The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., rolled out PolitiFact.com, featuring a “truth-o-meter” that scores the truthfulness of specific claims by the presidential candidates.
“PolitiFact offers readers the choice of quick scorecards or longer stories explaining the issues and rulings,” said Mike Riley, senior vice president and editor of CQ Publications. “It is driven by an extensive database that allows users to search for candidates’ records of accuracy based on their names, issues, or the rulings of the ‘truth-o-meter.’”
PolitiFact journalists also publish an “attack file” that lets readers fact-check the attacks candidates make against each other.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Report: Online profits soar as overall margins sink
N&T Staff Report
Newspapers’ online profits soared in 2007 even as the industry’s margins fell overall, according to a new study from Borrell Associates Inc.
The report said that although the industry’s operating profit is now hovering at about 23 percent, mature online operations are generating 40 percent and higher profits, “suggesting that achieving a critical mass of online ad revenue translates to profit at a much higher rate than print ad revenues.”
Still, online revenues represent only a tiny percentage of a paper’s total ad sales, Borrell said in the study, “Benchmarking Newspaper Online Revenues — International Survey 2007.” The report includes research conducted in 2006 and 2007 for the World Association of Newspapers’ Future of Newspaper Project.
Borrell said few newspapers’ Internet operations generate more than 10 percent of their total revenues, and that outside of the United States and Scandinavia, the amount generated from Web sales is usually closer to 5 percent (see related story, page 17).
The study said 2006 was a time that newspapers adjusted their business strategies to position their online businesses to be more in line with their print operations.
U.S. and Canadian newspapers took these steps as their share of local online market revenues grew from 15.3 percent in 2004 to 37.9 percent in 2006, Borrell said.
Among other study results:
• Sites created by newspapers are locally oriented or built around specific classified verticals like real estate, cars and recruitment.
• In the United States, online revenue now accounts for an average of 5.5 percent of newspaper’s total ad revenue and is on track to hit 10 percent by 2008-2009.
• In Canada, the average is about 3.5 percent for metro dailies, but only half of that for community papers.
• Recruitment remains the dominant online classifieds vertical.
A free copy of the executive summary can be downloaded at www.borrellassociates.com/Reports.aspx, or the full report can be purchased for $995.
Newspapers’ online profits soared in 2007 even as the industry’s margins fell overall, according to a new study from Borrell Associates Inc.
The report said that although the industry’s operating profit is now hovering at about 23 percent, mature online operations are generating 40 percent and higher profits, “suggesting that achieving a critical mass of online ad revenue translates to profit at a much higher rate than print ad revenues.”
Still, online revenues represent only a tiny percentage of a paper’s total ad sales, Borrell said in the study, “Benchmarking Newspaper Online Revenues — International Survey 2007.” The report includes research conducted in 2006 and 2007 for the World Association of Newspapers’ Future of Newspaper Project.
Borrell said few newspapers’ Internet operations generate more than 10 percent of their total revenues, and that outside of the United States and Scandinavia, the amount generated from Web sales is usually closer to 5 percent (see related story, page 17).
The study said 2006 was a time that newspapers adjusted their business strategies to position their online businesses to be more in line with their print operations.
U.S. and Canadian newspapers took these steps as their share of local online market revenues grew from 15.3 percent in 2004 to 37.9 percent in 2006, Borrell said.
Among other study results:
• Sites created by newspapers are locally oriented or built around specific classified verticals like real estate, cars and recruitment.
• In the United States, online revenue now accounts for an average of 5.5 percent of newspaper’s total ad revenue and is on track to hit 10 percent by 2008-2009.
• In Canada, the average is about 3.5 percent for metro dailies, but only half of that for community papers.
• Recruitment remains the dominant online classifieds vertical.
A free copy of the executive summary can be downloaded at www.borrellassociates.com/Reports.aspx, or the full report can be purchased for $995.
Daily News joins Yahoo HotJobs
The (New York) Daily News is the latest newspaper to partner with Yahoo and use features offered by the Newspaper Consortium.
The Daily News is the largest to join the group, which was launched over a year ago and now includes 21 newspaper companies, representing close to 400 dailies, said Yahoo.
Under terms of the deal, the Daily News will use Yahoo’s display advertising technology and be represented nationally by Yahoo sales staff, while Daily News’ sales staff will represent Yahoo locally. The paper’s local content will also be transmitted across Yahoo’s network.
To date, Yahoo HotJobs has launched 160 newspaper co-branded job sites that serve 377 newspapers.
The Daily News is the largest to join the group, which was launched over a year ago and now includes 21 newspaper companies, representing close to 400 dailies, said Yahoo.
Under terms of the deal, the Daily News will use Yahoo’s display advertising technology and be represented nationally by Yahoo sales staff, while Daily News’ sales staff will represent Yahoo locally. The paper’s local content will also be transmitted across Yahoo’s network.
To date, Yahoo HotJobs has launched 160 newspaper co-branded job sites that serve 377 newspapers.
NAA: Newspaper online audience continues to grow
Two reports from the Newspaper Association of America confirm the industry’s growing online audience and continued audience reach of Web and printed products.
The first report, the NAA Fall 2007 NAbase study, showed newspaper Web traffic climbing 9 percent to 59.6 million in July 2007, compared to the year-ago period.
NAdbase coincides with the release of “Newspaper Footprint: Total Audience in Print and Online,” an NAA analysis of Scarborough Research newspaper audience data.
The 11-page analysis indicates that 77 percent of adults read a newspaper in print or online each week. The analysis also provides a breakdown of various readership data in a number of areas, ranging from online purchasing decisions to household income and education level.
“As the newspaper industry moves toward measurement data reflecting the medium’s total reach and audience, this analysis is evidence of newspapers’ broad appeal in a highly competitive media marketplace,” said NAA President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Sturm.
Some highlights from the analysis include:
•Eighty-five percent of individuals with a household income of $100,000 or more read a newspaper in print or online each week.
• Nearly nine in 10 adults (89 percent) with a post-graduate degree read a newspaper in print or online each week, as did 84 percent of college graduates.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reached 82 percent who made online purchases in the last year.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reaches 84 percent of adults with a home valued at $300,000 or more.
The first report, the NAA Fall 2007 NAbase study, showed newspaper Web traffic climbing 9 percent to 59.6 million in July 2007, compared to the year-ago period.
NAdbase coincides with the release of “Newspaper Footprint: Total Audience in Print and Online,” an NAA analysis of Scarborough Research newspaper audience data.
The 11-page analysis indicates that 77 percent of adults read a newspaper in print or online each week. The analysis also provides a breakdown of various readership data in a number of areas, ranging from online purchasing decisions to household income and education level.
“As the newspaper industry moves toward measurement data reflecting the medium’s total reach and audience, this analysis is evidence of newspapers’ broad appeal in a highly competitive media marketplace,” said NAA President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Sturm.
Some highlights from the analysis include:
•Eighty-five percent of individuals with a household income of $100,000 or more read a newspaper in print or online each week.
• Nearly nine in 10 adults (89 percent) with a post-graduate degree read a newspaper in print or online each week, as did 84 percent of college graduates.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reached 82 percent who made online purchases in the last year.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reaches 84 percent of adults with a home valued at $300,000 or more.
NAA: Newspaper online audience continues to grow
Two reports from the Newspaper Association of America confirm the industry’s growing online audience and continued audience reach of Web and printed products.
The first report, the NAA Fall 2007 NAbase study, showed newspaper Web traffic climbing 9 percent to 59.6 million in July 2007, compared to the year-ago period.
NAdbase coincides with the release of “Newspaper Footprint: Total Audience in Print and Online,” an NAA analysis of Scarborough Research newspaper audience data.
The 11-page analysis indicates that 77 percent of adults read a newspaper in print or online each week. The analysis also provides a breakdown of various readership data in a number of areas, ranging from online purchasing decisions to household income and education level.
“As the newspaper industry moves toward measurement data reflecting the medium’s total reach and audience, this analysis is evidence of newspapers’ broad appeal in a highly competitive media marketplace,” said NAA President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Sturm.
Some highlights from the analysis include:
•Eighty-five percent of individuals with a household income of $100,000 or more read a newspaper in print or online each week.
• Nearly nine in 10 adults (89 percent) with a post-graduate degree read a newspaper in print or online each week, as did 84 percent of college graduates.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reached 82 percent who made online purchases in the last year.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reaches 84 percent of adults with a home valued at $300,000 or more.
The first report, the NAA Fall 2007 NAbase study, showed newspaper Web traffic climbing 9 percent to 59.6 million in July 2007, compared to the year-ago period.
NAdbase coincides with the release of “Newspaper Footprint: Total Audience in Print and Online,” an NAA analysis of Scarborough Research newspaper audience data.
The 11-page analysis indicates that 77 percent of adults read a newspaper in print or online each week. The analysis also provides a breakdown of various readership data in a number of areas, ranging from online purchasing decisions to household income and education level.
“As the newspaper industry moves toward measurement data reflecting the medium’s total reach and audience, this analysis is evidence of newspapers’ broad appeal in a highly competitive media marketplace,” said NAA President and Chief Executive Officer John F. Sturm.
Some highlights from the analysis include:
•Eighty-five percent of individuals with a household income of $100,000 or more read a newspaper in print or online each week.
• Nearly nine in 10 adults (89 percent) with a post-graduate degree read a newspaper in print or online each week, as did 84 percent of college graduates.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reached 82 percent who made online purchases in the last year.
•Newspapers’ weekly footprint reaches 84 percent of adults with a home valued at $300,000 or more.
Tribune, Gannett to expand Metromix
Gannett Co. Inc. and Tribune Interactive, a division of Tribune Co., announced a joint venture to expand a national network of local entertainment Web sites under the Metromix brand.
The newly formed company, Metromix LLC, will focus on launching Metromix.com in the nation’s top-30 markets plus other key metro areas in the coming months. It will be equally co-owned by the two parent companies.
Additional terms of the venture were not disclosed.
Metromix currently is available in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other large Tribune markets. Each Metromix site is a guide to area restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies. Users are typically 21 to 34 years old.
The newly formed company, Metromix LLC, will focus on launching Metromix.com in the nation’s top-30 markets plus other key metro areas in the coming months. It will be equally co-owned by the two parent companies.
Additional terms of the venture were not disclosed.
Metromix currently is available in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other large Tribune markets. Each Metromix site is a guide to area restaurants, bars and clubs, events, concerts and movies. Users are typically 21 to 34 years old.
N.Y. Times Co. adopts Facebook Ads
The New York Times Co. said it signed on with the new Facebook Ads system, which allows users to learn about content generated by The Times, The Boston Globe and papers operated by the New York Times Regional Media Group.
The NYTimes.com Facebook page, www.facebook.com/nytimes, allows users to interact and affiliate with The Times in the same way they interact with other user profiles.
The Boston.com page, www.facebook/boston, also went live as did the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun’s http://gatorsports.com/facebook site.
Additionally, NYTimes.com and some of the Regional Media Group properties beginning with Gainesville.com, Gainesvillesun.com and Gatorsports.com will participate in a program called Beacon.
Beacon gives Facebook members the option to share travel rating data with their Facebook friends.
Boston.com will also participate in the coming months.
Meantime, The Washington Post last month released newsTracker, an application that lets Facebook users quickly search for news about topics they deem important.
The Post developed the software, which monitors news from The Post and some 400 other worldwide news sources, according to Rob Curley, vice president of product development for Washington Post Newsweek Interactive.
A posting on Curley’s Web site said WPNI developed the software to capitalize on the growing popularity of the social networking site, which has more than 36 million users.
The NYTimes.com Facebook page, www.facebook.com/nytimes, allows users to interact and affiliate with The Times in the same way they interact with other user profiles.
The Boston.com page, www.facebook/boston, also went live as did the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun’s http://gatorsports.com/facebook site.
Additionally, NYTimes.com and some of the Regional Media Group properties beginning with Gainesville.com, Gainesvillesun.com and Gatorsports.com will participate in a program called Beacon.
Beacon gives Facebook members the option to share travel rating data with their Facebook friends.
Boston.com will also participate in the coming months.
Meantime, The Washington Post last month released newsTracker, an application that lets Facebook users quickly search for news about topics they deem important.
The Post developed the software, which monitors news from The Post and some 400 other worldwide news sources, according to Rob Curley, vice president of product development for Washington Post Newsweek Interactive.
A posting on Curley’s Web site said WPNI developed the software to capitalize on the growing popularity of the social networking site, which has more than 36 million users.
Des Moines Register ready for political spotlight
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
As Iowa ramps up the pressure on New Hampshire to become the site of the nation’s first presidential election battleground, the Hawkeye State’s largest daily newspaper is also beefing up its political coverage.
The Des Moines Register (daily, 146,050; Sunday, 233,229) is literally crammed with features and projects profiling the presidential candidates as the state gears up for the Jan. 3 caucus, said Michael Corey, digital projects editor at DesMoinesRegister.com.
Among the features is “Insight into the Candidates,” which gives presidential aspirants the ability to talk about their campaigns and their personalities.
“We asked candidates some questions that are not necessarily issues-focused,” Corey said about the project. “We are trying to get out their personalities a little bit” in order to let consumers understand who the candidates are when “they’re not scripted and not on talking points.”
The videos are arranged so that users can view them by specific question or by specific candidate. The paper filmed the candidates as they traveled to Des Moines to meet with The Register’s editorial board.
“Getting 10 minutes with each candidate is not an easy thing to do so we’ve been very happy to have done that,” Corey said. s
The politics section of the site has been running a number of different features since May to inform the readers of the presidential candidates’ comings and goings in the state.
Early planning
Getting started early was critical, Corey said.
“If you get started early it’s a lot easier to maintain your coverage. You’re not having to build it when things get really crazy. When we first set up the site we were setting up a lot of the features way in advance before most people became really engaged.”
Among the features: Google Maps, to allow users to track candidates’ visits.
“We also allow people to comment on all of the stories and we have blogs where people can leave comments,” he said. “A lot of our centerpiece work has been getting people information about the issues.”
The site also features a database that lets users measure candidates on their positions on various issues.
“You can pick as many or as few issues as you want and see them head-to-head,” he said.
Corey said the site is much more automated than it was during the last presidential election.
“A lot of the features today take more work to set up, but once they are up and running they are a lot more automatic to maintain,” he said.
The political coverage is part of a redesigned DesMoinesRegister.com site that was beefed up with the addition of Pluck Corp.’s SiteLife app to handle forums.
Politics at a glance
Listed below are the various features offered by DesMoinesRegister.com’s political page in its coverage of next month’s Iowa presidential caucus.
Content
• Iowa campaign events
• Search events by party, candidate, city, date
• About the Iowa caucus
• Insights into the candidates
• 5 Ways to learn about candidates
• Latest headlines
• October Iowa Poll results
• USA Today campaign headlines
• Iowa campaign donations (FEC.gov)
• Register opinion and analysis
• Analysis from The Politico
• Editorial board visits: Candidate impressions
• Carve a candidate
• Track Iowa visits
• Photos
• Video
• Blogs
• Voters’ Voice forum
Notable political sites
Listed below are honorable mentions from this year’s Knight-Batten awards for innovations in journalism in the political and elections category. The J-Lab Institute of Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland administers the awards.
The Next Mayor:
WHYY and the Philadelphia Daily News
A classic civic journalism initiative by WHYY public television, the Philadelphia Daily News and the Committee of 70 to focus on voter issues in electing the city’s next mayor. Included were blogs, videos submitted by organizers of more than 100 candidate forums, 1,260 videos submitted on YouTube, neighborhood reporting of citizen issues, and a news archive of all candidate coverage.
2008 Campaign Tracker:
washingtonpost.com
Washingtonpost.com created this database driven tracker and Google Map mash-up to provide users up to date information about each of the presidential candidates’ travels, fundraising, comparisons with other candidates and other campaign-related information. Intended for use not just by readers, but also by other journalists and organizations.
Election Coverage 2006-2007:
Mediaphormedia (Lawrence, Kan.)
Online coverage of local and state elections using the best benefits of news on the Web. Each candidate had a page with multiple forms of media covering all aspects of the campaign and election-night happenings.
Charleston Voters’ Guide 2007:
Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette
The Charleston Gazette created a Google Map mash-up that allows users to localize the ward-level candidate and election information for the 2007 city council election. The Gazette created this feature in preparation for the upcoming 2008 elections.
Associate Editor
As Iowa ramps up the pressure on New Hampshire to become the site of the nation’s first presidential election battleground, the Hawkeye State’s largest daily newspaper is also beefing up its political coverage.
The Des Moines Register (daily, 146,050; Sunday, 233,229) is literally crammed with features and projects profiling the presidential candidates as the state gears up for the Jan. 3 caucus, said Michael Corey, digital projects editor at DesMoinesRegister.com.
Among the features is “Insight into the Candidates,” which gives presidential aspirants the ability to talk about their campaigns and their personalities.
“We asked candidates some questions that are not necessarily issues-focused,” Corey said about the project. “We are trying to get out their personalities a little bit” in order to let consumers understand who the candidates are when “they’re not scripted and not on talking points.”
The videos are arranged so that users can view them by specific question or by specific candidate. The paper filmed the candidates as they traveled to Des Moines to meet with The Register’s editorial board.
“Getting 10 minutes with each candidate is not an easy thing to do so we’ve been very happy to have done that,” Corey said. s
The politics section of the site has been running a number of different features since May to inform the readers of the presidential candidates’ comings and goings in the state.
Early planning
Getting started early was critical, Corey said.
“If you get started early it’s a lot easier to maintain your coverage. You’re not having to build it when things get really crazy. When we first set up the site we were setting up a lot of the features way in advance before most people became really engaged.”
Among the features: Google Maps, to allow users to track candidates’ visits.
“We also allow people to comment on all of the stories and we have blogs where people can leave comments,” he said. “A lot of our centerpiece work has been getting people information about the issues.”
The site also features a database that lets users measure candidates on their positions on various issues.
“You can pick as many or as few issues as you want and see them head-to-head,” he said.
Corey said the site is much more automated than it was during the last presidential election.
“A lot of the features today take more work to set up, but once they are up and running they are a lot more automatic to maintain,” he said.
The political coverage is part of a redesigned DesMoinesRegister.com site that was beefed up with the addition of Pluck Corp.’s SiteLife app to handle forums.
Politics at a glance
Listed below are the various features offered by DesMoinesRegister.com’s political page in its coverage of next month’s Iowa presidential caucus.
Content
• Iowa campaign events
• Search events by party, candidate, city, date
• About the Iowa caucus
• Insights into the candidates
• 5 Ways to learn about candidates
• Latest headlines
• October Iowa Poll results
• USA Today campaign headlines
• Iowa campaign donations (FEC.gov)
• Register opinion and analysis
• Analysis from The Politico
• Editorial board visits: Candidate impressions
• Carve a candidate
• Track Iowa visits
• Photos
• Video
• Blogs
• Voters’ Voice forum
Notable political sites
Listed below are honorable mentions from this year’s Knight-Batten awards for innovations in journalism in the political and elections category. The J-Lab Institute of Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland administers the awards.
The Next Mayor:
WHYY and the Philadelphia Daily News
A classic civic journalism initiative by WHYY public television, the Philadelphia Daily News and the Committee of 70 to focus on voter issues in electing the city’s next mayor. Included were blogs, videos submitted by organizers of more than 100 candidate forums, 1,260 videos submitted on YouTube, neighborhood reporting of citizen issues, and a news archive of all candidate coverage.
2008 Campaign Tracker:
washingtonpost.com
Washingtonpost.com created this database driven tracker and Google Map mash-up to provide users up to date information about each of the presidential candidates’ travels, fundraising, comparisons with other candidates and other campaign-related information. Intended for use not just by readers, but also by other journalists and organizations.
Election Coverage 2006-2007:
Mediaphormedia (Lawrence, Kan.)
Online coverage of local and state elections using the best benefits of news on the Web. Each candidate had a page with multiple forms of media covering all aspects of the campaign and election-night happenings.
Charleston Voters’ Guide 2007:
Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette
The Charleston Gazette created a Google Map mash-up that allows users to localize the ward-level candidate and election information for the 2007 city council election. The Gazette created this feature in preparation for the upcoming 2008 elections.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Change is good as New York Times tweaks popular site
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
The New York Times has spent the past few months polishing its Web site as it attempts to give its readers more choices.
The most notable tweak was the September shuttering of TimesSelect. The Times also began offering access to all of its online content, as well as archives dating back to 1987, free of charge.
Although TimesSelect drew more than 780,000 users, the paper decided to replace the subscription model by one based on advertising, said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager for NYTimes.com.
American Express signed on as the first sponsor of the opened areas of NYTimes.com. For the past few weeks, it had a significant advertising presence on NYTimes.com’s home page as well as in the opinion and archives sections that were formerly behind the pay wall.
TimesSelect rolled out in September 2005 and at its end had approximately 787,400 active subscribers. Of the subscribed users, 471,200 received TimesSelect free as part of their home-delivery subscriptions, 227,000 paid for online access and another 89,200 received it for free on college campuses through TimesSelect University.
The Times is also offering archived content between 1851 and 1922 free of charge. It charges nonsubscribers a fee to access stories published between 1923 and 1986.
Home-delivery subscribers can access The Times’ complete archive, free of charge.
NYTimes.com drew more than 14 million unique users in July, tops among all newspaper Web sites according to Nielsen//Net Ratings.
Customization
NYTimes.com also formally launched My Times, http://my.nytimes.com, a feature that allows readers to personalize Web pages by organizing sources from all over the Web.
“Our goal with My Times was to create a unique Web portal that gives readers the ability to organize New York Times content, as well as content from around the Web, on their very own page,” said Rob Larson, NYTimes.com’s vice president of product management and development.
“This personalized service makes it easy for users to read all that they like, from one central place.”
My Times users seeking additional information about their prescribed topics can also get personalized recommendations from Times journalists.
My Times receives about 94,000 unique users a month and out of those, around 45,000 users have customized their My Times page, Larson said.
“We have also added thousands of news sources and new widgets such as The New York Times crosswords, local movie show times, flickr slideshows and weather,” said Larson. “In the coming months, we will also be integrating ‘Add to My Times’ buttons around the site, making it easy for readers to set up pages and we expect usage to increase significantly once those buttons are introduced.”
Designed in-house
“My Times went from being an advanced prototype to a production-ready system,” Larson said. “We also integrated the in-house NYTimes.com advertising system into My Times, so that our advertising clients would be able to buy ads and widget sponsorships in the same way they do for the rest of the site.”
NYTimes.com also upgraded software used to create and distribute widgets.
Associate Editor
The New York Times has spent the past few months polishing its Web site as it attempts to give its readers more choices.
The most notable tweak was the September shuttering of TimesSelect. The Times also began offering access to all of its online content, as well as archives dating back to 1987, free of charge.
Although TimesSelect drew more than 780,000 users, the paper decided to replace the subscription model by one based on advertising, said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager for NYTimes.com.
American Express signed on as the first sponsor of the opened areas of NYTimes.com. For the past few weeks, it had a significant advertising presence on NYTimes.com’s home page as well as in the opinion and archives sections that were formerly behind the pay wall.
TimesSelect rolled out in September 2005 and at its end had approximately 787,400 active subscribers. Of the subscribed users, 471,200 received TimesSelect free as part of their home-delivery subscriptions, 227,000 paid for online access and another 89,200 received it for free on college campuses through TimesSelect University.
The Times is also offering archived content between 1851 and 1922 free of charge. It charges nonsubscribers a fee to access stories published between 1923 and 1986.
Home-delivery subscribers can access The Times’ complete archive, free of charge.
NYTimes.com drew more than 14 million unique users in July, tops among all newspaper Web sites according to Nielsen//Net Ratings.
Customization
NYTimes.com also formally launched My Times, http://my.nytimes.com, a feature that allows readers to personalize Web pages by organizing sources from all over the Web.
“Our goal with My Times was to create a unique Web portal that gives readers the ability to organize New York Times content, as well as content from around the Web, on their very own page,” said Rob Larson, NYTimes.com’s vice president of product management and development.
“This personalized service makes it easy for users to read all that they like, from one central place.”
My Times users seeking additional information about their prescribed topics can also get personalized recommendations from Times journalists.
My Times receives about 94,000 unique users a month and out of those, around 45,000 users have customized their My Times page, Larson said.
“We have also added thousands of news sources and new widgets such as The New York Times crosswords, local movie show times, flickr slideshows and weather,” said Larson. “In the coming months, we will also be integrating ‘Add to My Times’ buttons around the site, making it easy for readers to set up pages and we expect usage to increase significantly once those buttons are introduced.”
Designed in-house
“My Times went from being an advanced prototype to a production-ready system,” Larson said. “We also integrated the in-house NYTimes.com advertising system into My Times, so that our advertising clients would be able to buy ads and widget sponsorships in the same way they do for the rest of the site.”
NYTimes.com also upgraded software used to create and distribute widgets.
Gainesville Sun puts Web front and center in revamp
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
On Wednesday, Sept. 19, The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun’s Web site rose with a new look and purpose.
The newspaper (Monday-Friday, 51,491; Saturday, 48,604; Sunday, 52,827) that day relaunched the site as part of a reconfigured newsroom aimed at delivering news and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Jennifer Smodish Griggs, online director.
The redesign project went hand-in-hand with the reorganization of our newsroom at the [paper] this summer,” she said. “The reorganization moved The Sun to a 24/7 continuous news operation and it made us really start to think digital first in a lot of ways.”
Sun editors and managers spent six months redesigning the paper’s news strategies, working with specialists from The New York Times Co. Regional Media Group in Tampa. The result was new, easier-to-navigate designs for GainesvilleSun.com and companion site Gainesville.com, Griggs said.
Hands-on
Among the benefits The Sun wanted from its retooled Web sites was the ability to let newsroom editors update content and change layouts without forcing them to become expert HTML programmers.
“We wanted to give the editors the opportunity to be hands on with the Web site,” she said. “This gives the editors more flexibility, akin to the same flexibility they might have when they are laying out a print page.”
The Sun tapped Saxotech Inc. to supply the content management software necessary to allow editors to work on the site.
“We worked with staff from Saxotech and NYTRMG online support staff to make updating and changing the site easier for editors,” Griggs said.
The Sun also cloaked the site with video and offered readers the chance to post photos, videos and comments.
“We have dramatically ramped up the amount of video that our newsroom is producing on the main site as well as on our GatorSports.com site,” said Griggs, adding that the site posts from three to five videos each day.
Another part of the redesign allows The Sun to prominently place videos on the site, thus attracting more user response.
Another feature, Zoom, lets users submit a photo that can be linked to a Google map, Griggs said.
New doorway
The redesign also changed the purpose of Gainesville.com by making it more of a doorway into The Sun’s network of sites, which include GatorSports.com and other community content pages.
“That’s a change from the old Gainesville.com, which was a very long, deep page that visitors had to scroll down to see in its entirety,” she said.
The user-participation feature of the redesigned Gainesville.com got a workout soon after its launch, when readers flocked to post comments about the University of Florida student who was tasered by police at a John Kerry forum.
“We saw readers starting forums about it and posting comments on some of the individual news stories,” Griggs said. “Readers were also uploading some of their own photos of the event.”
The Sun’s revamped newsroom, meantime, is based on a hybrid print-online approach. Reporters are assigned to one of four local editors who supervise various local coverage areas, including breaking news, public service, trends, business, schools and transportation.
Reporters, in addition to their writing responsibilities, shoot video and audio for the Web sites, said Jim Osteen, executive editor.
Multimedia strategy
“All reporters now are equipped with simple video cameras and laptop computers, so filing both stories and videos to our Web sites is standard operating procedure for their daily routine,” he said. “We also created a breaking news team within the local desk operation to provide early coverage just for the Web.”
Additionally, mobile reporters file stories, pictures and videos as they circle the city looking for stories and events of interest.
To support the multimedia strategy, The Sun purchased video cameras, upgraded reporters’ laptop computers and added a high-end video camera to its multimedia desk.
“We also created a multimedia wall with four 50-inch plasma screens that has become an integral part of the newsroom,” Osteen said. “We hold all of our news meetings in front of the multimedia wall and use it to monitor our Web sites, play videos, make changes in our online news presentations and track our hits.”
Sun retools newsroom
The transformed Gainesville (Fla.) Sun newsroom features a hybrid print-online desk function that brings in the new and kicks out the old.
To that end, The Sun combined its news desk, copy desk and design desk operations into a single unit that produces stories for print and online distribution, according to Jim Osteen, executive editor.
The news desk, for example, is a “delivery desk,” he said, capable of providing stories for print and online simultaneously.
In addition to working cross-platform, in many cases individuals are working cross-section.
“Our goal in reconfiguring the newsroom was to do what we do best, substantive journalism for our community — but across platforms,” said Osteen. “What we have created is a highly versatile newsroom for the increasingly digital world.”
The city desk, features desk and business desk have been combined into a local desk that produces videos for the Web and articles for the print and Web editions.
“Under this new system the reporters are assigned to one of four local editors and contribute stories to all of our print sections and to the Web,” said Osteen. “The photography department has become the multimedia desk and provides photos and videos to our daily and weekly print editions, our city magazine and Web sites.”
Web site Snapshot
www.gainesville.com
New site launch date: Aug. 20, 2007
Last major redesign: 2005
Owner: New York Times Regional Media Group
Employees dedicated to site: 6 (including online operations and online advertising)
Additional sites cacheable through Gainesville.com
• GatorSports
www.gatorsports.com
• Gainesville Magazine
www.gainesvillemagazine.com
• Gainesville Voice
www.gainesvillevoice.com
• GV2Go.com
www.gv2go.com
• Gainesville Guardian
www.gainesvilleguardian.com
Associate Editor
On Wednesday, Sept. 19, The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun’s Web site rose with a new look and purpose.
The newspaper (Monday-Friday, 51,491; Saturday, 48,604; Sunday, 52,827) that day relaunched the site as part of a reconfigured newsroom aimed at delivering news and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Jennifer Smodish Griggs, online director.
The redesign project went hand-in-hand with the reorganization of our newsroom at the [paper] this summer,” she said. “The reorganization moved The Sun to a 24/7 continuous news operation and it made us really start to think digital first in a lot of ways.”
Sun editors and managers spent six months redesigning the paper’s news strategies, working with specialists from The New York Times Co. Regional Media Group in Tampa. The result was new, easier-to-navigate designs for GainesvilleSun.com and companion site Gainesville.com, Griggs said.
Hands-on
Among the benefits The Sun wanted from its retooled Web sites was the ability to let newsroom editors update content and change layouts without forcing them to become expert HTML programmers.
“We wanted to give the editors the opportunity to be hands on with the Web site,” she said. “This gives the editors more flexibility, akin to the same flexibility they might have when they are laying out a print page.”
The Sun tapped Saxotech Inc. to supply the content management software necessary to allow editors to work on the site.
“We worked with staff from Saxotech and NYTRMG online support staff to make updating and changing the site easier for editors,” Griggs said.
The Sun also cloaked the site with video and offered readers the chance to post photos, videos and comments.
“We have dramatically ramped up the amount of video that our newsroom is producing on the main site as well as on our GatorSports.com site,” said Griggs, adding that the site posts from three to five videos each day.
Another part of the redesign allows The Sun to prominently place videos on the site, thus attracting more user response.
Another feature, Zoom, lets users submit a photo that can be linked to a Google map, Griggs said.
New doorway
The redesign also changed the purpose of Gainesville.com by making it more of a doorway into The Sun’s network of sites, which include GatorSports.com and other community content pages.
“That’s a change from the old Gainesville.com, which was a very long, deep page that visitors had to scroll down to see in its entirety,” she said.
The user-participation feature of the redesigned Gainesville.com got a workout soon after its launch, when readers flocked to post comments about the University of Florida student who was tasered by police at a John Kerry forum.
“We saw readers starting forums about it and posting comments on some of the individual news stories,” Griggs said. “Readers were also uploading some of their own photos of the event.”
The Sun’s revamped newsroom, meantime, is based on a hybrid print-online approach. Reporters are assigned to one of four local editors who supervise various local coverage areas, including breaking news, public service, trends, business, schools and transportation.
Reporters, in addition to their writing responsibilities, shoot video and audio for the Web sites, said Jim Osteen, executive editor.
Multimedia strategy
“All reporters now are equipped with simple video cameras and laptop computers, so filing both stories and videos to our Web sites is standard operating procedure for their daily routine,” he said. “We also created a breaking news team within the local desk operation to provide early coverage just for the Web.”
Additionally, mobile reporters file stories, pictures and videos as they circle the city looking for stories and events of interest.
To support the multimedia strategy, The Sun purchased video cameras, upgraded reporters’ laptop computers and added a high-end video camera to its multimedia desk.
“We also created a multimedia wall with four 50-inch plasma screens that has become an integral part of the newsroom,” Osteen said. “We hold all of our news meetings in front of the multimedia wall and use it to monitor our Web sites, play videos, make changes in our online news presentations and track our hits.”
Sun retools newsroom
The transformed Gainesville (Fla.) Sun newsroom features a hybrid print-online desk function that brings in the new and kicks out the old.
To that end, The Sun combined its news desk, copy desk and design desk operations into a single unit that produces stories for print and online distribution, according to Jim Osteen, executive editor.
The news desk, for example, is a “delivery desk,” he said, capable of providing stories for print and online simultaneously.
In addition to working cross-platform, in many cases individuals are working cross-section.
“Our goal in reconfiguring the newsroom was to do what we do best, substantive journalism for our community — but across platforms,” said Osteen. “What we have created is a highly versatile newsroom for the increasingly digital world.”
The city desk, features desk and business desk have been combined into a local desk that produces videos for the Web and articles for the print and Web editions.
“Under this new system the reporters are assigned to one of four local editors and contribute stories to all of our print sections and to the Web,” said Osteen. “The photography department has become the multimedia desk and provides photos and videos to our daily and weekly print editions, our city magazine and Web sites.”
Web site Snapshot
www.gainesville.com
New site launch date: Aug. 20, 2007
Last major redesign: 2005
Owner: New York Times Regional Media Group
Employees dedicated to site: 6 (including online operations and online advertising)
Additional sites cacheable through Gainesville.com
• GatorSports
www.gatorsports.com
• Gainesville Magazine
www.gainesvillemagazine.com
• Gainesville Voice
www.gainesvillevoice.com
• GV2Go.com
www.gv2go.com
• Gainesville Guardian
www.gainesvilleguardian.com
DTI wants everyone in the pool with new content app
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Newspapers now have another tool to oversee content slated for multiple channels with the release last month of MediaPool, a content management app that handles both print and online data on the same server.
Digital Technology International Chief Executive Officer Don Oldham said MediaPool, introduced at last month’s IfraExpo, will let newspapers freely earmark content as needed, from print to Web radio.
“MediaPool is a content management system that doesn’t have boundaries between print and Web or even between new channels,” Oldham said. “When we talk about the Web, that’s usually not one channel. It’s possibly on the Internet or mobile, Web TV or Web radio.”
The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore., is the first newspaper to integrate MediaPool CMS into its operation. The paper expects to roll out the app later this year in conjunction with a major upgrade of its editorial and advertising software.
Engine for apps
MediaPool is the content management engine for several DTI apps, including AdSpeed, ClassSpeed, NewsSpeed and WebSpeed.
The app is based on InterSystems Corp.’s Cache database software, a high-performance object database InterSystems claims can retrieve information five times faster than relational databases.
“This database uses a multidimensional array and even though it’s a single pool of data, it can be physically distributed across servers and even across geographic locations,” said Oldham, explaining the benefits of InterSystems’ approach.
Parent and child approach
MediaPool uses a hierarchical method to manage data, with a “parent” record and any number of “child” records linked together in the database.
“You have to have children because you may need a high-resolution photographs for print, but a low-resolution version for the Web,” Oldham said.
“Instead of having two separate photos with separate names that have to be updated in the system, they exist as one photo with different versions that show up as a thumbnail.”
MediaPool is also capable of overseeing user-generated content, a benefit to newspapers that solicit community input on their Web sites.
“Typically, that content isn’t in the regular workflow and has to be treated and handled separately,” Oldham said. “But the MediaPool architecture allows all of that user-generated material to come into the pool of content and be treated” like newsroom-generated content.
Meantime, DTI released a new version of WebSpeed, integrating the app with Adobe Systems Inc.’s Dreamweaver software.
WebSpeed’s suite of applications includes SpeedWriter, eWriter and Escenic Content Studio. SpeedWriter and eWriter let users create stories in a format that can be immediately published to the Web or onto layouts for print publications.
DTI has had a longstanding relationship with Adobe, integrating InDesign and InCopy within its software offerings.
“What we did with InDesign is we made it into a multi-user collaborative system and not just a single-user page layout program like it comes shrink wrapped,” Oldham said. “What we’ve added to Dreamweaver are dynamic tags so that a designer can lay out pages but put in the content tags, which will update directly out of the MediaPool database.”
The tags will thus allow users to automatically update their Web site hundreds of times per day without having to go back and manually edit the sites, Oldham said.
DTI said it also plans to incorporate Adobe Media Player into its apps at a later date.
Associate Editor
Newspapers now have another tool to oversee content slated for multiple channels with the release last month of MediaPool, a content management app that handles both print and online data on the same server.
Digital Technology International Chief Executive Officer Don Oldham said MediaPool, introduced at last month’s IfraExpo, will let newspapers freely earmark content as needed, from print to Web radio.
“MediaPool is a content management system that doesn’t have boundaries between print and Web or even between new channels,” Oldham said. “When we talk about the Web, that’s usually not one channel. It’s possibly on the Internet or mobile, Web TV or Web radio.”
The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore., is the first newspaper to integrate MediaPool CMS into its operation. The paper expects to roll out the app later this year in conjunction with a major upgrade of its editorial and advertising software.
Engine for apps
MediaPool is the content management engine for several DTI apps, including AdSpeed, ClassSpeed, NewsSpeed and WebSpeed.
The app is based on InterSystems Corp.’s Cache database software, a high-performance object database InterSystems claims can retrieve information five times faster than relational databases.
“This database uses a multidimensional array and even though it’s a single pool of data, it can be physically distributed across servers and even across geographic locations,” said Oldham, explaining the benefits of InterSystems’ approach.
Parent and child approach
MediaPool uses a hierarchical method to manage data, with a “parent” record and any number of “child” records linked together in the database.
“You have to have children because you may need a high-resolution photographs for print, but a low-resolution version for the Web,” Oldham said.
“Instead of having two separate photos with separate names that have to be updated in the system, they exist as one photo with different versions that show up as a thumbnail.”
MediaPool is also capable of overseeing user-generated content, a benefit to newspapers that solicit community input on their Web sites.
“Typically, that content isn’t in the regular workflow and has to be treated and handled separately,” Oldham said. “But the MediaPool architecture allows all of that user-generated material to come into the pool of content and be treated” like newsroom-generated content.
Meantime, DTI released a new version of WebSpeed, integrating the app with Adobe Systems Inc.’s Dreamweaver software.
WebSpeed’s suite of applications includes SpeedWriter, eWriter and Escenic Content Studio. SpeedWriter and eWriter let users create stories in a format that can be immediately published to the Web or onto layouts for print publications.
DTI has had a longstanding relationship with Adobe, integrating InDesign and InCopy within its software offerings.
“What we did with InDesign is we made it into a multi-user collaborative system and not just a single-user page layout program like it comes shrink wrapped,” Oldham said. “What we’ve added to Dreamweaver are dynamic tags so that a designer can lay out pages but put in the content tags, which will update directly out of the MediaPool database.”
The tags will thus allow users to automatically update their Web site hundreds of times per day without having to go back and manually edit the sites, Oldham said.
DTI said it also plans to incorporate Adobe Media Player into its apps at a later date.
Web service lets San Antonio readers pick their news
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
The San Antonio Express-News is bringing local news to a whole new level.
The paper in September added the capability to beam geographically tailored news and information directly to subscribers’ e-mail addresses, using software from Cambridge, Mass.-based MetaCarta Inc.
The firm’s Local Alerts Service for Publishers app lets readers personalize news stories and obtain information about the community events they most care about, said Julie Weber, general manager of MySanAntonio.com.
“We use Local Alerts on our site to encourage people to have information delivered to their inbox based on a geographical setting,” she said. The Express-News is the first paper to roll out the software.
Service subscribers can opt to get their news from any portion of the eight-county San Antonio metropolitan area. Local Alerts piggybacks on the site’s RSS capabilities to read, extract and e-mail alerts to subscribers.
“If I wanted to find something out about one of the bedroom communities, I could easily go in, click on a map of the geographic area I want information about and I can have alerts sent to me in the morning and evening on any news that has been uploaded for that area,” Weber said. “They may live 30 miles away and Local Alerts provides readers the ability to very easily and quickly find out any news about their geographic location.”
Map manipulation
Rick Hutton, MetaCarta’s vice president of content services, said the software enables users to define their coverage by manipulating a map rather than choosing a neighborhood, town or city.
“Our technology reads text somewhat like a human does and extracts those geographic references that a typical keyword search tool would not recognize,” he said. “It’s not broken down into neighborhoods. That’s one of the beauties” of the software.
Users can easily modify their search parameters, Hutton said, requesting alerts for certain types of classified ads or events such as community fairs.
“We think Local Alerts is unique in that it allows the newspaper publisher to offer their end users a means to subscribe to news and information about specific places, where they work, live or play, or for that matter, where they may be looking at making investments.”
MySanAntonio.com has tweaked the service a bit since its initial test run in July, Weber said. During the evaluation period, some subscribers said they were getting too much information, causing managers to dial back the amount of content transmitted to users.
Weber said the Express-News is pleased with the response Local Alerts is receiving from subscribers, but declined to disclose the number of readers the service is reaching.
“We’ve heard good reports that the service gives them just enough information about their area,” she said.
MetaCarta maps out niche
MetaCarta Inc. may be new to newspapers, but the online mapping vendor has plenty of experience working with companies in other industries.
Some of its clients include the Dept. of Homeland Security, the National Security Agency and other entities such as the EPA, USDA and Smithsonian Institution, said Rick Hutton, MetaCarta’s vice president of content services.
MetaCarta launched its content services branch last year and began its focus on the publishing industry about six months ago.
Hutton said MetaCarta’s Local Alerts app is the first in what will be several applications designed to pull unstructured text — that is, text that isn’t contained in a database file or within defined fields or records — and present it with geographic references.
“What we offer to newspaper publishers is the chance to unlock all of the geographic information that is buried in their text-based content,” said Hutton. “Once they can unlock that they can present it to users in a number of ways.
“The challenge with online is offering personalization features. Newspapers have had to use a one-size-fits-all approach in publishing news to everybody without (giving users the) ability to target it except by asking a user to click on a section,” he said. “Using software like Local Alerts starts to let newspapers know who their users are and (also lets them) target the information that they care about.”
Associate Editor
The San Antonio Express-News is bringing local news to a whole new level.
The paper in September added the capability to beam geographically tailored news and information directly to subscribers’ e-mail addresses, using software from Cambridge, Mass.-based MetaCarta Inc.
The firm’s Local Alerts Service for Publishers app lets readers personalize news stories and obtain information about the community events they most care about, said Julie Weber, general manager of MySanAntonio.com.
“We use Local Alerts on our site to encourage people to have information delivered to their inbox based on a geographical setting,” she said. The Express-News is the first paper to roll out the software.
Service subscribers can opt to get their news from any portion of the eight-county San Antonio metropolitan area. Local Alerts piggybacks on the site’s RSS capabilities to read, extract and e-mail alerts to subscribers.
“If I wanted to find something out about one of the bedroom communities, I could easily go in, click on a map of the geographic area I want information about and I can have alerts sent to me in the morning and evening on any news that has been uploaded for that area,” Weber said. “They may live 30 miles away and Local Alerts provides readers the ability to very easily and quickly find out any news about their geographic location.”
Map manipulation
Rick Hutton, MetaCarta’s vice president of content services, said the software enables users to define their coverage by manipulating a map rather than choosing a neighborhood, town or city.
“Our technology reads text somewhat like a human does and extracts those geographic references that a typical keyword search tool would not recognize,” he said. “It’s not broken down into neighborhoods. That’s one of the beauties” of the software.
Users can easily modify their search parameters, Hutton said, requesting alerts for certain types of classified ads or events such as community fairs.
“We think Local Alerts is unique in that it allows the newspaper publisher to offer their end users a means to subscribe to news and information about specific places, where they work, live or play, or for that matter, where they may be looking at making investments.”
MySanAntonio.com has tweaked the service a bit since its initial test run in July, Weber said. During the evaluation period, some subscribers said they were getting too much information, causing managers to dial back the amount of content transmitted to users.
Weber said the Express-News is pleased with the response Local Alerts is receiving from subscribers, but declined to disclose the number of readers the service is reaching.
“We’ve heard good reports that the service gives them just enough information about their area,” she said.
MetaCarta maps out niche
MetaCarta Inc. may be new to newspapers, but the online mapping vendor has plenty of experience working with companies in other industries.
Some of its clients include the Dept. of Homeland Security, the National Security Agency and other entities such as the EPA, USDA and Smithsonian Institution, said Rick Hutton, MetaCarta’s vice president of content services.
MetaCarta launched its content services branch last year and began its focus on the publishing industry about six months ago.
Hutton said MetaCarta’s Local Alerts app is the first in what will be several applications designed to pull unstructured text — that is, text that isn’t contained in a database file or within defined fields or records — and present it with geographic references.
“What we offer to newspaper publishers is the chance to unlock all of the geographic information that is buried in their text-based content,” said Hutton. “Once they can unlock that they can present it to users in a number of ways.
“The challenge with online is offering personalization features. Newspapers have had to use a one-size-fits-all approach in publishing news to everybody without (giving users the) ability to target it except by asking a user to click on a section,” he said. “Using software like Local Alerts starts to let newspapers know who their users are and (also lets them) target the information that they care about.”
Monday, October 1, 2007
For USAToday.com, it’s a widget world after all
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
USAToday.com last month moved into the world of widgets when it introduced several offerings to allow users to incorporate the news site’s content on their personal and social networking Web sites.
Widgets, essentially shortcuts, give users immediate access to content generated from other sites (see sidebar, right).
The newspaper trotted out three travel-themed widgets with plans to offer several more this fall, according to Joel Sucherman, USAToday.com’s executive producer.
Among the widgets available on USA Today’s site are three that deal with travel-related news. The widgets are accessible at www.usatoday.com/community/widgets/index.htm
“We are planning a politics one for the 2008 elections, which should be the next widget to roll out,” he said.
USA Today also anticipates four other widgets, including most popular headlines, pop culture, its Snapshot information graphic and video celebrities.
“We find that USA Today’s core customers have a real strong identification with the brand and would be interested in identifying their own blogs and social networking pages with USA Today,” Sucherman said.
Widgets will also let the paper reach audiences that may not currently access its site, Sucherman said.
“You might have new customers stumble upon your content and serendipity plays the part of gaining new customers who may find something they are interested in,” he said.
Test the waters
“It’s also a way for us to test the waters and find out where people want to read USA Today content. Particularly when you get into these niche categories, maybe (a widget) helps people spruce up their pages and tell the story that they want to tell,” said Sucherman.
All widgets will have an advertising aspect and house standard ad units.
Sucherman said it’s too early to determine how popular the widgets are. But the newspaper, he said, doesn’t expect to judge success in weeks or months.
“We want to learn what our customers want, where they want to put these widgets,” he said. “We are trying to make them as available as possible, from Facebook and MySpace to Google, Blogger and Typepad.”
USAToday.com’s widgets are based on software from NewsGator Technology Inc., which also provides widgets to several other newspapers, including The Miami Herald and Denver Post (see box).
But the USAToday.com widgets are different, said Walker Fenton, NewsGator’s general manager of syndication services. USA Today’s widgets promote the newspaper’s own content and make that content easier to share among users’ sites.
“Other newspapers are using widgets to aggregate related third-party content within their sites, giving their audience greater breadth and depth around a particular subject or topic in a manner that is personalized and easy to use,” he said.
What’s a widget?
On the Web, widgets are about as common as scandalous celebrity photos. But what exactly are they?
NewsGator General Manager of Syndication Services Walker Fenton describes widgets as embeddable applications that use built-in RSS feeds to draw in syndicated content from a predisposed location like USAToday.com or other third-party Web site.
USAToday.com terms them a little less officially: software that let users read, view and interact with USA Today contact on their own social network, blog or personalized page.
Regardless, widgets have become old hat to many companies providing enhanced features to social networking and blogging users. But for newspapers looking to spread their brands like a virtual Johnny Appleseed, widgets are relatively undiscovered country.
Widgets enable the flow of a wide variety of content, including news, graphics, audio and video.
NewsGator launched its Widget Framework app last June, allowing users to build widgets that syndicate content to other sites and desktops while maintaining a particular look and feel.
Users can also use the Widget Framework to present readers with related content from external sites and allow them to interact with that content.
Newspapers are moving toward offering customized widgets that offer various types of content.
“The USA Today widgets are a way for readers to put USA Today-branded content on their blog, Web page or social network page,” Fenton said. “It’s basically a fun way for consumers to experience and share news and information online while also helping to extend USA Today’s brand and advertising reach.”
Who’s got widgets?
Listed below are NewsGator widgets offered by newspapers:
•San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News: www.mercurynews.com
•The Miami Herald: www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/america_latina/cuba
•The Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch: www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.html
www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.html
•The Denver Post: http://my.denverpost.com
Associate Editor
USAToday.com last month moved into the world of widgets when it introduced several offerings to allow users to incorporate the news site’s content on their personal and social networking Web sites.
Widgets, essentially shortcuts, give users immediate access to content generated from other sites (see sidebar, right).
The newspaper trotted out three travel-themed widgets with plans to offer several more this fall, according to Joel Sucherman, USAToday.com’s executive producer.
Among the widgets available on USA Today’s site are three that deal with travel-related news. The widgets are accessible at www.usatoday.com/community/widgets/index.htm
“We are planning a politics one for the 2008 elections, which should be the next widget to roll out,” he said.
USA Today also anticipates four other widgets, including most popular headlines, pop culture, its Snapshot information graphic and video celebrities.
“We find that USA Today’s core customers have a real strong identification with the brand and would be interested in identifying their own blogs and social networking pages with USA Today,” Sucherman said.
Widgets will also let the paper reach audiences that may not currently access its site, Sucherman said.
“You might have new customers stumble upon your content and serendipity plays the part of gaining new customers who may find something they are interested in,” he said.
Test the waters
“It’s also a way for us to test the waters and find out where people want to read USA Today content. Particularly when you get into these niche categories, maybe (a widget) helps people spruce up their pages and tell the story that they want to tell,” said Sucherman.
All widgets will have an advertising aspect and house standard ad units.
Sucherman said it’s too early to determine how popular the widgets are. But the newspaper, he said, doesn’t expect to judge success in weeks or months.
“We want to learn what our customers want, where they want to put these widgets,” he said. “We are trying to make them as available as possible, from Facebook and MySpace to Google, Blogger and Typepad.”
USAToday.com’s widgets are based on software from NewsGator Technology Inc., which also provides widgets to several other newspapers, including The Miami Herald and Denver Post (see box).
But the USAToday.com widgets are different, said Walker Fenton, NewsGator’s general manager of syndication services. USA Today’s widgets promote the newspaper’s own content and make that content easier to share among users’ sites.
“Other newspapers are using widgets to aggregate related third-party content within their sites, giving their audience greater breadth and depth around a particular subject or topic in a manner that is personalized and easy to use,” he said.
What’s a widget?
On the Web, widgets are about as common as scandalous celebrity photos. But what exactly are they?
NewsGator General Manager of Syndication Services Walker Fenton describes widgets as embeddable applications that use built-in RSS feeds to draw in syndicated content from a predisposed location like USAToday.com or other third-party Web site.
USAToday.com terms them a little less officially: software that let users read, view and interact with USA Today contact on their own social network, blog or personalized page.
Regardless, widgets have become old hat to many companies providing enhanced features to social networking and blogging users. But for newspapers looking to spread their brands like a virtual Johnny Appleseed, widgets are relatively undiscovered country.
Widgets enable the flow of a wide variety of content, including news, graphics, audio and video.
NewsGator launched its Widget Framework app last June, allowing users to build widgets that syndicate content to other sites and desktops while maintaining a particular look and feel.
Users can also use the Widget Framework to present readers with related content from external sites and allow them to interact with that content.
Newspapers are moving toward offering customized widgets that offer various types of content.
“The USA Today widgets are a way for readers to put USA Today-branded content on their blog, Web page or social network page,” Fenton said. “It’s basically a fun way for consumers to experience and share news and information online while also helping to extend USA Today’s brand and advertising reach.”
Who’s got widgets?
Listed below are NewsGator widgets offered by newspapers:
•San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News: www.mercurynews.com
•The Miami Herald: www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/america_latina/cuba
•The Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch: www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.html
www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.html
•The Denver Post: http://my.denverpost.com
Wash Post taps Pluck
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive incorporated Pluck Corp.’s SiteLife Social Media suite on its MyPost Web site.
The move adds site-wide user-generated content and social networking features that allow readers to interact with editors and other readers through story-level comments, blogs and topic-targeted communities around various news stories and themes.
“By deploying Pluck SiteLife to create MyPost we’re giving people another way to interact more deeply with the site and with each other, a strategy we have long believed will ultimately turn more visitors into loyal users,” said Jim Brady, executive editor, washingtonpost.com.
The personalized MyPost pages allow readers to upload an image, publish biographical information and track discussion groups.
It will also aggregate all comments a reader leaves on washingtonpost.com articles.
The move adds site-wide user-generated content and social networking features that allow readers to interact with editors and other readers through story-level comments, blogs and topic-targeted communities around various news stories and themes.
“By deploying Pluck SiteLife to create MyPost we’re giving people another way to interact more deeply with the site and with each other, a strategy we have long believed will ultimately turn more visitors into loyal users,” said Jim Brady, executive editor, washingtonpost.com.
The personalized MyPost pages allow readers to upload an image, publish biographical information and track discussion groups.
It will also aggregate all comments a reader leaves on washingtonpost.com articles.
McClatchy retains stake in CareerBuilder
The McClatchy Co. said it resolved outstanding issues related to its affiliate agreement with CareerBuilder and will continue with its 14.4 percent ownership stake in the online job site.
McClatchy gained a 33 percent stake in CareerBuilder with its acquisition of Knight-Ridder Inc. in June 2006, and in August 2006 sold 18.3 percent of the interest it acquired to Gannett and Tribune.
At that time, McClatchy entered into an affiliate agreement with CareerBuilder that limited the number of products McClatchy’s newspapers could sell compared to the former KRI affiliate agreement and the Gannett and Tribune affiliate agreements.
Earlier this year, McClatchy began talks with Gannett and Tribune to renegotiate the affiliate agreement to be more equitable for its newspapers. Those talks have been successfully completed.
Details of the affiliate agreement were not disclosed.
McClatchy gained a 33 percent stake in CareerBuilder with its acquisition of Knight-Ridder Inc. in June 2006, and in August 2006 sold 18.3 percent of the interest it acquired to Gannett and Tribune.
At that time, McClatchy entered into an affiliate agreement with CareerBuilder that limited the number of products McClatchy’s newspapers could sell compared to the former KRI affiliate agreement and the Gannett and Tribune affiliate agreements.
Earlier this year, McClatchy began talks with Gannett and Tribune to renegotiate the affiliate agreement to be more equitable for its newspapers. Those talks have been successfully completed.
Details of the affiliate agreement were not disclosed.
Fla. papers launch database
Gannett Co. Inc. newspapers and television stations in Florida launched a searchable database of more than 2 million files about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the 2004 hurricanes that raked the Sunshine State.
The posting ended months of legal wrangling over the files.
The database spans the four hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004 — Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. It includes applicants’ addresses, how much an applicant requested and how much FEMA paid to satisfy each claim.
The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., and Pensacola News Journal filed a lawsuit in 2005 asking for information about public and individual assistance distributed by FEMA.
The information became public record on June 22, 2007, when the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the release of the information was essential for the public to evaluate FEMA’s responsiveness. The News-Press received the record Aug. 27.
The searchable database is available at:
www.news-press.com/fema
www.pensacolanewsjournal.com
www.floridatoday.com
www.tallahassee.com
The posting ended months of legal wrangling over the files.
The database spans the four hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004 — Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. It includes applicants’ addresses, how much an applicant requested and how much FEMA paid to satisfy each claim.
The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., and Pensacola News Journal filed a lawsuit in 2005 asking for information about public and individual assistance distributed by FEMA.
The information became public record on June 22, 2007, when the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the release of the information was essential for the public to evaluate FEMA’s responsiveness. The News-Press received the record Aug. 27.
The searchable database is available at:
www.news-press.com/fema
www.pensacolanewsjournal.com
www.floridatoday.com
www.tallahassee.com
Site aims to make classifieds easier for community papers
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Newspapers of all sizes are looking to suture their print ad revenue wounds while building their online presence.
Web site CoolerAds.com said it has the tools to give newspapers that chance to bridge that gap through its menu of classified, local search and social networking features.
The three-year-old site, backed by Budd Lake, N.J.-based Kaesu Inc., counts as clients more than 95 community newspapers, according to Joe Nicastro, CoolerAds.com’s co-founder.
“Initially CoolerAds.com was designed to function as a classified network. It was our answer to Craigslist for community papers,” he said. “We started out with a classified program where users can upload their ads and take ads online — generally functions that most programs offer.”
But the site evolved into something a lot more sophisticated, which Nicastro said can handle the online classifieds section of any size newspaper.
Among the features: the ability for marketers to place classified ads online and in print, in multiple newspapers, with one buy.
“With the market for print and online classifieds easily surpassing $20 billion annually, we have the opportunity to build a strong business helping publishers retain and grow their portion of the local ad market,” Nicastro said.
Last month, CoolerAds.com bolstered its site with the addition of display ad archiving and distribution.
In the beginning
Gary L. Godfrey, president and publisher of Ohio-based Arens Publications, said he uses CoolerAds.com’s platform to meet the new online challenges facing his organization.
Godfrey said that adopting the CoolerAds.com platform was initially difficult because the terminology and methodology used was foreign.
“Publishers have their own jargon, and it was like being a fish out of water,” he said. “But through the years, with patience and suggestions, the CoolerAds platform is as simple as reading the screen.”
Godfrey said CoolerAds.com allows his customers to place ads based on their schedule and what they want to sell.
“I can’t believe when customers select their own ads, enhancements and number of weeks — they always select more than just calling an ad in by telephone,” he said. “The newest addition is report tabs which tell the publisher when someone new comes to the site.”
With all the free classified alternatives available to consumers, Godfrey said it’s important for publishers to realize that times have changed.
“We either get into the game or get out,” he said. “Just look at the circulation numbers of the big dailies — they keep going down and down.”
Pushing membership
The Mid-Atlantic Community Newspaper Association, meantime, last year began promoting the use of CoolerAds.com to its 50-strong membership. So far, 11 papers have signed up, said Alyse Mitten, MACPA’s executive director.
The organization includes weeklies and community papers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, reaching more than 6 million subscribers. About 1 million have access to CoolerAds.com.
Mitten said MACPA is promoting CoolerAds.com as a way for its member papers to pursue classified ad revenue lost to free sites like Craigslist.
“CoolerAds.com is a complement to our publications because it provides the younger reader or advertiser with a local venue for advertising their products,” she said. “The people that are going to come onto the Web sites are going to see all the ads from participating publications, but the ones they are most interested in will be from their local publications.”
The association is offering monetary incentives to entice newspapers to sign on to the program.
Mitten said CoolerAds provides the community papers with a Web presence they may not have been able to offer before.
“One member who runs the paper with just his wife has created an online presence where it looks like they have several more employees working for the operation,” she said.
Associate Editor
Newspapers of all sizes are looking to suture their print ad revenue wounds while building their online presence.
Web site CoolerAds.com said it has the tools to give newspapers that chance to bridge that gap through its menu of classified, local search and social networking features.
The three-year-old site, backed by Budd Lake, N.J.-based Kaesu Inc., counts as clients more than 95 community newspapers, according to Joe Nicastro, CoolerAds.com’s co-founder.
“Initially CoolerAds.com was designed to function as a classified network. It was our answer to Craigslist for community papers,” he said. “We started out with a classified program where users can upload their ads and take ads online — generally functions that most programs offer.”
But the site evolved into something a lot more sophisticated, which Nicastro said can handle the online classifieds section of any size newspaper.
Among the features: the ability for marketers to place classified ads online and in print, in multiple newspapers, with one buy.
“With the market for print and online classifieds easily surpassing $20 billion annually, we have the opportunity to build a strong business helping publishers retain and grow their portion of the local ad market,” Nicastro said.
Last month, CoolerAds.com bolstered its site with the addition of display ad archiving and distribution.
In the beginning
Gary L. Godfrey, president and publisher of Ohio-based Arens Publications, said he uses CoolerAds.com’s platform to meet the new online challenges facing his organization.
Godfrey said that adopting the CoolerAds.com platform was initially difficult because the terminology and methodology used was foreign.
“Publishers have their own jargon, and it was like being a fish out of water,” he said. “But through the years, with patience and suggestions, the CoolerAds platform is as simple as reading the screen.”
Godfrey said CoolerAds.com allows his customers to place ads based on their schedule and what they want to sell.
“I can’t believe when customers select their own ads, enhancements and number of weeks — they always select more than just calling an ad in by telephone,” he said. “The newest addition is report tabs which tell the publisher when someone new comes to the site.”
With all the free classified alternatives available to consumers, Godfrey said it’s important for publishers to realize that times have changed.
“We either get into the game or get out,” he said. “Just look at the circulation numbers of the big dailies — they keep going down and down.”
Pushing membership
The Mid-Atlantic Community Newspaper Association, meantime, last year began promoting the use of CoolerAds.com to its 50-strong membership. So far, 11 papers have signed up, said Alyse Mitten, MACPA’s executive director.
The organization includes weeklies and community papers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, reaching more than 6 million subscribers. About 1 million have access to CoolerAds.com.
Mitten said MACPA is promoting CoolerAds.com as a way for its member papers to pursue classified ad revenue lost to free sites like Craigslist.
“CoolerAds.com is a complement to our publications because it provides the younger reader or advertiser with a local venue for advertising their products,” she said. “The people that are going to come onto the Web sites are going to see all the ads from participating publications, but the ones they are most interested in will be from their local publications.”
The association is offering monetary incentives to entice newspapers to sign on to the program.
Mitten said CoolerAds provides the community papers with a Web presence they may not have been able to offer before.
“One member who runs the paper with just his wife has created an online presence where it looks like they have several more employees working for the operation,” she said.
Four questions with David W. Geipel
David Geipel, vice president of business development at CellSigns, says that the mobile experience is underpinned by a wide array of services. And newspapers better have strategies for each one.
What are some of the issues facing newspapers when it comes to implementing mobile phone technology?
Mobile isn’t new for many newspapers that have deployed WAP (wireless access protocol) sites with news, weather and sports content. They have been out for several years but most of those investments have not paid off. That’s because “mobile” encompasses a wider range of services to create an experience.
It’s not a single technology. The cornerstone of today’s successful mobile strategy is SMS (text messaging) and WAP. When you consider that a mobile phone can be a Web browser, an e-mail client, a telephone and an instant messenger, you really need to look for a strategy for each of these modes of communication. It also needs to reach consumers across various cell phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel.
Video will be the next big thing in the mobile space. Newer technologies like location-based services are still generating a lot of buzz right now.
How has the mobile technology industry changed over the past few years?
Over the last five years, the fastest growing form of wireless communication in the U.S. has been SMS/text messaging.
In just five years, text messaging has grown from over 18 million text messages a month to over 18.5 billion text messages sent each month in the U.S. It’s been growing 250 percent year over year. In other countries, there are more text messages sent than calls placed.
The mobile Internet will also revolutionize communication and entertainment in the near future as bandwidth increases on mobile networks. New services such as mobile video, photo sharing and music downloading will be all the rage over the next few years as the cell phone morphs into the next-generation communication device. Can anyone say iPhone?
Do you think mobile phone technology will help newspapers attract the young readership demographic?
Absolutely. According to Forrester Research, 78 percent of cell phone subscribers aged 18 to 26 use data services. Whether it’s teens, tweens or Generation X, Y or Z, they can all be lumped in as the mobile generation, or the consumer on the go.
The only way to reach this demographic is to talk their talk and create services that are useful and are of interest. They may not be picking up the paper, but their phone is with them and they know how to use it. SMS is to Gen-Y as e-mail was to Gen-X.
What Web 2.0 technology trends should newspapers pay attention to?
The newsroom has changed. Breaking news is now being reported as it happens through text message posts, mobile e-mail, camera phone photos and mobile video taken from cell phones. Some reporters are being equipped to report from the street and are now being called mojos, or mobile journalists.
Publisher Web sites will soon morph into places where collective intelligence resides. Blogs from actual editors and reporters will become the norm and garner greater readership across the Internet.
The move toward hyper-local puts the spotlight back on the street-by-street news. It also puts the spotlight on social networking applications, microsites and mash-ups — blending technologies.
Mobile technologies will allow advertisers to publish mobile special offers and specials to an opt-in list managed by the publisher. The customer will get the offer immediately on their phone, which reiterates the value of the subscriber relationship.
In the end, mobile is the universal connector between the customer and others with similar interests across all of the newspaper franchises, including news, weather, sports, promotions, and classifieds.
What are some of the issues facing newspapers when it comes to implementing mobile phone technology?
Mobile isn’t new for many newspapers that have deployed WAP (wireless access protocol) sites with news, weather and sports content. They have been out for several years but most of those investments have not paid off. That’s because “mobile” encompasses a wider range of services to create an experience.
It’s not a single technology. The cornerstone of today’s successful mobile strategy is SMS (text messaging) and WAP. When you consider that a mobile phone can be a Web browser, an e-mail client, a telephone and an instant messenger, you really need to look for a strategy for each of these modes of communication. It also needs to reach consumers across various cell phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint/Nextel.
Video will be the next big thing in the mobile space. Newer technologies like location-based services are still generating a lot of buzz right now.
How has the mobile technology industry changed over the past few years?
Over the last five years, the fastest growing form of wireless communication in the U.S. has been SMS/text messaging.
In just five years, text messaging has grown from over 18 million text messages a month to over 18.5 billion text messages sent each month in the U.S. It’s been growing 250 percent year over year. In other countries, there are more text messages sent than calls placed.
The mobile Internet will also revolutionize communication and entertainment in the near future as bandwidth increases on mobile networks. New services such as mobile video, photo sharing and music downloading will be all the rage over the next few years as the cell phone morphs into the next-generation communication device. Can anyone say iPhone?
Do you think mobile phone technology will help newspapers attract the young readership demographic?
Absolutely. According to Forrester Research, 78 percent of cell phone subscribers aged 18 to 26 use data services. Whether it’s teens, tweens or Generation X, Y or Z, they can all be lumped in as the mobile generation, or the consumer on the go.
The only way to reach this demographic is to talk their talk and create services that are useful and are of interest. They may not be picking up the paper, but their phone is with them and they know how to use it. SMS is to Gen-Y as e-mail was to Gen-X.
What Web 2.0 technology trends should newspapers pay attention to?
The newsroom has changed. Breaking news is now being reported as it happens through text message posts, mobile e-mail, camera phone photos and mobile video taken from cell phones. Some reporters are being equipped to report from the street and are now being called mojos, or mobile journalists.
Publisher Web sites will soon morph into places where collective intelligence resides. Blogs from actual editors and reporters will become the norm and garner greater readership across the Internet.
The move toward hyper-local puts the spotlight back on the street-by-street news. It also puts the spotlight on social networking applications, microsites and mash-ups — blending technologies.
Mobile technologies will allow advertisers to publish mobile special offers and specials to an opt-in list managed by the publisher. The customer will get the offer immediately on their phone, which reiterates the value of the subscriber relationship.
In the end, mobile is the universal connector between the customer and others with similar interests across all of the newspaper franchises, including news, weather, sports, promotions, and classifieds.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
WaPo launches local site
The Washington Post launched a grassroots journalism Web site, joining dozens of other papers seeking to grow their overall audiences by offering so-called hyperlocal coverage of community events.
LoudounExtra.com, serving the northern Virginia community about 25 miles north of Washington, D.C., combines Post reporters with community journalists, the paper said. If the pilot is successful, The Post plans to launch similar sites for other areas surrounding and including the District, the paper said.
The site is based on Ellington, custom software licensed from the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World. Rob Curley, who was hired by The Post to oversee its Internet efforts, developed the Journal-World’s site as well as the Web site of the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, both of which feature hyperlocal journalism.
LoudounExtra.com features community news as well as extensive databases on schools, business and churches.
LoudounExtra.com, serving the northern Virginia community about 25 miles north of Washington, D.C., combines Post reporters with community journalists, the paper said. If the pilot is successful, The Post plans to launch similar sites for other areas surrounding and including the District, the paper said.
The site is based on Ellington, custom software licensed from the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World. Rob Curley, who was hired by The Post to oversee its Internet efforts, developed the Journal-World’s site as well as the Web site of the Naples (Fla.) Daily News, both of which feature hyperlocal journalism.
LoudounExtra.com features community news as well as extensive databases on schools, business and churches.
Philly papers join Yahoo consortium
The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News partnered with Yahoo Inc. to use features offered by the Newspaper Consortium.
Under terms of the deal, Philly.com will use Yahoo’s display advertising technology and be represented nationally by Yahoo sales staff, while Philly.com sales staff will represent Yahoo locally. Philly.com’s local content will also be transmitted across Yahoo’s network.
Philly.com will continue to use employment-classified services from Monster.com. Last year, Philly.com was the first U.S. daily to partner with Monster.com’s online employment initiative.
“Working with Yahoo as a member of its Newspaper Consortium will give Philly.com the opportunity to share its award-winning local content with its users and advertising with Yahoo’s 131 million monthly visitors, targeting those with interest in the Philadelphia area,” said Eric Grilly, president of Philly.com.
Grilly, formerly president and CEO of MediaNews Group Interactive, worked for the Denver-based newspaper group last November when the partnership between Yahoo and the Consortium was first announced.
In addition to Philly.com, other newspaper publishers joining the Newspaper Consortium are GateHouse Media Inc. and Paxton Media Group. Two other papers, Tribune-Review Publishing Co. in Pittsburgh and The Day in New London, Conn., are also using Yahoo employment features.
Under terms of the deal, Philly.com will use Yahoo’s display advertising technology and be represented nationally by Yahoo sales staff, while Philly.com sales staff will represent Yahoo locally. Philly.com’s local content will also be transmitted across Yahoo’s network.
Philly.com will continue to use employment-classified services from Monster.com. Last year, Philly.com was the first U.S. daily to partner with Monster.com’s online employment initiative.
“Working with Yahoo as a member of its Newspaper Consortium will give Philly.com the opportunity to share its award-winning local content with its users and advertising with Yahoo’s 131 million monthly visitors, targeting those with interest in the Philadelphia area,” said Eric Grilly, president of Philly.com.
Grilly, formerly president and CEO of MediaNews Group Interactive, worked for the Denver-based newspaper group last November when the partnership between Yahoo and the Consortium was first announced.
In addition to Philly.com, other newspaper publishers joining the Newspaper Consortium are GateHouse Media Inc. and Paxton Media Group. Two other papers, Tribune-Review Publishing Co. in Pittsburgh and The Day in New London, Conn., are also using Yahoo employment features.
PressDisplay available for iPhone
NewspaperDirect announced the availability of its PressDisplay.com service for the Apple iPhone. As a special promotion, NewspaperDirect said it will offer the service to all iPhone users for one month.
PressDisplay presents newspapers in their original layout, and the iPhone’s unique multi-touch gestures and auto-rotate feature let users zoom in to view any article or photo, NewspaperDirect said.
“The iPhone is the perfect mobile platform for PressDisplay.com because its rich user interface complements the advanced navigation and browsing capabilities of PressDisplay,” said Alexander Kroogman, chief executive officer of NewspaperDirect. “But what is really exciting is that, for the first time, we can mobile-enable all of our dozens of SmartEdition publications, giving their subscribers anywhere, anytime access to their digital editions.”
PressDisplay users have access to online digital replicas of more than 500 newspapers and magazines, including Newspapers & Technology.
PressDisplay presents newspapers in their original layout, and the iPhone’s unique multi-touch gestures and auto-rotate feature let users zoom in to view any article or photo, NewspaperDirect said.
“The iPhone is the perfect mobile platform for PressDisplay.com because its rich user interface complements the advanced navigation and browsing capabilities of PressDisplay,” said Alexander Kroogman, chief executive officer of NewspaperDirect. “But what is really exciting is that, for the first time, we can mobile-enable all of our dozens of SmartEdition publications, giving their subscribers anywhere, anytime access to their digital editions.”
PressDisplay users have access to online digital replicas of more than 500 newspapers and magazines, including Newspapers & Technology.
Mediaspan broadcast unit launches video service
MediaSpan and Broadcast Interactive Media launched YouNews TV video, an online video upload, management and editing service that allows local newspapers and radio stations to handle user-generated content.
Users can upload breaking video stories in categories such as local sports, weather, entertainment and news events to their local media Web site.
YouNews TV’s back-end tools allow newspapers to monitor, edit and track video, as well as inserting targeted video ads.
YouNews TV differs from open video systems in that each video goes through several layers of content moderation prior to going live, MediaSpan said.
Users can upload breaking video stories in categories such as local sports, weather, entertainment and news events to their local media Web site.
YouNews TV’s back-end tools allow newspapers to monitor, edit and track video, as well as inserting targeted video ads.
YouNews TV differs from open video systems in that each video goes through several layers of content moderation prior to going live, MediaSpan said.
Google expands Print Ads program
Google expanded the size and the scope of its Google Print Ads advertising initiative, making it available to hundreds of thousands of U.S. advertisers who currently have a Google AdWords account.
The program started last November with a test that included 50 newspapers and a small group of advertisers (see Newspapers & Technology, December 2006). Now the program has grown to more than 225 newspapers with a combined circulation of almost 30 million.
“We are always looking to extend our editorial products to new advertisers while also driving additional revenue to our business,” said Todd Haskell, vice president of business development, advertising at The New York Times, one of the original participants. “Google Print Ads has brought in new advertisers who were either too small to consider advertising in a national newspaper or who hadn’t tried print advertising because their business was largely online.”
Google Print Ads allows agencies and advertisers to plan and buy traditional newspaper media in national and local newspapers within a single, Web-enabled interface.
The program started last November with a test that included 50 newspapers and a small group of advertisers (see Newspapers & Technology, December 2006). Now the program has grown to more than 225 newspapers with a combined circulation of almost 30 million.
“We are always looking to extend our editorial products to new advertisers while also driving additional revenue to our business,” said Todd Haskell, vice president of business development, advertising at The New York Times, one of the original participants. “Google Print Ads has brought in new advertisers who were either too small to consider advertising in a national newspaper or who hadn’t tried print advertising because their business was largely online.”
Google Print Ads allows agencies and advertisers to plan and buy traditional newspaper media in national and local newspapers within a single, Web-enabled interface.
With ‘lecture mode’ gone, here’s talking at you, kid
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Subscription size doesn’t matter when it comes to becoming more social on the Web.
Case in point: the (Hopkinsville) Kentucky New Era, which became even more of a sounding board for its community when it added social media services from ThePort Network Inc.
The new features allowed the 12,000-subscriber evening newspaper to let readers post comments on stories, start blogs, upload video and collect local and national news based on their particular interest.
“We think it’s going great,” said Daniel Stahl, the paper’s Web site manager. Some 250 people have signed up to access the site’s features.
The Kentucky New Era’s Web site offers a variety of social networking features.
The southwestern Kentucky paper added the options to its site to keep pace with consumer demands for interactivity, Stahl said.
“The traditional paradigm of newspapers, the lecture mode where newspapers produce a printed product and people just read the news, is officially gone,” he said. “We are no longer in lecture mode, but in conversation mode.”
To that end, the New Era tapped such ThePort features as the ability to let users arrange news stories on pages in the way they want to view them, Stahl said.
Personalization
“Through RSS feeds, readers can build personalized Web pages based on their favorite interests, hobbies, sports, cooking, politics and news stories,” he said.
Stahl said the level of intensity readers bring to the site when they respond to a story surprises him.
“It is a good thing because it opens up a level of dialogue that we haven’t seen with the traditional newspaper,” he said.
Readers can leave comments to any story on the Web site as registered or anonymous users.
“Even if they don’t want to build a profile and want to make a comment from time-to-time that’s what ThePort offers,” he said. “You don’t have to jump in with both feet. You can just stick a toe in the water and be part of the community.”
Atlanta-based ThePort introduced its social networking software in 2005. In addition to the Kentucky New Era, the company’s software is also used by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as well as a number of NFL teams.
Meantime, The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., rolled out its ThePort-anchored social networking site last month.
The Journal Times created six different neighborhood sites covering various parts of the Racine community. Content created by The Journal Times staff is loaded onto the specific neighborhood site and users are given the option to contribute their own comments and author their own blogs.
Associate Editor
Subscription size doesn’t matter when it comes to becoming more social on the Web.
Case in point: the (Hopkinsville) Kentucky New Era, which became even more of a sounding board for its community when it added social media services from ThePort Network Inc.
The new features allowed the 12,000-subscriber evening newspaper to let readers post comments on stories, start blogs, upload video and collect local and national news based on their particular interest.
“We think it’s going great,” said Daniel Stahl, the paper’s Web site manager. Some 250 people have signed up to access the site’s features.
The Kentucky New Era’s Web site offers a variety of social networking features.
The southwestern Kentucky paper added the options to its site to keep pace with consumer demands for interactivity, Stahl said.
“The traditional paradigm of newspapers, the lecture mode where newspapers produce a printed product and people just read the news, is officially gone,” he said. “We are no longer in lecture mode, but in conversation mode.”
To that end, the New Era tapped such ThePort features as the ability to let users arrange news stories on pages in the way they want to view them, Stahl said.
Personalization
“Through RSS feeds, readers can build personalized Web pages based on their favorite interests, hobbies, sports, cooking, politics and news stories,” he said.
Stahl said the level of intensity readers bring to the site when they respond to a story surprises him.
“It is a good thing because it opens up a level of dialogue that we haven’t seen with the traditional newspaper,” he said.
Readers can leave comments to any story on the Web site as registered or anonymous users.
“Even if they don’t want to build a profile and want to make a comment from time-to-time that’s what ThePort offers,” he said. “You don’t have to jump in with both feet. You can just stick a toe in the water and be part of the community.”
Atlanta-based ThePort introduced its social networking software in 2005. In addition to the Kentucky New Era, the company’s software is also used by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as well as a number of NFL teams.
Meantime, The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., rolled out its ThePort-anchored social networking site last month.
The Journal Times created six different neighborhood sites covering various parts of the Racine community. Content created by The Journal Times staff is loaded onto the specific neighborhood site and users are given the option to contribute their own comments and author their own blogs.
Gannett goes mobile
Gannett Co. Inc. announced that breaking news, sports, weather and other local information are available to mobile phone users in more than 100 local markets.
The local mobile sites are designed to appear on small screens and include content, updated 24/7, produced by local Gannett Information Centers. The mobile sites also carry local, regional and national display advertising.
The sites are free to consumers with mobile Internet browsing and data plans.
Meantime, Gannett said it is installing VoicePort LLC’s speech recognition circulation software CircPort at its newly opened call center in Tulsa, Okla. The center will handle customer service calls from 25 dailies.
The local mobile sites are designed to appear on small screens and include content, updated 24/7, produced by local Gannett Information Centers. The mobile sites also carry local, regional and national display advertising.
The sites are free to consumers with mobile Internet browsing and data plans.
Meantime, Gannett said it is installing VoicePort LLC’s speech recognition circulation software CircPort at its newly opened call center in Tulsa, Okla. The center will handle customer service calls from 25 dailies.
Chicago Trib, Baltimore Sun launch new-look sites
In addition to the revamped newsday.com, two other Tribune Co. publications relaunched their Web sites, highlighting interactive and video features.
The (Baltimore) Sun introduced its redesigned site July 17 with the Chicago Tribune following a few days later.
Both sites focus on multimedia and interactive features.
“This redesign underscores our commitment to adapting to meet our users’ needs in the constantly evolving online environment,” said Alison Scholly, the Tribune’s vice president and general manager of Chicago Tribune Interactive. “The ability for more user-generated content creates a richer dialogue with our readers.”
The new platform also offers standardized ad positions and a more streamlined process for local and national advertising sales across the network of Tribune Interactive newspaper sites. Added video placement, meantime, gives advertisers a new option for online campaigns.
Baltimoresun.com, meantime, added a video player on its home page and all section fronts as well as giving readers the option to upload their own videos.
It’s the first redesign for the site since 2005.
The (Baltimore) Sun introduced its redesigned site July 17 with the Chicago Tribune following a few days later.
Both sites focus on multimedia and interactive features.
“This redesign underscores our commitment to adapting to meet our users’ needs in the constantly evolving online environment,” said Alison Scholly, the Tribune’s vice president and general manager of Chicago Tribune Interactive. “The ability for more user-generated content creates a richer dialogue with our readers.”
The new platform also offers standardized ad positions and a more streamlined process for local and national advertising sales across the network of Tribune Interactive newspaper sites. Added video placement, meantime, gives advertisers a new option for online campaigns.
Baltimoresun.com, meantime, added a video player on its home page and all section fronts as well as giving readers the option to upload their own videos.
It’s the first redesign for the site since 2005.
Study shows video playing big role for newspaper sites
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Newspapers are increasingly mining video and multimedia to boost their online traffic, according to a recent study from The Bivings Group.
The study said 92 percent of the largest 100 U.S. newspaper sites are offering video, a 31 percent jump from last year.
Thirty-nine papers offer original video content, 26 use video streams from the Associated Press, 13 offer video content from local news outlets, four use all three technologies and 10 papers use a mixture of two different types of video, the study said.
“While many industry experts fear that the Internet will spell the end of newspapers as we know them, [we feel] that the Internet presents newspapers with a unique opportunity to make up for lost circulation and readership,” said Erin Teeling, new media associate for the Washington, D.C.-based consultant.
The Bivings Group analyzed Web sites of the top 100 highest circulation newspapers based on the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ March 31, 2007 Fas-Fax report. Each site was evaluated based on the presence or lack of Web 2.0 features.
The study found that the use of interactive features increased in nearly every category compared to its report from last year.
Ninety-seven papers offer RSS partial text feeds, 95 percent of papers offer at least one reporter blog and 88 percent of newspapers allow comments on blogs, the report said.
Other findings include:
• The number of papers requiring registration increased by six from last year. Of this group three papers required a paid subscription, while 26 papers offered free access after registration.
• Forty-four percent of newspapers provide some form of bookmarking. In 2006, only 7 percent of newspapers provided bookmarking.
• Almost half (49 percent) of newspapers now offer online podcasts, compared to only 31 percent last year.
It’s new to U.S.
The development by newspapers of content geared to mobile devices, meantime, grew sharply, with 53 percent of papers producing news and information for cell phone users. The metric wasn’t even tracked in last year’s report.
Bivings cited the evolution of more sophisticated smartphones as a driving force fueling the growth of mobile offerings from U.S. newspapers.
Still, U.S. papers lag behind mobile marketing strategies employed by newspapers in other parts of the world, particularly in Europe and Japan (see Newspapers & Technology, July 2007).
The 2007 study also tracked user participation, monitoring such activities as user comment, user-generated content and social networking.
The number of newspapers permitting user comment, the study said, rose from 19 percent to 33 percent, while nearly 25 percent of newspapers accepted user-generated content, spanning photos, videos and articles.
Five percent of papers incorporated social networking features on their sites, including USA Today (see Newspapers & Technology, June 2007), The Denver Post and The Washington Post.
Grabbing a piece of the revenue pie
The Bivings study also found that while papers have added new features to their Web sites, many are “relatively unwilling” to link their sites to other sources and that papers continue to keep some content behind virtual walls.
At the same time, newspapers aren’t taking enough advantage of RSS technology. Instead, Bivings said papers should tap into the protocol’s monetization capabilities in a bid to attract new revenues.
Finally, Bivings attempted to answer the million-dollar question plaguing newspaper publishers: how to develop a profitable online model that will offset the losses in print advertising.
One recommendation: Papers should create Web sites strategically and visually superior to those of competitors.
For small newspapers, Bivings suggested they should steer away from AP and generic content and instead offer unique, hyper-localized information that is difficult to find elsewhere.
Finally, Bivings said publishers need to understand that consumers read both print and online editions of their newspapers, citing as proof a Scarborough study that reported that 81 percent of those polled using both print and electronic editions.
Getting closer to you
As video gains a foothold on newspaper Web sites, the demands associated with managing such high-bandwidth content is moving front and center.
Content handling companies such as Tewksbury, Mass.-based Mirror Image Internet are playing a more significant role as content demands grow.
The company, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, helps customers manage and distribute bandwidth-intensive content through a network of content access points located at strategic points around the Internet.
When a user requests a particular item, Mirror Image determines the most appropriate server from which to route the information.
Jim Hart, vice president of sales and marketing for MI, said the company has 23 of these massive data center-like environments deployed globally.
MI counts several large papers as clients, including The New York Times and Boston Globe (see Newspapers & Technology, July 2005).
“We are helping to incorporate video on newspaper sites to give the end user a richer media experience,” Hart said, adding that clients are adding video at a rapid clip.
Associate Editor
Newspapers are increasingly mining video and multimedia to boost their online traffic, according to a recent study from The Bivings Group.
The study said 92 percent of the largest 100 U.S. newspaper sites are offering video, a 31 percent jump from last year.
Thirty-nine papers offer original video content, 26 use video streams from the Associated Press, 13 offer video content from local news outlets, four use all three technologies and 10 papers use a mixture of two different types of video, the study said.
“While many industry experts fear that the Internet will spell the end of newspapers as we know them, [we feel] that the Internet presents newspapers with a unique opportunity to make up for lost circulation and readership,” said Erin Teeling, new media associate for the Washington, D.C.-based consultant.
The Bivings Group analyzed Web sites of the top 100 highest circulation newspapers based on the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ March 31, 2007 Fas-Fax report. Each site was evaluated based on the presence or lack of Web 2.0 features.
The study found that the use of interactive features increased in nearly every category compared to its report from last year.
Ninety-seven papers offer RSS partial text feeds, 95 percent of papers offer at least one reporter blog and 88 percent of newspapers allow comments on blogs, the report said.
Other findings include:
• The number of papers requiring registration increased by six from last year. Of this group three papers required a paid subscription, while 26 papers offered free access after registration.
• Forty-four percent of newspapers provide some form of bookmarking. In 2006, only 7 percent of newspapers provided bookmarking.
• Almost half (49 percent) of newspapers now offer online podcasts, compared to only 31 percent last year.
It’s new to U.S.
The development by newspapers of content geared to mobile devices, meantime, grew sharply, with 53 percent of papers producing news and information for cell phone users. The metric wasn’t even tracked in last year’s report.
Bivings cited the evolution of more sophisticated smartphones as a driving force fueling the growth of mobile offerings from U.S. newspapers.
Still, U.S. papers lag behind mobile marketing strategies employed by newspapers in other parts of the world, particularly in Europe and Japan (see Newspapers & Technology, July 2007).
The 2007 study also tracked user participation, monitoring such activities as user comment, user-generated content and social networking.
The number of newspapers permitting user comment, the study said, rose from 19 percent to 33 percent, while nearly 25 percent of newspapers accepted user-generated content, spanning photos, videos and articles.
Five percent of papers incorporated social networking features on their sites, including USA Today (see Newspapers & Technology, June 2007), The Denver Post and The Washington Post.
Grabbing a piece of the revenue pie
The Bivings study also found that while papers have added new features to their Web sites, many are “relatively unwilling” to link their sites to other sources and that papers continue to keep some content behind virtual walls.
At the same time, newspapers aren’t taking enough advantage of RSS technology. Instead, Bivings said papers should tap into the protocol’s monetization capabilities in a bid to attract new revenues.
Finally, Bivings attempted to answer the million-dollar question plaguing newspaper publishers: how to develop a profitable online model that will offset the losses in print advertising.
One recommendation: Papers should create Web sites strategically and visually superior to those of competitors.
For small newspapers, Bivings suggested they should steer away from AP and generic content and instead offer unique, hyper-localized information that is difficult to find elsewhere.
Finally, Bivings said publishers need to understand that consumers read both print and online editions of their newspapers, citing as proof a Scarborough study that reported that 81 percent of those polled using both print and electronic editions.
Getting closer to you
As video gains a foothold on newspaper Web sites, the demands associated with managing such high-bandwidth content is moving front and center.
Content handling companies such as Tewksbury, Mass.-based Mirror Image Internet are playing a more significant role as content demands grow.
The company, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, helps customers manage and distribute bandwidth-intensive content through a network of content access points located at strategic points around the Internet.
When a user requests a particular item, Mirror Image determines the most appropriate server from which to route the information.
Jim Hart, vice president of sales and marketing for MI, said the company has 23 of these massive data center-like environments deployed globally.
MI counts several large papers as clients, including The New York Times and Boston Globe (see Newspapers & Technology, July 2005).
“We are helping to incorporate video on newspaper sites to give the end user a richer media experience,” Hart said, adding that clients are adding video at a rapid clip.
ABC to launch new readership study
The Audit Bureau of Circulations approved a new study that will integrate newspaper readership and online audience estimates into ABC circulation reports.
The new report, called Audience-Fax, will begin this fall, and will allow newspapers to report in-market print, online and net combined readership as measured by Scarborough Research, ABC said.
Monthly Web site unique visitors also will be reported from sources such as Nielsen//NetRatings, comScore Inc. or server-based analytics tools.
“Audience-Fax is an important step forward in showcasing the expanding range of product offerings coming from daily newspapers,” said Stephen P. Hills, president and general manager of The Washington Post.
ABC said it will independently audit audience and Web site estimates and include them in ABC Publisher’s Statements, Audit Reports and Fas-Fax.
Audience-Fax is expected to launch on Nov. 5, and will cover the September 2007 six-month ABC reporting period.
The new report, called Audience-Fax, will begin this fall, and will allow newspapers to report in-market print, online and net combined readership as measured by Scarborough Research, ABC said.
Monthly Web site unique visitors also will be reported from sources such as Nielsen//NetRatings, comScore Inc. or server-based analytics tools.
“Audience-Fax is an important step forward in showcasing the expanding range of product offerings coming from daily newspapers,” said Stephen P. Hills, president and general manager of The Washington Post.
ABC said it will independently audit audience and Web site estimates and include them in ABC Publisher’s Statements, Audit Reports and Fas-Fax.
Audience-Fax is expected to launch on Nov. 5, and will cover the September 2007 six-month ABC reporting period.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Group studies online video impact
News is the most popular online video category, according to a study recently conducted by the Online Publishers Association.
OPA surveyed more than 1,400 online video users, who cited news and information as their favorite category. The study also found that users respond to video advertising.
Of the 80 percent of viewers who watched a video ad online, the study said 52 percent took some sort of action, whether it’s checking out a Web site (31 percent), searching for more info (22 percent), going into a store (15 percent) or making a purchase (12 percent).
OPA surveyed more than 1,400 online video users, who cited news and information as their favorite category. The study also found that users respond to video advertising.
Of the 80 percent of viewers who watched a video ad online, the study said 52 percent took some sort of action, whether it’s checking out a Web site (31 percent), searching for more info (22 percent), going into a store (15 percent) or making a purchase (12 percent).
Automobiles are not the only ones going hybrid.
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
As newspapers face declining print circulation figures, one bright spot in this spring’s Audit Bureau of Circulations Fas-Fax figures was the increase in electronic edition readership, fueled by so-called hybrid subscriptions (see sidebar, page 20).
Case in point: The Denver Newspaper Agency, which saw whopping increases in the number of readers subscribing to the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post (see chart, page 20).
Bernie Gitt, the DNA’s director of circulation consumer relations, said hybrid subscriptions, where a consumer receives a print delivery in combination with electronic access, has yielded big benefits.
“This concept was started as a sales strategy and was tested in late 2006 and has also been one of the primary acquisition offerings this year,” said Gitt. “ABC qualifies this as a 7-day subscription, with the method of delivery being different.”
The DNA offers combination packages of printed Sunday or weekend service plus access to electronic edition the other days of the week.
Another high-flyer, The Orange County (Calif.) Register, counts more than 14,000 hybrid subscribers in addition to its 1,000 pure 7-day electronic-only subs.
Online convenience
The online convenience of electronic editions is a primary motivator, said Larry Riley, vice president of circulation and distribution.
“People that are tech-savvy, but like the traditional feel of a newspaper, are hooked because they’re not only comfortable with the news layout, but they like the traditional way of advertising and the ability to interact with advertising,” he said.
Electronic editions also help drive down the bottom line for newspapers looking to trim costs.
“A newspaper does not incur the typical cost of print, freight and delivery, which can run anywhere from 35 cents a copy to 70 cents (depending on page count or day of week,” Riley said.
Readers also like the layout of The Register’s e-edition, which holds the familiar look readers are used to in the print format.
“It’s a foray into becoming a geek while holding onto what’s customary and comfortable,” Riley said. “Reading a newspaper has been described as a leisure activity and the presentation of a newspaper in a somewhat traditional format plus access online gives a reader the best of both worlds.”
Both The Register and DNA launched electronic editions in 2004 and use Olive Software Inc.’s ActivePaper software for their digital versions.
ABC’s list of the top 25 electronic edition newspapers includes a diverse crowd of dailies, spanning the gamut of size and notoriety.
The top five newspapers include The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, The Register, (Minneapolis) Star Tribune and The Denver Post.
The first two papers require paid subscription membership for online access; the three others reported double- to triple-digit jumps in e-edition figures from March 2006.
New features to woo interest
At the same time, electronic edition vendors are supplying more sophisticated products engineered to cater to a reader’s personal tastes.
NewspaperDirect, for example, has among its features the ability to link specific objects, such as an advertiser’s phone number, to elements that might be requested by the user.
The XML extractor technology “allows us to work with the PDF files and extract the description of pages,” said Igor Smirnoff, NewspaperDirect’s director of strategic development. “We understand very intimately the relationship between different objects within each paper.”
NewspaperDirect also offers a feature in its SmartEdition product line that translates articles into 12 different languages, from English to Chinese.
“Many of our publishing partners take advantage of this feature as they see this to be one of the ways they can reach out to new demographics,” Smirnoff said. “How great is it to for a large Hispanic population to read the Los Angeles Times in Spanish?”
NewspaperDirect also offers a blogging feature, which Smirnoff says is an attempt to help its newspaper clients reach out to that segment of Internet users.
“Blogging is a very interesting market segment for us,” said Smirnoff, adding that he believes the feature is a “very important vehicle for proper legal content propagation.”
“It’s the matter of how we present and give the tools we give to bloggers to work with the newspaper content while preserving the trackability and control of publishers so they can see where the content is being used.”
Regardless of technologies available for electronic editions, Riley said that digital delivery is the direction the newspaper market is headed.
“Readers love to thumb through the pages of a print newspaper, but they’re also becoming accustomed to accessing news and information online,” he said.
Associate Editor
As newspapers face declining print circulation figures, one bright spot in this spring’s Audit Bureau of Circulations Fas-Fax figures was the increase in electronic edition readership, fueled by so-called hybrid subscriptions (see sidebar, page 20).
Case in point: The Denver Newspaper Agency, which saw whopping increases in the number of readers subscribing to the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post (see chart, page 20).
Bernie Gitt, the DNA’s director of circulation consumer relations, said hybrid subscriptions, where a consumer receives a print delivery in combination with electronic access, has yielded big benefits.
“This concept was started as a sales strategy and was tested in late 2006 and has also been one of the primary acquisition offerings this year,” said Gitt. “ABC qualifies this as a 7-day subscription, with the method of delivery being different.”
The DNA offers combination packages of printed Sunday or weekend service plus access to electronic edition the other days of the week.
Another high-flyer, The Orange County (Calif.) Register, counts more than 14,000 hybrid subscribers in addition to its 1,000 pure 7-day electronic-only subs.
Online convenience
The online convenience of electronic editions is a primary motivator, said Larry Riley, vice president of circulation and distribution.
“People that are tech-savvy, but like the traditional feel of a newspaper, are hooked because they’re not only comfortable with the news layout, but they like the traditional way of advertising and the ability to interact with advertising,” he said.
Electronic editions also help drive down the bottom line for newspapers looking to trim costs.
“A newspaper does not incur the typical cost of print, freight and delivery, which can run anywhere from 35 cents a copy to 70 cents (depending on page count or day of week,” Riley said.
Readers also like the layout of The Register’s e-edition, which holds the familiar look readers are used to in the print format.
“It’s a foray into becoming a geek while holding onto what’s customary and comfortable,” Riley said. “Reading a newspaper has been described as a leisure activity and the presentation of a newspaper in a somewhat traditional format plus access online gives a reader the best of both worlds.”
Both The Register and DNA launched electronic editions in 2004 and use Olive Software Inc.’s ActivePaper software for their digital versions.
ABC’s list of the top 25 electronic edition newspapers includes a diverse crowd of dailies, spanning the gamut of size and notoriety.
The top five newspapers include The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, The Register, (Minneapolis) Star Tribune and The Denver Post.
The first two papers require paid subscription membership for online access; the three others reported double- to triple-digit jumps in e-edition figures from March 2006.
New features to woo interest
At the same time, electronic edition vendors are supplying more sophisticated products engineered to cater to a reader’s personal tastes.
NewspaperDirect, for example, has among its features the ability to link specific objects, such as an advertiser’s phone number, to elements that might be requested by the user.
The XML extractor technology “allows us to work with the PDF files and extract the description of pages,” said Igor Smirnoff, NewspaperDirect’s director of strategic development. “We understand very intimately the relationship between different objects within each paper.”
NewspaperDirect also offers a feature in its SmartEdition product line that translates articles into 12 different languages, from English to Chinese.
“Many of our publishing partners take advantage of this feature as they see this to be one of the ways they can reach out to new demographics,” Smirnoff said. “How great is it to for a large Hispanic population to read the Los Angeles Times in Spanish?”
NewspaperDirect also offers a blogging feature, which Smirnoff says is an attempt to help its newspaper clients reach out to that segment of Internet users.
“Blogging is a very interesting market segment for us,” said Smirnoff, adding that he believes the feature is a “very important vehicle for proper legal content propagation.”
“It’s the matter of how we present and give the tools we give to bloggers to work with the newspaper content while preserving the trackability and control of publishers so they can see where the content is being used.”
Regardless of technologies available for electronic editions, Riley said that digital delivery is the direction the newspaper market is headed.
“Readers love to thumb through the pages of a print newspaper, but they’re also becoming accustomed to accessing news and information online,” he said.
U.S. newspaper vendors beginning to say, ‘Hello mobile’
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
New developments in the mobile phone world are giving newspapers additional options to provide customized news services and marketing programs to woo readers and advertisers alike.
To that end, several newspaper vendors are pitching text-messaging services and developing news channels to readers.
Saxotech Inc. last month formed a partnership with mobile marketing company NetInformer LLC to allow text messaging and interactive wireless communications to be added to Saxotech’s Web content management and presentation platform.
Applications for the blended software include customized text messaging of breaking news briefs, sports and community alerts, mobile coupon services and other features newspapers can offer to readers.
Saxotech said that several U.S. newspapers are beta testing the new features.
Newspapers deploying the software will have access to more than 225 million wireless subscribers in the United States, said Paul Harris, Saxotech’s vice president of corporate communications and marketing.
Content will flow from newsrooms to wireless channels designed by NetInformer.
Tools for journalists
“We are putting the tools in the hands of the journalist so that they handle their stories only one time,” he said of the software’s benefits to newspapers.
“You may have a different length and headline for a story you that would want to use in print and you may have a different headline or the story might be a bit longer for the Web.”
The text-messaging feature, meantime, will give newspapers wide flexibility in how they handle advertisers’ marketing messages, said Saxotech Product Manager Mark Regan.
“Imagine if you receive a text message for a free Starbucks coffee, you can click on the ad and it’ll send you a numeric code you can show to the cashier to redeem,” he said. “That creates quite a personalized relationship.”
Equally as important, newspapers will also be able to customize news alerts to a near one-on-one level for their readers.
“A newspaper can create a special channel that delivers specialized news like the high school football game score,” Regan said. “That is a huge relationship that you’ve built because now they have in-depth coverage of a micro-niche that no one else can serve on any grand scale but newspapers can, because they have the information and publish it to a specific channel, with no additional cost to them.”
Booming mobile market
Regan said the partnership with San Ramon, Calif.-based NetInformer comes as mobile device usage in the United States accelerates.
“We’re predicting that 2008 is going to be a breakthrough year for newspapers in particular to deliver content to mobile devices,” he said.
According to findings from M:Metrics’ latest benchmark survey, more than 81 million Americans sent text messages in February, up 3.7 percent from the year-ago period.
That said, the U.S. market has a long way to go before catching up to European mobile subscribers, of whom more than 80 percent text-message on a regular basis.
Meantime, sleek new products like the Apple’s iPhone are broadening the concept of news on the go for a younger generation accustomed to mobile phone technology.
“The iPhone will become a catalyst for the whole mobile information revolution that’s going to happen over the next 12 to 18 months,” Harris said. “In order for a newspaper to be in touch with that next generation of readers and consumers, they are going to have to be in the text-messaging game.”
USA Today offers text-messaging service
USA Today last month rolled out a text-messaging service to provide real-time news and information to users through their mobile phones.
The national paper partnered with Palo Alto, Calif.-based 4Info Inc. to offer the service to its readers.
Users can sign up to receive free text alerts on specific subjects ranging from sports and business to movies and travel, the paper said.
USA Today previously worked with 4Info to provide mobile news and advertising programs. In one promotion during this year’s NCAA basketball tournament, more than 750,000 text messages were sent to USA Today readers.
Associate Editor
New developments in the mobile phone world are giving newspapers additional options to provide customized news services and marketing programs to woo readers and advertisers alike.
To that end, several newspaper vendors are pitching text-messaging services and developing news channels to readers.
Saxotech Inc. last month formed a partnership with mobile marketing company NetInformer LLC to allow text messaging and interactive wireless communications to be added to Saxotech’s Web content management and presentation platform.
Applications for the blended software include customized text messaging of breaking news briefs, sports and community alerts, mobile coupon services and other features newspapers can offer to readers.
Saxotech said that several U.S. newspapers are beta testing the new features.
Newspapers deploying the software will have access to more than 225 million wireless subscribers in the United States, said Paul Harris, Saxotech’s vice president of corporate communications and marketing.
Content will flow from newsrooms to wireless channels designed by NetInformer.
Tools for journalists
“We are putting the tools in the hands of the journalist so that they handle their stories only one time,” he said of the software’s benefits to newspapers.
“You may have a different length and headline for a story you that would want to use in print and you may have a different headline or the story might be a bit longer for the Web.”
The text-messaging feature, meantime, will give newspapers wide flexibility in how they handle advertisers’ marketing messages, said Saxotech Product Manager Mark Regan.
“Imagine if you receive a text message for a free Starbucks coffee, you can click on the ad and it’ll send you a numeric code you can show to the cashier to redeem,” he said. “That creates quite a personalized relationship.”
Equally as important, newspapers will also be able to customize news alerts to a near one-on-one level for their readers.
“A newspaper can create a special channel that delivers specialized news like the high school football game score,” Regan said. “That is a huge relationship that you’ve built because now they have in-depth coverage of a micro-niche that no one else can serve on any grand scale but newspapers can, because they have the information and publish it to a specific channel, with no additional cost to them.”
Booming mobile market
Regan said the partnership with San Ramon, Calif.-based NetInformer comes as mobile device usage in the United States accelerates.
“We’re predicting that 2008 is going to be a breakthrough year for newspapers in particular to deliver content to mobile devices,” he said.
According to findings from M:Metrics’ latest benchmark survey, more than 81 million Americans sent text messages in February, up 3.7 percent from the year-ago period.
That said, the U.S. market has a long way to go before catching up to European mobile subscribers, of whom more than 80 percent text-message on a regular basis.
Meantime, sleek new products like the Apple’s iPhone are broadening the concept of news on the go for a younger generation accustomed to mobile phone technology.
“The iPhone will become a catalyst for the whole mobile information revolution that’s going to happen over the next 12 to 18 months,” Harris said. “In order for a newspaper to be in touch with that next generation of readers and consumers, they are going to have to be in the text-messaging game.”
USA Today offers text-messaging service
USA Today last month rolled out a text-messaging service to provide real-time news and information to users through their mobile phones.
The national paper partnered with Palo Alto, Calif.-based 4Info Inc. to offer the service to its readers.
Users can sign up to receive free text alerts on specific subjects ranging from sports and business to movies and travel, the paper said.
USA Today previously worked with 4Info to provide mobile news and advertising programs. In one promotion during this year’s NCAA basketball tournament, more than 750,000 text messages were sent to USA Today readers.
Pa., Calif. papers launch auctions
Several Pennsylvania newspapers ran auctions with software provided by CityXpress Corp., the vendor said.
The Beaver County Times, Williamsport Sun-Gazette and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg conducted auctions last month.
Since 2003, Pennsylvania newspapers have hosted 47 auctions by 31 newspapers, CityXpress said. The auctions sold more than 14,700 products valued at nearly $9 million, according to data compiled by the vendor.
Meantime, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News and sister Bay Area newspapers last month launched a one-week online dealer auction on CityXPress’ Xpress Cars platform. The auction, CarSearch 360, was the first online auto-only sale hosted by a newspaper in the state of California, CityXpress said.
The Beaver County Times, Williamsport Sun-Gazette and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg conducted auctions last month.
Since 2003, Pennsylvania newspapers have hosted 47 auctions by 31 newspapers, CityXpress said. The auctions sold more than 14,700 products valued at nearly $9 million, according to data compiled by the vendor.
Meantime, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News and sister Bay Area newspapers last month launched a one-week online dealer auction on CityXPress’ Xpress Cars platform. The auction, CarSearch 360, was the first online auto-only sale hosted by a newspaper in the state of California, CityXpress said.
Adobe introduces new e-reader software
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Adobe Systems Inc. last month introduced a desktop electronic reader it contends will make rich Internet applications more accessible to consumers.
The reader, dubbed Digital Editions, is engineered to allow users to view and organize PDF and XML-based content on desktop and laptop computer, said Bill McCoy, Adobe’s general manager of ePublishing Business.
To that end, the software can handle rich-format authoring apps such as Flash or other multimedia tools as well as offer content-protection features to prevent unauthorized use of certain files, he said.
“It is a very lightweight download, under 3 megabytes and doesn’t require other technologies like Adobe Reader or Flash Player,” McCoy said. “It behaves as a full desktop application and supports reading content online and offline.”
Adobe Digital Editions is available as a free download and runs on Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. operating systems. Linux platforms and versions in French, German, Japanese, Korean and Chinese are expected to be available in the second half of 2007.
Open standards
DE is based on the Open Publications Structure, developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum, which supports reflowable content.
Incorporating OPS allows DE to reformat content to match a user’s display, a feature that will become more important once DE is ported to cell phones and other mobile devices.
Adobe’s release of InDesign CS3 included tools to allow users to create more dynamic content that could be exploited in DE, McCoy said.
“Of course, InDesign is quite capable of authoring rich final form pages in PDF format,” McCoy said. “But we added a new capability to offer XML content that is more dynamic and reflowable so that the content can adapt to display size.”
The app includes a library mode for allowing users to see and organize their publications. Users will be able to drag and drop files onto various bookshelves.
Bookmark content
Users can also tap into a robust annotation capability that will enable them to bookmark and highlight content for later referral.
The annotated material will be stored separately in an open XML format, which McCoy said will set the stage for future social networking features.
“Over time we want to make it possible to share these annotations publicly or privately with a set of colleagues,” he said.
McCoy said Adobe developed DE on a fast-track schedule, testing three versions in eight months.
“That’s very rapid pace of evolution for Adobe, instead of going off and working for a shrink-wrap product that’s going to take 18 months or two years to develop,” he said.
“Our job is to create the platform that enables people to do these kinds of (reading) experiences and let the newspapers figure out what it’s good for,” McCoy said of DE. “We’re just the musical instrument makers. You guys are the musicians.”
DE’s features will also be incorporated into the Sony Reader product line, according to an alliance between the two firms.
Associate Editor
Adobe Systems Inc. last month introduced a desktop electronic reader it contends will make rich Internet applications more accessible to consumers.
The reader, dubbed Digital Editions, is engineered to allow users to view and organize PDF and XML-based content on desktop and laptop computer, said Bill McCoy, Adobe’s general manager of ePublishing Business.
To that end, the software can handle rich-format authoring apps such as Flash or other multimedia tools as well as offer content-protection features to prevent unauthorized use of certain files, he said.
“It is a very lightweight download, under 3 megabytes and doesn’t require other technologies like Adobe Reader or Flash Player,” McCoy said. “It behaves as a full desktop application and supports reading content online and offline.”
Adobe Digital Editions is available as a free download and runs on Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. operating systems. Linux platforms and versions in French, German, Japanese, Korean and Chinese are expected to be available in the second half of 2007.
Open standards
DE is based on the Open Publications Structure, developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum, which supports reflowable content.
Incorporating OPS allows DE to reformat content to match a user’s display, a feature that will become more important once DE is ported to cell phones and other mobile devices.
Adobe’s release of InDesign CS3 included tools to allow users to create more dynamic content that could be exploited in DE, McCoy said.
“Of course, InDesign is quite capable of authoring rich final form pages in PDF format,” McCoy said. “But we added a new capability to offer XML content that is more dynamic and reflowable so that the content can adapt to display size.”
The app includes a library mode for allowing users to see and organize their publications. Users will be able to drag and drop files onto various bookshelves.
Bookmark content
Users can also tap into a robust annotation capability that will enable them to bookmark and highlight content for later referral.
The annotated material will be stored separately in an open XML format, which McCoy said will set the stage for future social networking features.
“Over time we want to make it possible to share these annotations publicly or privately with a set of colleagues,” he said.
McCoy said Adobe developed DE on a fast-track schedule, testing three versions in eight months.
“That’s very rapid pace of evolution for Adobe, instead of going off and working for a shrink-wrap product that’s going to take 18 months or two years to develop,” he said.
“Our job is to create the platform that enables people to do these kinds of (reading) experiences and let the newspapers figure out what it’s good for,” McCoy said of DE. “We’re just the musical instrument makers. You guys are the musicians.”
DE’s features will also be incorporated into the Sony Reader product line, according to an alliance between the two firms.
Creative Suite 3: Web package blends Macromedia apps
By Chere' Martin
Special to Newspapers & Technology
Adobe Systems Inc.’s release of Creative Suite 3 not only fine-tuned the well-regarded software, but brought with it the first Adobe-authored upgrade of Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks and Contribute, software Adobe acquired when it purchased Macromedia Inc. in 2005.
Whenever one company buys out another, customers worry whether the lack of competition will thwart the growth of a favorite product. Longtime Adobe users, however, recognize the company’s ability to bring companion programs together in a manner that creates a comfortable, intuitive workflow.
With the merging of the Macromedia apps into CS, we hoped for the best, and, in CS3, we are not disappointed.
Adobe is also well known for another of its marketing tactics: to distribute software bundles that include additional programs buyers may not have bought on their own.
Remember feeling like you got InDesign for free when you upgraded Photoshop and Illustrator a few years ago?
This time around, Adobe created a CS3 Design Premium bundle that includes Dreamweaver CS3 and Flash CS3 Professional. And Web designers aren’t left out of the candy parade. They receive, in addition to the Web programs one might expect, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3 and Acrobat 8 Professional.
Can you feel the cross-program love?
Dreamweaver
Since one of my most favorite things is Cascading Style Sheets, I find myself fascinated with how Adobe has gone about quietly teaching CSS in Dreamweaver CS3.
What’s interesting isn’t just that there are so many templates (including one-, two- and three-column layouts with, or without headers and footers, elastic or absolute positioning) but the extensive commenting within these existing documents. The commenting is a little overwhelming at first, but for someone with a little knowledge and some gumption, it can be a great learning tool or a check for good Web practices.
Dreamweaver CS3 comes with a multitude of preformatted templates.
These templates also come with pre-defined basic styles that are, of course, inline only. This still allows a user to utilize the styles and still build or attach custom CSS.
Other CS3 improvements include the “current” and “all” tabs in the CSS menu. “All” equates to CS2’s CSS default pallet display whereas “current” automatically displays and makes property changes available to a current selected item — be it in the design view or code view. This makes adjustments to CSS rules much faster.
There’s even an “about” area on the panel that offers greater description of a selected property, along with a “rules” option that shows the cascade rules affecting a particular tag. Like other workspace improvements, the “about” and “rules” visibility can be minimized within the docked panel.
Test your styling in CSS using CSS Advisor. It links directly from your browser checker to a site area devoted to allowing both Adobe and the Web community at large to contribute solutions to Web development problems.
Spry Widgets
Aside from the fun name, Spry Widgets attempt to offer quick and easy access to pre-assembled HTML code using JavaScript to manage the behavior of the Widget and CSS for styling. Widgets are found in a new tab within the insert menu and include frequently used items like menu bar, tabbed panels, accordion menus and text validation fields.
Widget controls can be accessed via the properties pallet to make their usage easy within the design view.
A Dreamweaver template with a menu Spry Widget dropped in
and ready for customizing.
Fireworks
Much of the improvements built into Fireworks CS3 seem to be focused on the ability to quickly create Web page prototypes.
One new feature is the improved Pages option. Here, you can create master pages that can be linked to other pages, allowing rapid creation of additional pages. Within each page, you can individually control the canvas size, color, image resolution and guides.
Another handy tool for prototyping is the Common Library. This contains preset, common items such as calendars, radio buttons, check boxes, form containers, etc., that can be tedious to develop for a site while in the design stage. While these items are standard, each can be resized individually as necessary without changing the master item. Nine-slice scaling allows further control of item size adjustments without wrecking text and other effects already applied.
Once a design is ready for presentation, a user can export from the PNG file as HTML. From there, you can use Dreamweaver CS3 or Flash CS3 to add interactive elements to create a complete click-through mock-up.
Another leap in practicality is the addition of the Create Slideshow option. Within minutes you can take a template layout and create a photo slideshow that will play through or otherwise be controlled by the viewer.
Multiple albums allow topical organization. When exported, you end up with HTML and support files packaged and ready for posting online.
Flash
With Adobe’s first release of Flash came the task of making the working environment feel related to its other design products while at the same time, keeping the app comfortable for veteran users.
The visual changes aren’t as significant as one might imagine but Adobe engineered some subtle adjustments to make the panels dock like the other Adobe products and to offer more control over other aspects such as the height of the layers and frame width in the timeline.
One of the most hoped for and most likely improvements with Flash CS3 are the bolstered cross-application file format importing options.
Importing native Photoshop and Illustrator files is a reality as well as allowing users to maintain many layer options and resizing capabilities.
Primitive Drawing Tools is another new feature, although it’s debatable whether this capability was added to aid in flexibility or to help newbies adapt to how shapes act and interact in Flash.
Once you click on the rectangle drawing tool, you can convert from typical drawing of shapes (where strokes are separate from a fill and knockouts are natural to overlapping elements) to the Object Drawing mode, which acts like a simple shape might in Illustrator: Stroke and fill are one and overlapping shapes doesn’t cause loss of parts.
Meantime, ActionScript 3 is introduced with the goal of helping developers address safety, simplicity, performance and compatibility. It also brings the software into compliance with the ECMAScript standard, a vendor-neutral authoring specification.
Can it continue?
All told, Adobe has appeared to empty the bases with its release of CS3. The package is robust and includes a variety of new features and upgrades that will appeal to a wide swath of the design community.
What remains to be seen is whether Adobe, now that it’s free of any consequential competition, will manage to keep up the innovation in subsequent releases.
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium
What’s in the box:
•Adobe Dreamweaver CS3
•Adobe Flash CS3 Professional
•Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended
•Adobe Illustrator CS3
•Adobe Fireworks CS3
•Adobe Acrobat Professional
•Adobe Contribute CS3
Upgrade: $499
Full Version: $1,599
Chere' Martin is Newspapers & Technology’s production manager. She can be reached at cmartin@newsandtech.com.
See Chere’s review of Adobe CS3 Design Premium in the June 2007 issue of Newspapers & Technology.
Special to Newspapers & Technology
Adobe Systems Inc.’s release of Creative Suite 3 not only fine-tuned the well-regarded software, but brought with it the first Adobe-authored upgrade of Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks and Contribute, software Adobe acquired when it purchased Macromedia Inc. in 2005.
Whenever one company buys out another, customers worry whether the lack of competition will thwart the growth of a favorite product. Longtime Adobe users, however, recognize the company’s ability to bring companion programs together in a manner that creates a comfortable, intuitive workflow.
With the merging of the Macromedia apps into CS, we hoped for the best, and, in CS3, we are not disappointed.
Adobe is also well known for another of its marketing tactics: to distribute software bundles that include additional programs buyers may not have bought on their own.
Remember feeling like you got InDesign for free when you upgraded Photoshop and Illustrator a few years ago?
This time around, Adobe created a CS3 Design Premium bundle that includes Dreamweaver CS3 and Flash CS3 Professional. And Web designers aren’t left out of the candy parade. They receive, in addition to the Web programs one might expect, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3 and Acrobat 8 Professional.
Can you feel the cross-program love?
Dreamweaver
Since one of my most favorite things is Cascading Style Sheets, I find myself fascinated with how Adobe has gone about quietly teaching CSS in Dreamweaver CS3.
What’s interesting isn’t just that there are so many templates (including one-, two- and three-column layouts with, or without headers and footers, elastic or absolute positioning) but the extensive commenting within these existing documents. The commenting is a little overwhelming at first, but for someone with a little knowledge and some gumption, it can be a great learning tool or a check for good Web practices.
Dreamweaver CS3 comes with a multitude of preformatted templates.
These templates also come with pre-defined basic styles that are, of course, inline only. This still allows a user to utilize the styles and still build or attach custom CSS.
Other CS3 improvements include the “current” and “all” tabs in the CSS menu. “All” equates to CS2’s CSS default pallet display whereas “current” automatically displays and makes property changes available to a current selected item — be it in the design view or code view. This makes adjustments to CSS rules much faster.
There’s even an “about” area on the panel that offers greater description of a selected property, along with a “rules” option that shows the cascade rules affecting a particular tag. Like other workspace improvements, the “about” and “rules” visibility can be minimized within the docked panel.
Test your styling in CSS using CSS Advisor. It links directly from your browser checker to a site area devoted to allowing both Adobe and the Web community at large to contribute solutions to Web development problems.
Spry Widgets
Aside from the fun name, Spry Widgets attempt to offer quick and easy access to pre-assembled HTML code using JavaScript to manage the behavior of the Widget and CSS for styling. Widgets are found in a new tab within the insert menu and include frequently used items like menu bar, tabbed panels, accordion menus and text validation fields.
Widget controls can be accessed via the properties pallet to make their usage easy within the design view.
A Dreamweaver template with a menu Spry Widget dropped in
and ready for customizing.
Fireworks
Much of the improvements built into Fireworks CS3 seem to be focused on the ability to quickly create Web page prototypes.
One new feature is the improved Pages option. Here, you can create master pages that can be linked to other pages, allowing rapid creation of additional pages. Within each page, you can individually control the canvas size, color, image resolution and guides.
Another handy tool for prototyping is the Common Library. This contains preset, common items such as calendars, radio buttons, check boxes, form containers, etc., that can be tedious to develop for a site while in the design stage. While these items are standard, each can be resized individually as necessary without changing the master item. Nine-slice scaling allows further control of item size adjustments without wrecking text and other effects already applied.
Once a design is ready for presentation, a user can export from the PNG file as HTML. From there, you can use Dreamweaver CS3 or Flash CS3 to add interactive elements to create a complete click-through mock-up.
Another leap in practicality is the addition of the Create Slideshow option. Within minutes you can take a template layout and create a photo slideshow that will play through or otherwise be controlled by the viewer.
Multiple albums allow topical organization. When exported, you end up with HTML and support files packaged and ready for posting online.
Flash
With Adobe’s first release of Flash came the task of making the working environment feel related to its other design products while at the same time, keeping the app comfortable for veteran users.
The visual changes aren’t as significant as one might imagine but Adobe engineered some subtle adjustments to make the panels dock like the other Adobe products and to offer more control over other aspects such as the height of the layers and frame width in the timeline.
One of the most hoped for and most likely improvements with Flash CS3 are the bolstered cross-application file format importing options.
Importing native Photoshop and Illustrator files is a reality as well as allowing users to maintain many layer options and resizing capabilities.
Primitive Drawing Tools is another new feature, although it’s debatable whether this capability was added to aid in flexibility or to help newbies adapt to how shapes act and interact in Flash.
Once you click on the rectangle drawing tool, you can convert from typical drawing of shapes (where strokes are separate from a fill and knockouts are natural to overlapping elements) to the Object Drawing mode, which acts like a simple shape might in Illustrator: Stroke and fill are one and overlapping shapes doesn’t cause loss of parts.
Meantime, ActionScript 3 is introduced with the goal of helping developers address safety, simplicity, performance and compatibility. It also brings the software into compliance with the ECMAScript standard, a vendor-neutral authoring specification.
Can it continue?
All told, Adobe has appeared to empty the bases with its release of CS3. The package is robust and includes a variety of new features and upgrades that will appeal to a wide swath of the design community.
What remains to be seen is whether Adobe, now that it’s free of any consequential competition, will manage to keep up the innovation in subsequent releases.
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium
What’s in the box:
•Adobe Dreamweaver CS3
•Adobe Flash CS3 Professional
•Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended
•Adobe Illustrator CS3
•Adobe Fireworks CS3
•Adobe Acrobat Professional
•Adobe Contribute CS3
Upgrade: $499
Full Version: $1,599
Chere' Martin is Newspapers & Technology’s production manager. She can be reached at cmartin@newsandtech.com.
See Chere’s review of Adobe CS3 Design Premium in the June 2007 issue of Newspapers & Technology.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Yahoo, industry consortium broaden partnership
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Yahoo further strengthened its ties to the newspaper industry by announcing plans to roll out new services and features and adding a 12th newspaper publisher, McClatchy Co., to the consortium founded late last year.
Various elements of the partnership will be implemented in the next few months, said consortium backer Robert W. Decherd, chairman and chief executive officer of Belo Corp.
“The search and content integration activities will begin during the second quarter,” he said. “Content integration is going to be in phases and we hope to complete them in 2008.”
Under terms of the beefed-up agreement, newspapers will now place news across Yahoo’s local news modules and begin using Yahoo’s search engine for their Web sites.
“It is clear that newspapers and Yahoo, collectively, bring unique strategic assets to this relationship, but it is their complementary nature that really puts the power of this partnership into focus,” said Sue Decker, executive vice president and head of the advertiser and publisher group at Yahoo. “The newspaper’s brand, content and sales forces are unparalleled in the local marketplaces.”
Blended options
Newspapers will be able to use Yahoo’s ad-serving targeting and inventory capabilities. Yahoo said its sales force may also sell unused newspaper inventory to national advertisers while newspaper sales forces can sell Yahoo’s local online ad space to local advertisers.
Users will also have access to a customized Yahoo toolbar, which will be distributed on newspaper Web sites.
The newspaper content used within Yahoo’s news modules will be linked back to the newspaper sites.
Hilary Schneider, Yahoo’s executive vice president of local markets and commerce, said that local newspaper content helps ensure that users have the stories that matter most at their fingertips.
“Pulling this kind of local coverage into key integration points across the Yahoo network provides not only a more compelling user experience, but can also be the catalyst for driving significant user traffic to partner Web sites,” she said.
The addition of McClatchy, meantime, brings the number of newspapers in the consortium to 264.
Increase value
McClatchy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the partnership will help the publisher bolster the value of its Real Cities Web operation.
“In addition to that cross-selling between Yahoo and individual newspapers, our Real Cities operation will continue to sell ads into a national network of newspaper Web sites only,” he said. “Its ability to do so will be enhanced by using Yahoo’s ad serving and targeting platform on behalf of advertisers looking for the value of newspaper brands.”
Advertisers will be able to purchase ads on multiple sites by placing only a single order and receiving a single bill, Pruitt said.
Pruitt said the future promise of local online sales is extraordinary.
“Between 2006 and 2010, local online spending is projected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent and that isn’t just the steep growth rate, it also represents a big total figure, rising from $3.4 billion to $12.4 billion,” he said.
Follows agreement
McClatchy’s agreement with Yahoo came a few weeks after the publisher agreed to supply the search engine with news and blogs from McClatchy’s overseas correspondents.
Finally, Yahoo Hot Jobs picked up two new newspaper clients, the Boston Herald and Scranton (Pa.) Times, the search engine said.
That was then…
The newspaper consortium working with Yahoo added several newspaper groups since the announcement of the alliance last November.
November 2006
176 Newspapers
Over 35 million unique users
•Belo Corp.
•Cox Newspapers
•Hearst Newspapers
•Journal Register Co.
•Lee Enterprises
•MediaNews Group Inc.
•E.W. Scripps Co.
April 2007
264 newspapers
Over 50 million unique users
•Belo Corp.
•Cox Newspapers
•Hearst Newspapers
•Journal Register Co.
•Lee Enterprises
•MediaNews Group Inc.
•E.W. Scripps Co.
•Calkins Media
•McClatchy Co.
•Media General Inc.
•Morris Communications Co. LLC
•Paddock Publications Inc.
Associate Editor
Yahoo further strengthened its ties to the newspaper industry by announcing plans to roll out new services and features and adding a 12th newspaper publisher, McClatchy Co., to the consortium founded late last year.
Various elements of the partnership will be implemented in the next few months, said consortium backer Robert W. Decherd, chairman and chief executive officer of Belo Corp.
“The search and content integration activities will begin during the second quarter,” he said. “Content integration is going to be in phases and we hope to complete them in 2008.”
Under terms of the beefed-up agreement, newspapers will now place news across Yahoo’s local news modules and begin using Yahoo’s search engine for their Web sites.
“It is clear that newspapers and Yahoo, collectively, bring unique strategic assets to this relationship, but it is their complementary nature that really puts the power of this partnership into focus,” said Sue Decker, executive vice president and head of the advertiser and publisher group at Yahoo. “The newspaper’s brand, content and sales forces are unparalleled in the local marketplaces.”
Blended options
Newspapers will be able to use Yahoo’s ad-serving targeting and inventory capabilities. Yahoo said its sales force may also sell unused newspaper inventory to national advertisers while newspaper sales forces can sell Yahoo’s local online ad space to local advertisers.
Users will also have access to a customized Yahoo toolbar, which will be distributed on newspaper Web sites.
The newspaper content used within Yahoo’s news modules will be linked back to the newspaper sites.
Hilary Schneider, Yahoo’s executive vice president of local markets and commerce, said that local newspaper content helps ensure that users have the stories that matter most at their fingertips.
“Pulling this kind of local coverage into key integration points across the Yahoo network provides not only a more compelling user experience, but can also be the catalyst for driving significant user traffic to partner Web sites,” she said.
The addition of McClatchy, meantime, brings the number of newspapers in the consortium to 264.
Increase value
McClatchy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt said the partnership will help the publisher bolster the value of its Real Cities Web operation.
“In addition to that cross-selling between Yahoo and individual newspapers, our Real Cities operation will continue to sell ads into a national network of newspaper Web sites only,” he said. “Its ability to do so will be enhanced by using Yahoo’s ad serving and targeting platform on behalf of advertisers looking for the value of newspaper brands.”
Advertisers will be able to purchase ads on multiple sites by placing only a single order and receiving a single bill, Pruitt said.
Pruitt said the future promise of local online sales is extraordinary.
“Between 2006 and 2010, local online spending is projected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent and that isn’t just the steep growth rate, it also represents a big total figure, rising from $3.4 billion to $12.4 billion,” he said.
Follows agreement
McClatchy’s agreement with Yahoo came a few weeks after the publisher agreed to supply the search engine with news and blogs from McClatchy’s overseas correspondents.
Finally, Yahoo Hot Jobs picked up two new newspaper clients, the Boston Herald and Scranton (Pa.) Times, the search engine said.
That was then…
The newspaper consortium working with Yahoo added several newspaper groups since the announcement of the alliance last November.
November 2006
176 Newspapers
Over 35 million unique users
•Belo Corp.
•Cox Newspapers
•Hearst Newspapers
•Journal Register Co.
•Lee Enterprises
•MediaNews Group Inc.
•E.W. Scripps Co.
April 2007
264 newspapers
Over 50 million unique users
•Belo Corp.
•Cox Newspapers
•Hearst Newspapers
•Journal Register Co.
•Lee Enterprises
•MediaNews Group Inc.
•E.W. Scripps Co.
•Calkins Media
•McClatchy Co.
•Media General Inc.
•Morris Communications Co. LLC
•Paddock Publications Inc.
USA Today takes social networking to heart
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Earlier this year, USA Today unveiled a new look to its Web site incorporating the national newspaper’s goal of sparking community-level dialogues between readers across the country.
To that end, the redesigned site features a variety of social tools to give readers an opportunity to interact with reporters and other network participants.
It’s all part of USA Today’s network journalism initiative, said Joel Sucherman, executive producer of USA Today.
“It’s in the USA Today pedigree to reach out and to talk to the community and have a sense of respect for them and their views,” he said. “Since day one of the newspaper we’ve been more of a community around the United States.”
The Gannett Co. Inc.-owned paper’s Web site is using Pluck Corp.’s SiteLife and BlogBurst syndication software to offer visitors blogs, photos, reader comments and other social networking options.
“We worked with Pluck to incorporate these social networking tools that we deployed — comments, recommendations and reader profile pages — and used their API (application programming interface) to style and blend the functionality of the software exactly to what we were looking for,” Sucherman said.
Wider format
The redesign, launched in early March, takes advantage of the wider 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution used on many computer monitors.
The main homepage has dozens of links with headers color-coded to reflect USA Today’s four major sections. To make navigation easier for users, the page is divided into two sections. The left side highlights top news stories; photos, videos and blogs. An “Only on USA Today” section features additional enterprise stories, photo galleries and other content, including the paper’s ongoing 25th anniversary coverage.
The upper left portion boasts a photo “carousel,” featuring the day’s main photos. When users move their mouse over the thumbnail photos, the images change depending upon what’s selected.
“The lead thumbnail is usually what USA Today feels is the top news story of the moment,” Sucherman said. “But then the second through fourth thumbnails will be a little softer (news), a big sports story or something from the Life or Money section we want to feature prominently.”
The other half of the page presents tabs that feature the day’s top headlines as well as a news notes that contain postings from USA Today reporters.
Additionally, usatoday.com introduced interactive elements to the top banner, including quotes from readers commenting on a particular story.
“We feel it’s very important to the page; it’s one of the first things you see and it’s an early tip-off that adds to reader involvement,” Sucherman said. “It shows what readers have to say is valued and does matter.”
Reader participation extends throughout the site, with readers encouraged to comment and register their opinions on the popularity of posted articles.
For their part, USA Today’s reporters are also capitalizing on reader access, Sucherman said.
“Six months ago, many of our reporters were wary to opening the doors like this. Who knows what kind of stuff we would get from readers,” he said. “We now have a number of reporters that want to write their own blogs on profile pages about their beat or put out a call to action on specific stories.”
Changing times
USA Today began to lay the groundwork to retool the site last summer, with the primary goal of adding more interactive features.
By fall, almost 50 people were working on the redesign, Sucherman said. “They were a combination IT staff, developers, designers, editorial and business people working side by side on this project from mid-September through the launch in March.”
Although the redesigned site sports a number of features enabling reader participation, Sucherman said usatoday.com is not trying to become another MySpace. Instead, the site offers readers a variety of easy-to-access options to give them a chance to communicate with reporters and other readers.
“We know our readers are time-pressed, busy and they are not going to spend four hours a night pulling YouTube videos onto their page,” Sucherman said. “But we thought that even if a small percentage of our audience actually is active in the (online) community, then it has value to the overwhelming majority of the audience.”
The revamped site is an effort by Gannett to adapt to the dramatic way people are consuming media, Sucherman said.
“You had the 500-year old model of the printing press and one media organization speaking to the masses,” he said. Now, “New media technology gives everyone a chance to become their own publisher.”
Web site Snapshot
www.usatoday.com
Launched April 17, 2005
Last major redesign: March 2007
Owner: Gannett Co. Inc.
Employees dedicated to staff: 120
Editorial*: 75
Number of comments posted
March 2007 – 60,000
April 2007 – 100,000
Web Traffic for USA Today**
Unique Visitors: 10,349,773
Active Reach: 7.18 percent
Web Page Views: 142,012,570
Web Pages Per Visitor: 13.72
Visits Per Visitor:3.96
Time Per Visitor: 00: 15: 56 (hh:mm:ss)
NAA NAdbase report for USA Today
All-Total
Unique Visitors 10,349,773
Page Views 141,128,249
Visitors’ household income:
$25,000-$49,999
Unique Visitors 2,388,819
Page Views 34,228,024
$50,000-$99,999
Unique Visitors 4,221,880
Page Views 52,276,295
$100,000+
Unique Visitors 2,645,835
Page Views 45,795,719
*Editorial employees include Gannett’s merged newsroom imitative in 2005.
**Source: Nielsen/NetRatings NAA NAdbase Combined Home and Work November 2006
Associate Editor
Earlier this year, USA Today unveiled a new look to its Web site incorporating the national newspaper’s goal of sparking community-level dialogues between readers across the country.
To that end, the redesigned site features a variety of social tools to give readers an opportunity to interact with reporters and other network participants.
It’s all part of USA Today’s network journalism initiative, said Joel Sucherman, executive producer of USA Today.
“It’s in the USA Today pedigree to reach out and to talk to the community and have a sense of respect for them and their views,” he said. “Since day one of the newspaper we’ve been more of a community around the United States.”
The Gannett Co. Inc.-owned paper’s Web site is using Pluck Corp.’s SiteLife and BlogBurst syndication software to offer visitors blogs, photos, reader comments and other social networking options.
“We worked with Pluck to incorporate these social networking tools that we deployed — comments, recommendations and reader profile pages — and used their API (application programming interface) to style and blend the functionality of the software exactly to what we were looking for,” Sucherman said.
Wider format
The redesign, launched in early March, takes advantage of the wider 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution used on many computer monitors.
The main homepage has dozens of links with headers color-coded to reflect USA Today’s four major sections. To make navigation easier for users, the page is divided into two sections. The left side highlights top news stories; photos, videos and blogs. An “Only on USA Today” section features additional enterprise stories, photo galleries and other content, including the paper’s ongoing 25th anniversary coverage.
The upper left portion boasts a photo “carousel,” featuring the day’s main photos. When users move their mouse over the thumbnail photos, the images change depending upon what’s selected.
“The lead thumbnail is usually what USA Today feels is the top news story of the moment,” Sucherman said. “But then the second through fourth thumbnails will be a little softer (news), a big sports story or something from the Life or Money section we want to feature prominently.”
The other half of the page presents tabs that feature the day’s top headlines as well as a news notes that contain postings from USA Today reporters.
Additionally, usatoday.com introduced interactive elements to the top banner, including quotes from readers commenting on a particular story.
“We feel it’s very important to the page; it’s one of the first things you see and it’s an early tip-off that adds to reader involvement,” Sucherman said. “It shows what readers have to say is valued and does matter.”
Reader participation extends throughout the site, with readers encouraged to comment and register their opinions on the popularity of posted articles.
For their part, USA Today’s reporters are also capitalizing on reader access, Sucherman said.
“Six months ago, many of our reporters were wary to opening the doors like this. Who knows what kind of stuff we would get from readers,” he said. “We now have a number of reporters that want to write their own blogs on profile pages about their beat or put out a call to action on specific stories.”
Changing times
USA Today began to lay the groundwork to retool the site last summer, with the primary goal of adding more interactive features.
By fall, almost 50 people were working on the redesign, Sucherman said. “They were a combination IT staff, developers, designers, editorial and business people working side by side on this project from mid-September through the launch in March.”
Although the redesigned site sports a number of features enabling reader participation, Sucherman said usatoday.com is not trying to become another MySpace. Instead, the site offers readers a variety of easy-to-access options to give them a chance to communicate with reporters and other readers.
“We know our readers are time-pressed, busy and they are not going to spend four hours a night pulling YouTube videos onto their page,” Sucherman said. “But we thought that even if a small percentage of our audience actually is active in the (online) community, then it has value to the overwhelming majority of the audience.”
The revamped site is an effort by Gannett to adapt to the dramatic way people are consuming media, Sucherman said.
“You had the 500-year old model of the printing press and one media organization speaking to the masses,” he said. Now, “New media technology gives everyone a chance to become their own publisher.”
Web site Snapshot
www.usatoday.com
Launched April 17, 2005
Last major redesign: March 2007
Owner: Gannett Co. Inc.
Employees dedicated to staff: 120
Editorial*: 75
Number of comments posted
March 2007 – 60,000
April 2007 – 100,000
Web Traffic for USA Today**
Unique Visitors: 10,349,773
Active Reach: 7.18 percent
Web Page Views: 142,012,570
Web Pages Per Visitor: 13.72
Visits Per Visitor:3.96
Time Per Visitor: 00: 15: 56 (hh:mm:ss)
NAA NAdbase report for USA Today
All-Total
Unique Visitors 10,349,773
Page Views 141,128,249
Visitors’ household income:
$25,000-$49,999
Unique Visitors 2,388,819
Page Views 34,228,024
$50,000-$99,999
Unique Visitors 4,221,880
Page Views 52,276,295
$100,000+
Unique Visitors 2,645,835
Page Views 45,795,719
*Editorial employees include Gannett’s merged newsroom imitative in 2005.
**Source: Nielsen/NetRatings NAA NAdbase Combined Home and Work November 2006
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