Anne Saul is news systems editor for Gannett U.S. Community Publishing and is in charge of the division’s video training program. In two years, the program has trained more than 650 newspaper reporters and photographers to shoot and edit video stories for the Web. Another 180 Gannett staffers have been trained under a similar program at the company’s UK Newsquest subsidiary. Gannett’s video training program is unique in that it is immersive, lasts three to five days, and participants are equipped with higher-end cameras and editing software. The focus: To produce quality video stories. Saul answered questions posed by Newspapers & Technology Associate Editor Marcelo Duran.
Newspapers & Technology: What trends do you see emerging for online news video?
Anne Saul: Video is one of the fastest growing areas online. The YouTube phenomenon is obvious, but recent studies are telling us that news video is growing in importance and popularity.
A recent Horowitz Associates report said that news and user-generated video are the most often viewed genres (in that order). Similar reports from Pew and Advertising.com 2007 back up the interest in news video — and particularly video from trusted sites. It’s like anything else on the Web; people really do want context and help understanding information and issues.
The expansion of higher speed delivery will allow customers to view high definition video on large high-end monitors. Verizon is investing billions of dollars in expanding its fiber-based high-speed network in the 28 states in which it provides service. (No doubt other providers will do the same.) No longer will viewers be limited to watching videos online in 4-by-3-inch windows.
N&T: What are some of Gannett’s goals for online video?
Saul: Our goal is to provide quality video stories online that, quite frankly, can compete with television. Despite depleting resources, we still have more reporting expertise than local television stations.
The only obstacle that has held us back is an inability to tell stories with video. At Gannett, we now have staffers at 78 U.S. daily newspapers and 19 U.K. news centers capable of producing video stories. In time, we can be very competitive — and in some markets, we already are. We also want to expand the viewers’ understanding of news and issues by providing news and information in many formats — including video — where appropriate. And, of course, we want to provide our advertisers with new venues to help them grow their businesses — and ours.
N&T: Can newspapers make money from their online video efforts?
Saul: Absolutely. We conducted a couple of training sessions for advertising staffers from several of our newspapers late last year. In one session the trainees sold all eight advertising pre-roll spots by the end of the three-day training session. The issue isn’t whether we can sell advertising; it’s having enough sustainable traffic from news videos to support the advertising.
N&T: How much of a financial commitment is Gannett making to newspaper video efforts?
Saul: So far, we have invested more than $2.25 million in equipment alone. That’s in addition to the cost, travel, etc., of conducting more than 40 regional training sessions in the U.S. and the U.K. Yes, it’s a lot of money — particularly in the current economic environment, but this is about investing in our future and where we believe we can grow our content and our revenue.
N&T: What have been your biggest challenges and achievements so far?
Saul: When we started our training in March 2006, the total video traffic for all Gannett community newspapers, excluding USA Today, was 3,700 streams for the month. In February 2008, our newspapers achieved almost 2 million video streams.
The biggest challenges are maintaining the production level with fewer resources. It takes time to become proficient at creating video stories, but it’s difficult for editors to provide that time when they have fewer people and more demands to provide news and information online.
N&T: Why did Gannett decide to invest in high-end video equipment for its online newspaper operations and what are some of the short-term and long-term benefits?
Saul: We believe that you need quality equipment and training to produce quality video. Low-end $400 video cameras are not capable of producing quality audio — in fact, they produce quite dreadful audio. Audio is as important — if not more important — than video. Audio provides the story; video enhances it.
For the short term, we want to be able to compete with television; we can do that with quality video stories. For the long term, we are positioning ourselves for the day when viewers can see our video in high-definition and on large screens. We couldn’t do that if we were using low-end equipment. Viewers will accept poor quality video when that’s all that’s available; the Virginia Tech shooting video is a good example. But they won’t accept that level of quality as the norm.
N&T: What are some of the benefits of using shorter-length video?
Saul: Viewers won’t watch long videos on the Web — unless they are TV reruns, of course. We’ve found that news video viewers usually start tuning out after 90 seconds or so.
N&T: How has video coverage changed over the past few years for newspaper Web sites?
Saul: Well, there wasn’t much video on newspaper Web sites even a couple of years ago. So, the growth has been significant. In addition to staff-produced video stories, we now are able to receive reader-submitted videos — which can significantly contribute to our ability to cover breaking news. Again, the Virginia Tech shooting incident is a good example; so is user-submitted video from tornadoes, floods and hurricanes. Like photo galleries, viewers can’t get enough of the images of devastation.
N&T: Will providing more online video help attract a younger audience?
Saul: I think it will. The younger generation already is hooked on YouTube; many have their own equipment and produce their own video. Quality aside, they understand the value of video — certainly as a form of entertainment.
But I think they also expect that there will be video of a highly visual event — such as the crane that collapsed in New York, the tornado that hit downtown Atlanta, etc. Someone is going to get that video — why shouldn’t it be the newspaper?
N&T: What are some of the benefits of partnering with online video companies such as Maven and thePlatform?
Saul: Maven/thePlatform will provide our newspapers and TV stations with the ability to provide video stories more ubiquitously throughout our Web sites — on section fronts, with stories, rather than just in a video silo. It also will allow our news operations, community newspapers, TV stations, USA Today, to share more video stories. And it will allow us to receive and publish reader-submitted videos.
N&T: What are some of the issues facing newspapers when it comes to providing quality online video?
Saul: I fear that too many newspapers are excusing themselves from producing quality online video because it’s too foreign to our print background/roots. A video trainer at one of the nation’s largest newspapers told me he didn’t think reporters could handle high-end cameras and sophisticated editing software. I disagree.
Most of the journalists we have trained have been reporters; they are smart people and catch on quickly. In fact, two of them are now working at our TV stations.
It takes time to produce quality video stories. But like any new technology, the more reporters and photographers use it, the more proficient they become. That requires dedication of resources up front, which is very tough in these times. But we can’t focus on plugging the holes in the dam; we have to focus on growing our future.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Marketing conference vendors woo papers with menu of offerings
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. — As newspapers begin to secure their online footholds, tools such as self-service and community publishing were en vogue at this year’s Newspaper Association of America’s Marketing Conference.
The NAA reported initial attendance figures of 2,100, down about 400 from last year’s show in Las Vegas.
But the downturn did not affect the upbeat atmosphere on the exhibit hall floor. Vendor participation was at an all-time high for the show, with more than 160 companies participating, either as exhibitors or sponsors.
Forty of the companies will also showcase their services at this month’s Nexpo in Washington, D.C., a sign of things to come as NAA combines the Marketing Conference with Nexpo and presents the events as a single show, beginning next year.
“We are not planning a separate area for the remaining marketing conference exhibitors,” said Reggie Hall, NAA’s senior vice president of association sales and marketing. “We’re open to our exhibitors suggesting pavilions or affinity areas on the floor and continue to invite their input.”
Among conference developments:
•BrandMuscle Inc. demonstrated BuildMyAd, an online application that gives advertisers the capability to build and book display advertising as well as classified advertising themselves.
“Advertisers can go in and select if they want to place a display or classified ads,” said Nick Thompson, the firm’s manager of business development. “We know that a lot of newspapers already have classified ad solutions so we’re here promoting the display version of it.”
Users can create custom ads, determine the frequency and pay online or by credit card. A key feature, dynamic ad building, lets users click and drag images inside the template.
•Good2gether said it will launch its hyper local-oriented Web sites in cities including San Francisco, Houston, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta. The San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle are backing the site, which is aimed at letting non-profit organizations connect with volunteers and supporters.
•HarvestInfo formed a partnership with Azoogle.com Inc. that will allow local advertisers to create their own online ads and post them to newspaper sites.
•Impact Engine Inc. said it will launch a self-service display ad stores aimed at companies that want to advertise on newspaper Web sites. Advertisers will be able to visit a publisher’s ad store, access a catalog of ads and target and publish ads within minutes.
•Legacy.com added new features to its obituary pages that allow users to place additional information about their loved ones.
•MediaSpan Media Software announced new versions of ProductionManagerPro version 4.3 and CirculationPro version 3.6, which are shipping to customers, while MediaSpan Online Services announced wireless technology enhancements coinciding with its new partnership with Verve Wireless. The partnership will allow MediaSpan and Verve to provide their customers with content management and mobile marketing features.
•NewsGator Technologies said Cox Newspapers and The Denver Post will deploy its widgets software. Cox will build and track a series of viral widgets for a number of its newspapers including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post and the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.
The Denver Post will use widgets to virally distribute its sports, political and breaking news across the Web.
NewsGator, Washingtonpost.com and Newsweek, meantime, unveiled Candidate Tracker, a free application for Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. The app will enhance washingtonpost.com and Newsweek’s coverage of the 2008 candidates and elections, NewsGator said.
•NSA Media upgraded its print distribution-planning app iAnalyze, giving users more flexibility in sub-ZIP distribution of inserts via newspapers and mail.
•Rockledge Software displayed its SalesPoint Map and SalesPoint Schedule software, which allow ad reps to sell preprints or inserts by truck route.
Community journalism: Loud and clear
ORLANDO, Fla. — With new media at the forefront of discussion at this year’s NAA Marketing Conference, it’s only logical to expect multiple forms of emerging technology to transmit the message from the show.
Getting into the spirit of community publishing, the NAA hosted a live blogcast from the pressroom, presented via blogtalkradio.com. The cast allowed listeners to call in questions to vendors and attendees as they spoke with Mel Taylor of Mel Taylor & Associates.
“I’m a big fan of newspapers even though I’m primarily focused on interactive,” Taylor said. “I do believe that newspapers will never go away even though some in the newspaper industry may feel that interactive wants to hurt newspapers. In reality, it’s all going to work together.”
Associate Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. — As newspapers begin to secure their online footholds, tools such as self-service and community publishing were en vogue at this year’s Newspaper Association of America’s Marketing Conference.
The NAA reported initial attendance figures of 2,100, down about 400 from last year’s show in Las Vegas.
But the downturn did not affect the upbeat atmosphere on the exhibit hall floor. Vendor participation was at an all-time high for the show, with more than 160 companies participating, either as exhibitors or sponsors.
Forty of the companies will also showcase their services at this month’s Nexpo in Washington, D.C., a sign of things to come as NAA combines the Marketing Conference with Nexpo and presents the events as a single show, beginning next year.
“We are not planning a separate area for the remaining marketing conference exhibitors,” said Reggie Hall, NAA’s senior vice president of association sales and marketing. “We’re open to our exhibitors suggesting pavilions or affinity areas on the floor and continue to invite their input.”
Among conference developments:
•BrandMuscle Inc. demonstrated BuildMyAd, an online application that gives advertisers the capability to build and book display advertising as well as classified advertising themselves.
“Advertisers can go in and select if they want to place a display or classified ads,” said Nick Thompson, the firm’s manager of business development. “We know that a lot of newspapers already have classified ad solutions so we’re here promoting the display version of it.”
Users can create custom ads, determine the frequency and pay online or by credit card. A key feature, dynamic ad building, lets users click and drag images inside the template.
•Good2gether said it will launch its hyper local-oriented Web sites in cities including San Francisco, Houston, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta. The San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle are backing the site, which is aimed at letting non-profit organizations connect with volunteers and supporters.
•HarvestInfo formed a partnership with Azoogle.com Inc. that will allow local advertisers to create their own online ads and post them to newspaper sites.
•Impact Engine Inc. said it will launch a self-service display ad stores aimed at companies that want to advertise on newspaper Web sites. Advertisers will be able to visit a publisher’s ad store, access a catalog of ads and target and publish ads within minutes.
•Legacy.com added new features to its obituary pages that allow users to place additional information about their loved ones.
•MediaSpan Media Software announced new versions of ProductionManagerPro version 4.3 and CirculationPro version 3.6, which are shipping to customers, while MediaSpan Online Services announced wireless technology enhancements coinciding with its new partnership with Verve Wireless. The partnership will allow MediaSpan and Verve to provide their customers with content management and mobile marketing features.
•NewsGator Technologies said Cox Newspapers and The Denver Post will deploy its widgets software. Cox will build and track a series of viral widgets for a number of its newspapers including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post and the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.
The Denver Post will use widgets to virally distribute its sports, political and breaking news across the Web.
NewsGator, Washingtonpost.com and Newsweek, meantime, unveiled Candidate Tracker, a free application for Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. The app will enhance washingtonpost.com and Newsweek’s coverage of the 2008 candidates and elections, NewsGator said.
•NSA Media upgraded its print distribution-planning app iAnalyze, giving users more flexibility in sub-ZIP distribution of inserts via newspapers and mail.
•Rockledge Software displayed its SalesPoint Map and SalesPoint Schedule software, which allow ad reps to sell preprints or inserts by truck route.
Community journalism: Loud and clear
ORLANDO, Fla. — With new media at the forefront of discussion at this year’s NAA Marketing Conference, it’s only logical to expect multiple forms of emerging technology to transmit the message from the show.
Getting into the spirit of community publishing, the NAA hosted a live blogcast from the pressroom, presented via blogtalkradio.com. The cast allowed listeners to call in questions to vendors and attendees as they spoke with Mel Taylor of Mel Taylor & Associates.
“I’m a big fan of newspapers even though I’m primarily focused on interactive,” Taylor said. “I do believe that newspapers will never go away even though some in the newspaper industry may feel that interactive wants to hurt newspapers. In reality, it’s all going to work together.”
Newspaper, online alliances make for better bedfellows
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. — What a difference a year makes for newspapers and their online partners.
Twelve months ago, newspaper execs wondered if their partnerships with the likes of Google, Yahoo and Monster would take root. Today, all of the energy is focused on what’s next.
Case in point: Yahoo, which now boasts more than 630 newspapers in the HotJobs consortium first launched in late 2006.
“The Yahoo consortium partnership has been a very significant and wonderful experience for myself and a lot of our newspapers as well,” said Gregory Schermer, vice president of interactive media for Lee Enterprises.
Lee was one of the consortium’s original members, along with Hearst, MediaNews Group, Belo, Cox Enterprises, Journal Register Co. and E.W. Scripps.
Schermer said the potential to tap new opportunities led Lee to participate in the consortium, a goal that was reached last year when the partnership expanded its mandate to include content slated for MyYahoo’s Local module.
Next up is the introduction of a national graphical ad network, designed to let newspapers take advantage of Yahoo’s ad-serving, targeting and inventory management capabilities. The network, now being tested at two newspapers, will be rolled out later this spring with final deployment expected this year.
Zillow expanding
Google, meantime, is expanding the features it provides newspapers through its Print Ads program, including the introduction of an ad creation tool and a forthcoming analytics app (see related story, page 58).
Finally, Zillow.com is planning to strengthen its newspaper alliance. The real estate Web site last year struck a deal with Lee and several other publishers to advertise selected listings both on Zillow and in papers’ classified ad pages.
“When we were looking at a newspaper partnership six to eight months ago it became pretty clear to us that we could work well together,” said Mark Earner, Zillow.com’s director of business development.
The company has approximately 150 people on staff, of which more than 100 are engineers dedicated to writing code for the site’s various real estate features. A partnership with newspapers is ideal for Zillow because it ties the company with a local sales staff and a trusted name in the community.
“We got this technology and asked what can a newspaper do,” said Earner. “In our conversations with local brokers (we discovered) there was one person they trust and it’s their newspaper.”
Associate Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. — What a difference a year makes for newspapers and their online partners.
Twelve months ago, newspaper execs wondered if their partnerships with the likes of Google, Yahoo and Monster would take root. Today, all of the energy is focused on what’s next.
Case in point: Yahoo, which now boasts more than 630 newspapers in the HotJobs consortium first launched in late 2006.
“The Yahoo consortium partnership has been a very significant and wonderful experience for myself and a lot of our newspapers as well,” said Gregory Schermer, vice president of interactive media for Lee Enterprises.
Lee was one of the consortium’s original members, along with Hearst, MediaNews Group, Belo, Cox Enterprises, Journal Register Co. and E.W. Scripps.
Schermer said the potential to tap new opportunities led Lee to participate in the consortium, a goal that was reached last year when the partnership expanded its mandate to include content slated for MyYahoo’s Local module.
Next up is the introduction of a national graphical ad network, designed to let newspapers take advantage of Yahoo’s ad-serving, targeting and inventory management capabilities. The network, now being tested at two newspapers, will be rolled out later this spring with final deployment expected this year.
Zillow expanding
Google, meantime, is expanding the features it provides newspapers through its Print Ads program, including the introduction of an ad creation tool and a forthcoming analytics app (see related story, page 58).
Finally, Zillow.com is planning to strengthen its newspaper alliance. The real estate Web site last year struck a deal with Lee and several other publishers to advertise selected listings both on Zillow and in papers’ classified ad pages.
“When we were looking at a newspaper partnership six to eight months ago it became pretty clear to us that we could work well together,” said Mark Earner, Zillow.com’s director of business development.
The company has approximately 150 people on staff, of which more than 100 are engineers dedicated to writing code for the site’s various real estate features. A partnership with newspapers is ideal for Zillow because it ties the company with a local sales staff and a trusted name in the community.
“We got this technology and asked what can a newspaper do,” said Earner. “In our conversations with local brokers (we discovered) there was one person they trust and it’s their newspaper.”
Google introduces slate of features for newspapers, Print Ad users
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
Google is ready to ramp up the digital offerings it’s designed to help reinforce the value of newsprint.
Google's Print Ads project now has 750 newspapers participating, giving
marketers an ever-growing number of places to bid on available ad space, according to Smita Hashim, Print Ads' group product manager. The Print Ads service, launched 18 months ago, lets newspapers offer both premium and unsold inventory spots available to advertisers.
Because the service is intended to encourage newspapers and advertisers to actively negotiate final prices, rejection rates can vary widely, up to 60 percent at certain newspapers, said Stephanie Davis, Print Ads' head of publisher business development.
"A low rejection rate is not necessarily a goal of ours and is not reflective of the program's success because we purposely built a feedback loop into our system through which advertisers and publishers are intended to negotiate back and forth," a Google spokesman added.
Still, Hashim said Google is examining ways to broaden Print Ads and make it a more compelling alternative to advertisers.
"We are working with other publications including college papers, Spanish-language papers and alternative weeklies, and we are beginning to find advertisers interested in theses niches," she said.
Google also plans to launch new services to bolster Print Ads, including an analytics tool to help newspapers judge how effective they are at reaching their local market, and a tagging method that helps advertisers measure consumer reaction to specific ad campaigns.
The analytics software, to be released later in 2008, will provide a foundation that will enable both newspapers and advertisers to determine an ad’s impact, Hashim said.
“Measurement is paramount to advertisers and publishers; everyone wants to know how an ad did and whether it was worth their while,” she said.
A key part of the analytics app is to enable advertisers to track the effectiveness of their ads, Hashim said.
“For each campaign they will be able to go and look at the newspaper at the DMA level and be able to see how many visits the newspaper Web site receives on specific ads,” she said.
Advertisers already have an option to track ad effectiveness by adding a Google call-tracking code overlaid on contact phone numbers used in an ad. Google records the number of calls and origin area codes that are made by consumers responding to the ads.
Google tested the tagging method with Blue Nile, the online jewelry and diamond retailer. The tags, which include a Web address, SmartCode logo and Google Search phone number, enabled Google to track consumer response, Hashim said.
“We put the tag on and omitted it in several different markets and the response was overwhelmingly higher in the markets with the tag,” Hashim said. “We are going to be pushing on that a little bit more and try to see what other ads are connecting better with the reader because if readers have a good response then advertisers see a positive response and that results in more monetization for the newspapers.”
The new services come on the heels of other steps Google has taken to bolster Print Ads.
Last fall, for example, Google introduced a newspaper ad creation tool that allows its AdWords advertisers to generate display ads. All the advertiser has to do is enter the information, upload an image or logo and choose the size of the ad. After the material is entered, users can then choose from several layouts.
Google added support for color ads in February, Hashim said.
“Newspapers are telling us which sections can support color, and at this point we have more than 100 newspapers offering color ads through the system,” Hashim said.
Additionally, Google rolled out AdPacks, an ad promotion that lets advertisers buy a specific number of ads in a specific section, all for a single quoted price.
Print and online symbiosis
Hashim said the new Google services should further help newspapers promote the notion that advertisers use both print and online products to reach their audiences.
“We believe in mixed-media allocations and believe newspapers represent a good opportunity for our advertisers to expand their consumer base,” she said. “One of the things we like to do is make their campaigns more targeted for the advertisers and we have been running a series of promotions within the AdWords front-end.”
Google also touts newspapers to advertisers that are focusing on a region in which a newspaper partner operates, Hashim said, by showcasing Print Ads as an option.
“Using a tool like Print Ads gives advertisers a better starting point so hopefully they are making offers to newspapers that are more palatable,” Hashim said.
Associate Editor
Google is ready to ramp up the digital offerings it’s designed to help reinforce the value of newsprint.
Google's Print Ads project now has 750 newspapers participating, giving
marketers an ever-growing number of places to bid on available ad space, according to Smita Hashim, Print Ads' group product manager. The Print Ads service, launched 18 months ago, lets newspapers offer both premium and unsold inventory spots available to advertisers.
Because the service is intended to encourage newspapers and advertisers to actively negotiate final prices, rejection rates can vary widely, up to 60 percent at certain newspapers, said Stephanie Davis, Print Ads' head of publisher business development.
"A low rejection rate is not necessarily a goal of ours and is not reflective of the program's success because we purposely built a feedback loop into our system through which advertisers and publishers are intended to negotiate back and forth," a Google spokesman added.
Still, Hashim said Google is examining ways to broaden Print Ads and make it a more compelling alternative to advertisers.
"We are working with other publications including college papers, Spanish-language papers and alternative weeklies, and we are beginning to find advertisers interested in theses niches," she said.
Google also plans to launch new services to bolster Print Ads, including an analytics tool to help newspapers judge how effective they are at reaching their local market, and a tagging method that helps advertisers measure consumer reaction to specific ad campaigns.
The analytics software, to be released later in 2008, will provide a foundation that will enable both newspapers and advertisers to determine an ad’s impact, Hashim said.
“Measurement is paramount to advertisers and publishers; everyone wants to know how an ad did and whether it was worth their while,” she said.
A key part of the analytics app is to enable advertisers to track the effectiveness of their ads, Hashim said.
“For each campaign they will be able to go and look at the newspaper at the DMA level and be able to see how many visits the newspaper Web site receives on specific ads,” she said.
Advertisers already have an option to track ad effectiveness by adding a Google call-tracking code overlaid on contact phone numbers used in an ad. Google records the number of calls and origin area codes that are made by consumers responding to the ads.
Google tested the tagging method with Blue Nile, the online jewelry and diamond retailer. The tags, which include a Web address, SmartCode logo and Google Search phone number, enabled Google to track consumer response, Hashim said.
“We put the tag on and omitted it in several different markets and the response was overwhelmingly higher in the markets with the tag,” Hashim said. “We are going to be pushing on that a little bit more and try to see what other ads are connecting better with the reader because if readers have a good response then advertisers see a positive response and that results in more monetization for the newspapers.”
The new services come on the heels of other steps Google has taken to bolster Print Ads.
Last fall, for example, Google introduced a newspaper ad creation tool that allows its AdWords advertisers to generate display ads. All the advertiser has to do is enter the information, upload an image or logo and choose the size of the ad. After the material is entered, users can then choose from several layouts.
Google added support for color ads in February, Hashim said.
“Newspapers are telling us which sections can support color, and at this point we have more than 100 newspapers offering color ads through the system,” Hashim said.
Additionally, Google rolled out AdPacks, an ad promotion that lets advertisers buy a specific number of ads in a specific section, all for a single quoted price.
Print and online symbiosis
Hashim said the new Google services should further help newspapers promote the notion that advertisers use both print and online products to reach their audiences.
“We believe in mixed-media allocations and believe newspapers represent a good opportunity for our advertisers to expand their consumer base,” she said. “One of the things we like to do is make their campaigns more targeted for the advertisers and we have been running a series of promotions within the AdWords front-end.”
Google also touts newspapers to advertisers that are focusing on a region in which a newspaper partner operates, Hashim said, by showcasing Print Ads as an option.
“Using a tool like Print Ads gives advertisers a better starting point so hopefully they are making offers to newspapers that are more palatable,” Hashim said.
St. Pete, Knoxville, Lawrence papers take honors at Edgie ceremony
N&T Staff Report
ORLANDO, Fla. — The NAA’s Digital Media Federation handed out its annual Digital Edge awards last month.
The winners were selected by a panel of 28 judges and were selected for their strategy, creativity, impact in the local market and adaptability to other markets.
The Journal-World in Lawrence, Kan., The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel and St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times won Best Overall News Site in their categories, respectively.
The Journal-World walked away with four Edgies, including Best Overall News Site, Most Innovative Multimedia Storytelling, Best Local Guide or Entertainment Site and Best Local Shopping and Directory Strategy.
The News-Sentinel and (Minneapolis) Star Tribune each won three Edgies.
This year’s Online Innovator award went to Dan Shorter, formerly general manager of the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post and now the Star Tribune’s president of digital media (see page 3).
Shorter, a 25-year industry veteran, has held a variety of newsroom positions, including assistant to the managing editor and executive business editor, prior to becoming involved with online media in the mid-1990s.
Under his guidance, Shorter’s team has won more than 25 national awards for innovation and best practices, including several Digital Edge Awards from the NAA.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The NAA’s Digital Media Federation handed out its annual Digital Edge awards last month.
The winners were selected by a panel of 28 judges and were selected for their strategy, creativity, impact in the local market and adaptability to other markets.
The Journal-World in Lawrence, Kan., The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel and St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times won Best Overall News Site in their categories, respectively.
The Journal-World walked away with four Edgies, including Best Overall News Site, Most Innovative Multimedia Storytelling, Best Local Guide or Entertainment Site and Best Local Shopping and Directory Strategy.
The News-Sentinel and (Minneapolis) Star Tribune each won three Edgies.
This year’s Online Innovator award went to Dan Shorter, formerly general manager of the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post and now the Star Tribune’s president of digital media (see page 3).
Shorter, a 25-year industry veteran, has held a variety of newsroom positions, including assistant to the managing editor and executive business editor, prior to becoming involved with online media in the mid-1990s.
Under his guidance, Shorter’s team has won more than 25 national awards for innovation and best practices, including several Digital Edge Awards from the NAA.
Apple touts tool aimed at helping papers post video
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
A new capability in Apple Inc.’s recently introduced Leopard Server could help newspapers post content online.
The feature, called Podcast Producer, automates the workflows involved with producing audio and video segments, from capture through creation, said Fred Reitberger, Apple’s senior systems engineer, enterprise-named accounts.
With technology handling the time-consuming and tedious backend workflow management involved with posting video, newspapers can focus on other operations, Reitberger said.
“Podcast Producer is designed for something quick, very straightforward, like near-live videos produced by reporters in the field,” he said.
A reporter, he said, can record a two-minute video, hit a button and before he begins writing the story, a viewable video clip is already on the paper’s Web site.
The tool is also ideal for sports reporters who need to give brief updates during the day and for reporters and editors who want to promote their print editions, he said.
Podcast Producer caught the eyes of a number of attendees at last month’s America East Operations and Technology Conference in Hershey, Pa.
Several newspapers, Reitberger said, are evaluating how they might be able to use the server software’s features.
Podcast, but it’s not
Podcast Producer is based on a utility within the Leopard OS, dubbed Image Capture, which gives users the option to create audio, video or computer presentation podcasts.
“When people hear the word ‘podcast,’ they tend to jump and think only of the audio kind of podcast,” said Reitberger. “But in reality, podcasting is any rich media, and Podcast Producer is a delivery mechanism.”
Once the type of podcast is selected, users add a headline and description, record the podcast and select which workflow to publish it in. The workflow configures the video to be posted on blogs, Web sites or even multimedia-enabled cell phones. The workflow can also place preroll or postroll ads, create watermarks and notify staff through e-mail for approval.
Unexpected digital opportunity
Initially, Podcast Producer was crafted to help educators, but Reitberger said he saw it as a feature that newspapers could use to quickly post video clips that required little or no editing.
“In some cases newspapers have tons of content but don’t have the resources to edit and post breaking audio and video clips quickly,” he said.
“There will always be the high-quality signature pieces that you want to spend time on,” Reitberger said. “There’s a great bulk of video that you just want to get out, which means more eyes on the site, more interest, more hits and also more opportunities for the newspaper to sell ads.”
Associate Editor
A new capability in Apple Inc.’s recently introduced Leopard Server could help newspapers post content online.
The feature, called Podcast Producer, automates the workflows involved with producing audio and video segments, from capture through creation, said Fred Reitberger, Apple’s senior systems engineer, enterprise-named accounts.
With technology handling the time-consuming and tedious backend workflow management involved with posting video, newspapers can focus on other operations, Reitberger said.
“Podcast Producer is designed for something quick, very straightforward, like near-live videos produced by reporters in the field,” he said.
A reporter, he said, can record a two-minute video, hit a button and before he begins writing the story, a viewable video clip is already on the paper’s Web site.
The tool is also ideal for sports reporters who need to give brief updates during the day and for reporters and editors who want to promote their print editions, he said.
Podcast Producer caught the eyes of a number of attendees at last month’s America East Operations and Technology Conference in Hershey, Pa.
Several newspapers, Reitberger said, are evaluating how they might be able to use the server software’s features.
Podcast, but it’s not
Podcast Producer is based on a utility within the Leopard OS, dubbed Image Capture, which gives users the option to create audio, video or computer presentation podcasts.
“When people hear the word ‘podcast,’ they tend to jump and think only of the audio kind of podcast,” said Reitberger. “But in reality, podcasting is any rich media, and Podcast Producer is a delivery mechanism.”
Once the type of podcast is selected, users add a headline and description, record the podcast and select which workflow to publish it in. The workflow configures the video to be posted on blogs, Web sites or even multimedia-enabled cell phones. The workflow can also place preroll or postroll ads, create watermarks and notify staff through e-mail for approval.
Unexpected digital opportunity
Initially, Podcast Producer was crafted to help educators, but Reitberger said he saw it as a feature that newspapers could use to quickly post video clips that required little or no editing.
“In some cases newspapers have tons of content but don’t have the resources to edit and post breaking audio and video clips quickly,” he said.
“There will always be the high-quality signature pieces that you want to spend time on,” Reitberger said. “There’s a great bulk of video that you just want to get out, which means more eyes on the site, more interest, more hits and also more opportunities for the newspaper to sell ads.”
4 questions with Malcolm Lewis
Malcolm Lewis, vice president and general manager of Local.com, discusses the advantages newspapers can exploit in their markets by offering local search services.
What are some of the issues facing newspapers in the local search market?
Newspapers have established two major advantages over the last 100 years of newspaper print advertising. First, they are a trusted source of local information for consumers in their markets. Second, they are a trusted source of local advertising for local business owners in their market. The biggest issue for local newspapers is ensuring that they retain these traditional advantages as online information searches, and online advertising, transforms.
The problem newspapers face is this: Many consumers begin their local searches on a major search engine like Google or Yahoo.
This issue can be transformed into an advantage if newspapers include a local search directory on their Web site, and make the directory content rich enough to attract the search engines. If they succeed in doing this, many of the consumers who start their local search on Google or Yahoo will end it by clicking through from the search engine results page to a directory page on the newspaper’s Web site.
Why is local search traffic becoming important for newspapers?
Research tells us that 80 percent of people buy within 50 miles from their homes. Therefore, getting in front of them while they are conducting online searches is critical to business owners. This will ensure that their business is seen, recognized and has the opportunity to impact the purchase decision. In general, traffic is crucial to driving local online advertising revenues on a newspaper Web site.
Without traffic, the newspaper has no sales value to online advertisers. Local search traffic should be a critical component of every newspaper’s overall Web site traffic maximization strategy. In many cases, a search-engine-optimized online local directory can drive significant incremental traffic on a newspaper Web site.
How has the local search industry changed over the past few years?
The two major changes in the local search industry in recent years are related to the source and nature of the local business information available online. In the early days of local search, the information available on a business was often limited to name, address and phone number. This information would often be sourced from a database provider and published online by the newspaper with little or no opportunity for consumers or business owners to enhance the information or to correct errors.
Now, consumers can quickly and easily rate and review businesses. And business owners can correct errors through simple self-service Web tools, as well as provide extensive additional information about their business, including photos and videos.
The combination of ratings and reviews, plus rich, increasingly visual information about a business, is dramatically improving the local search experience for consumers online.
What trends do you see in the local search market?
The major trends in local search relate to content, delivery and advertising. On the content front, we will continue to see richer, deeper descriptions of online businesses, with user and business-generated content, especially video, playing an increasingly important role.
On the delivery side, we will see local searches expanding from the desktop to mobile devices, particularly cell phones. And on the advertising front, we will see the rise of a new generation of Web-savvy advertisers who are more likely to advertise online than offline, and a new generation of business partners who are focused on connecting local businesses to online consumers through local search.
What are some of the issues facing newspapers in the local search market?
Newspapers have established two major advantages over the last 100 years of newspaper print advertising. First, they are a trusted source of local information for consumers in their markets. Second, they are a trusted source of local advertising for local business owners in their market. The biggest issue for local newspapers is ensuring that they retain these traditional advantages as online information searches, and online advertising, transforms.
The problem newspapers face is this: Many consumers begin their local searches on a major search engine like Google or Yahoo.
This issue can be transformed into an advantage if newspapers include a local search directory on their Web site, and make the directory content rich enough to attract the search engines. If they succeed in doing this, many of the consumers who start their local search on Google or Yahoo will end it by clicking through from the search engine results page to a directory page on the newspaper’s Web site.
Why is local search traffic becoming important for newspapers?
Research tells us that 80 percent of people buy within 50 miles from their homes. Therefore, getting in front of them while they are conducting online searches is critical to business owners. This will ensure that their business is seen, recognized and has the opportunity to impact the purchase decision. In general, traffic is crucial to driving local online advertising revenues on a newspaper Web site.
Without traffic, the newspaper has no sales value to online advertisers. Local search traffic should be a critical component of every newspaper’s overall Web site traffic maximization strategy. In many cases, a search-engine-optimized online local directory can drive significant incremental traffic on a newspaper Web site.
How has the local search industry changed over the past few years?
The two major changes in the local search industry in recent years are related to the source and nature of the local business information available online. In the early days of local search, the information available on a business was often limited to name, address and phone number. This information would often be sourced from a database provider and published online by the newspaper with little or no opportunity for consumers or business owners to enhance the information or to correct errors.
Now, consumers can quickly and easily rate and review businesses. And business owners can correct errors through simple self-service Web tools, as well as provide extensive additional information about their business, including photos and videos.
The combination of ratings and reviews, plus rich, increasingly visual information about a business, is dramatically improving the local search experience for consumers online.
What trends do you see in the local search market?
The major trends in local search relate to content, delivery and advertising. On the content front, we will continue to see richer, deeper descriptions of online businesses, with user and business-generated content, especially video, playing an increasingly important role.
On the delivery side, we will see local searches expanding from the desktop to mobile devices, particularly cell phones. And on the advertising front, we will see the rise of a new generation of Web-savvy advertisers who are more likely to advertise online than offline, and a new generation of business partners who are focused on connecting local businesses to online consumers through local search.
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