Publishing content and news

This 60-Second Window takes us past the State of the News Media 2010, wondering if the iPad will really change the publishing landscape, and seeing online providers trying outsourced journalism. Links and references that you should read …

I told myself the other day I would start switching radio stations when another tired BP oilspill story came on. Tonight, a congressman told the truth, and within hours had gotten so much abuse from the media and the rest of congress he had to apologize. Imagine that — apologize for telling the truth — for telling it like it is. The media is changing in leaps and bounds just trying to keep up with society changes. It could be good and it could be bad.

Here are a few interesting pieces I’ve been meaning to pass along. Each one is interesting and enlightening reading. Enjoy…

The socialization of news

In the era of the real-time Web, information travels at a greater velocity than the infrastructure of mainstream media can support as it exists today. As events materialize, the access to social publishing and syndication platforms propels information across attentive and connected nodes that link social graphs all over the world. Current events are now at the epicenter of global attention as social media makes the world a much smaller place.
      News no longer breaks, it tweets – demonstrating the efficiency, momentum, and influence of the human network. With every new iterative update, social graphs transform into a highly organized information distribution system that resembles an “Amber Alert” network for the social Web — with far greater speed, reach, impact, and resonance.
GO continue reading :: Marcom Professional

State of the News Media 2010

Inside news companies, the most immediate concern is how much revenue lost in the recession the industry will regain as the economy improves.
      Whatever the answers, the future of news ultimately rests on more long-term concerns: What are the prospects for alternative journalism organizations that are forming around the country? Will traditional media adapt and innovate amid continuing pressures to thin their ranks?
GO continue reading :: Pew Reseach

The Future Is Content

Legendary ad man Jay Chiat once described a round of golf as “very fascinating, very addictive and incredibly challenging. You’re never satisfied. It’s kind of like advertising.” Chiat didn’t live to see the advent of search engine marketing, but his observations fit with what search engine marketing is today.
      Search engine marketing has come close to satisfying its users with its ability to be measured, analyzed and optimized. The growth of SEM certainly shows a continued attraction, as advertisers continuously search for that magic keyword that will drive clicks and revenues.
GO continue reading :: David Szetela

Mags get pushback on per issue price on iPad

Magazines are pinning their hopes on the iPad and other, forthcoming tablets and e-readers helping offset a decline in circulation and ad revenue. But as the early feedback shows, they may be paying the price for the industry’s long-standing practice of charging steep discounts for subscriptions.
      As a result, consumers are well aware of the per-issue discrepancy between subscriptions and single issues.
GO continue reading :: www.mediaweek.com

E-books changing the publishing industry

If we judge the impact of e-books by their modest market share, it is unclear what the fuss is about. If we judge it by the anxiety of the players — a better bellwether of change in any industry — we are talking shock and awe.
     
GO continue reading :: Alvaro Vargas Llosa

New phase for publishing

How to profit from cable TV and Internet advertising models?
      The publishing industry needs to figure out how to craft a business model in an increasingly digital age. It can choose to defend its existing model, which would be a mistake, or to forge a new one. Constructing barriers that work against the interests or needs of consumers is at best a stop-gap measure.
GO continue reading :: www.forbes.com

And the good news is :

Survey finds marketing contributing to bottom line …
      Marketing is doing a better job contributing to an organization’s bottom line, although it still has room to improve in effectiveness and efficiency, according to a new study by VisionEdge in association with Marketo.
GO continue reading :: www.btobonline.com

Trying outsourced journalism

More major media companies are looking for ways to find cheap content. Thomson Reuters, Cox Newspapers and Hachette Filipacchi have run articles supplied by Associated Content, one of several companies, such as Demand Media and AOL’s SEED, that mines reporting from masses of freelancers for as little as $5 a story.
      Such partnerships further the ongoing shift among established news operations to capitalize on the availability of cheap content, such as USA Today’s recent deal with Demand Media, which is using its network of freelancers to supply pieces for a new Travel Tips section on USA Today’s website.
GO continue reading :: Edmund Lee, Ad Age – Business Insider


When you run across one you think I would enjoy — or one you’d like to pass along to your peers in the design and desktop publishing biz, just let me know. Sorry I’ve had to turn off commenting on most of our columns — our comments forms are being pounded by the cybercrime industry, day in and day out to the tune of dozens and dozens a day.


thanks for reading

Fred Showker

Don’t forget … we encourage you to share your discoveries with other readers. Just comment below, or send an email

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