in technology that will actually help them to work (if they do work).

But away from the pay walls, how can money be made online out of the Generation Y’s who like browsing around in their spare time? There’s three ways media organisations can make money from online. The first is mass audience, the second is niche content and the third is location. Read the rest of this entry »

The great news paywall debate, let’s give extra

Howard from Halifax advert

There’s been a lot of buzz and discussion about Johnston Press’ decision to make users pay £5 for three months access to a group of titles. If it works, everyone will do it. So, ignoring the ‘should they, shouldn’t they’ debate I’ve taken a look at what I’d be beavering away doing if I was charging people to access a news website and inspired by Howard from those old Halifax adverts, I’d be giving extra:

Give me a log-in

Basic stuff, give me a username and password and then when I log-in, track what I like. Start to personalise my experience, let me pick what I want to see when I log straight in. I want the sports feed, I don’t like politics. I want to see the photo of the day. If you’re sticking stuff behind a paywall, make use of the opportunity that brings for giving me the news that I want to see when I log-in. Don’t make me click around like a mad man trying to find it.

Send me a weekly digest

I might forget I’ve paid for your service, I did it, it didn’t cost a lot and I’ve forgotten. Send me a weekly, or if it’s a big title a daily digest, of the best content and then I’ll be clicking through, using my log-in and feeling sorry for the poor bastard who hasn’t bought his subscription. Then he’ll buy one so he’s not a step behind me anymore.

Give me premium content

Let me press an exclusive red button and get ‘extra’. Let me supersize my news coverage, let me get stuck right into the detail of a general election, let me see the extra blog, the extra map, the extra content. Don’t let the freeloader see it.

Auto renewal

Once I’m signed up, make it a direct debit. Remember my card details and I won’t even remember it’s coming out of my account every month, week, quarter or whatever. It’s just another one in the list of ‘essential services’ alongside my broadband, mobile, car insurance etc.

Upsell me

I’m paying already, but what else might I want? Learn what I like and then work with the advertisers/PRs/marketing gurus to give me stuff I want. I’m always reading about travel, maybe I like travelling? Offer me a holiday, a competition, travel stuff. I might just bite. Upsell the service itself, add bolt-ons and upgrades. There’s my bog standard access fee and then there’s archive access, there’s live streaming access, take the McDonalds approach – ‘Sir, would you like fries with that?’ instead it should be ‘Sir, would you like archive access with that? For just 50p extra a month it’s all yours’. Remember many 50ps make a bigger amount.

Ask my opinion

I might be commenting on posts, I might not, but if I’m paying for it then there’s a good chance I will care about it. Send me surveys, if you’re making changes ask me in advance. Get me involved, ask for my ideas – and you’ll be surprised what I will come up with.

Show me where the money goes

Charities do this well, they show me that if I pay money, they will build a well in Africa and stop people dying. So, what does my £5 do? Am I helping to shore up local democracy? Am I making sure that the council bigwigs aren’t screwing me out of council tax? Tell me stories of what you’ve done and keep reminding me why this £5 is the best £5 I’ve ever spent. I didn’t buy a foot long Subway, I bought a foot long of local news, information and always being in the know.

There’s loads more that could be done, but in true paywall fashion – you’ll have to pay me to find out more. The days of ‘giving it away for free’ are numbered online.

TNTJ January: A mixture of both (old and new) will be the future

This post originally appeared on the Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists group blog.

I thought long and hard about this month’s question, puzzling about whether it would be the new start-ups who will rule the media roost or whether the old juggernauts will continue in their place at the top of the media tree. After much puzzling I decided that I couldn’t decide who would win, and it lead me to the conclusion that there perhaps isn’t a battle-line being drawn yet – as we haven’t seen enough evidence of new start-ups.

To reach my conclusion I weighed up both sides:

The “old”

They have the power, resources and knowledge to transform themselves. Indeed some of them already are, opening themselves up, pushing more resources into multimedia and pushing their content out via different platforms.

Most importantly the “old” news organisations still have a huge readership, centred in one place, and they still have trust with a lot of their readers. Not everyone is in the ‘new wave’ of digitally literate. There are still those who prefer the printed page and there always will be.

The “old” media organisations will need to be working closely with those in the tech industry, particularly mobile phone makers and networks, to ensure that their content is accessible from anywhere at anytime. As mobile phones become more important for internet use and widespread easy access to wireless networks is commonplace, reading the latest headlines on your mobile phone web browser will be considered everyday normality.

“old” media brands will always have a place in the new media world, but they need to ensure that they have their content opened up and accessible in as many different ways as possible to their increasingly scattered and diverse readership.

The “new”

New start ups would be a good place to put yourself as a new journalist, but with them they carry huge risks. They exist in the online world, one that is still expanding, but as everyone keeps saying “there’s no money there yet” – well, not the money that was required to support the “old” media models.

Start ups will have to work hard to win trust, capture the public’s attention and ensure they are providing the right content. True it’ll be easier to make their content accessible and incorporate multimedia, it’s always starting afresh with a blank slate – but the “old” media have their archives, providing a lot of added value to their content.

The other thing that worries me is will any new start up that makes more than a penny suddenly by snapped up by the “old” media and incorporated into their corporate structures? We see it in the tech sector, a new network/tool comes along and then a giant like Google or Microsoft weighs in and buys it.

Startups though could have a big role to play in local/regional journalism. With a smaller patch to cover and the tools at their disposal, and with a declining local/regional “old” media (well here in the UK anyway) and murmurs of state intervention to save them – wouldn’t it be amazing if a state bail out went to a big fund that new media entrepreneurs could bid to for their local news media startup (yes, I realise this raises a whole load of ethical questions but it’s an idea)?

The battle between “old” and “new” media does not seem to be fully joined yet, as the “old” still dominate but if the “old” do not pull their fingers out over the next decade then the “new” will start to become a reality.