Random Mumblings

Many voices owned by few

2008-05-09T02:26:29Z

Barry Diller on media consolidation:

"The conglomerates are like the Rothschilds funding both sides in the Napoleonic wars, They are on both sides of virtually every transaction."

-- Forbes "Landscape of Giants," May 8, 2008

A clear picture to the future

2008-05-08T14:07:29Z

Eric Berlin:

Here's what we know: people are online, they watch video online, they spend money online. Therefore, video producers and advertisers are going into overdrive to figure out a model that works.

Mark Cuban quoting (I think) Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research:

Ironically, we are headed down the same self-destructive road for other kinds of traditional media,as well. Five years into the video-over-the-Internet revolution, we have learned two things. First; consumers won't pay for content on the web, so it will have to be ad supported. And second; it won't be ad supported.

We've got the video business model figured out, right?

The new black

2008-05-08T11:55:15Z

Short is the new black. Did you make it this far.

(Always has been.)

This Tweet just in

2008-05-07T11:11:38Z

Something very similar to this breaking Twitter news happened to me on April 18 with this story.

(via InfoDiva)

DigiDave talks with Scott Karp

2008-05-06T20:32:07Z

David Cohn does a video interview with Scott Karp, who he calls "one freakin' smart guy," on Publish2, Link Journalism and more. It's a good overview of what Karp is doing with Publish2.

Insty Twitter

2008-05-04T15:22:16Z

I'm thinking not many people know Instapundit.com has a Twitter feed. Those are "InstyTweets?" It'll be popular!

On a completely unrelated, but geographically close topic, I created a Twitter feed for University of Tennessee fans with GoVolsXtra headlines. Follow it here.

Twitter tools

2008-05-04T13:13:48Z

Just one of things that is interesting about Twitter is how many services have been built upon its simple interface to provide additional features. For a service that has yet to hit mainstream, it's germinated a whole eco-system of apps.

Here's some of the Twitter tools I like best.

I don't bother with desktop apps or Firefox plugins, but these I find useful.

TwitterLocal, see what folks around the Hood are saying.
TweetScan, search keywords. Or search you user name and see what others have said about you that you might have missed.
TweetStats, all kinds of stats about your Twitter use. I Tweet most often on Saturdays and at 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. I talk to @Newscoma a lot.
Summize, another great Twitter searching tool.
Twitterholic, if you need Twitter "friends" to follow.
Twist, Compare keywords. Here's "big brown and belles."
TwitterFeed, great RSS to Twitter app.
Who Should I follow?, an interesting one to find new friends on Twitter.

Do you have "must haves?"

Here some more best of Twitter tools blog posts:

CyTRAP Labs' choice - free tools - 12 best Twitter tools
40+ Twitter Tools for Extended Twitter Experience from To the PC
The Clever Sheep: How Many Twitter Tools Are There?
Charles Arthur: Your suggestions please for the 20 best Twitter tools

Oh, yeah, follow me here.

Newspaper Twitter stats for April

2008-05-03T11:29:11Z

Erica Smith has published her April newspaper Twitter stats. I love that she is doing this project!

Her stats show several newspapers had followings that grew by triple digits in the last month while @knoxnews grew by 47 percent and @Bonnaroo, which she started following mid-month, grew by about 7 percent.

Smith is tracking 141 newspaper Twitter accounts.

I'm thinking that the knoxnews growth of 47 percent shows another surge in popularity in the not-yet-mainstream service at least in the KnoxVegas area since we did no promotion of it. (The last time we mentioned it to marketing, they got the idea to change the background to coffin gray ... industry symbolism?).

So if you're on Twitter, follow:

@knoxnews
@Bonnarroo

... and even me.

The knoxnews site is not at the top of the list in number of Tweets, which is good!.

It was silly of you to come, but stay awhile

2008-05-02T15:13:22Z

In the quest for audience, we live by what marketing whiz Seth Godin calls "silly traffic."

One time visitors who hit a site for a few seconds and are gone. This site, for example, has a high number of them.

The Google Analytics average for the last month is a bounce rate of 79.26 percent and average time on the site of 40 seconds.

Godin says that's not where publishers should be focused:

I think it's more productive to worry about two other things instead.

1. Engage your existing users far more deeply. Increase their participation, their devotion, their interconnection and their value.

2. Turn those existing users into ambassadors, charged with the idea of bring you traffic that is focused, traffic with intent.

Eric Berlin picks up on that thread and offers some advice on building a focus audience.

I suppose the simple and not terribly magical answer is to write great content consistently, network with publishers and influential types who write similar kinds of content (and read and engage on their sites), and then hope to get linked.

Part of a strategy around focused audience is generating high return visits and part of it is finding new visitors who will become part of the community of focused audience.

It takes a goodly amount of silly traffic to do that. In this site's case in the last month, three-quarters are new visitors. But the number of returning visitors and the number of RSS subscribing is growing.

Berlin says he's a stat fiend. I'm not so much for just enjoying numbers and charts, but I do believe in severely overweighting credence to what people do than what they say they do, and web stats may be the best watching tool ever invented.

As Berlin says, it starts with great content, it continues with marketing (inbound links being but one form), but it also has to include learning and appreciating what the community of focused readers or users find engaging about the site.

Compared to the 40 second average visit on this site, returning visitors over the last month have stayed a minute and 43 seconds per visit. That's a huge difference.. Godin says the goal is build the number of readers who return and linger; not those who bounce in and out.

What those loyal users/readers are focusing on can sometimes surprise you. And that's why you, too, should be a stat fiend.

A couple more resources:

Avinash Kaushik: Standard Metrics Revisited: #3: Bounce Rate
Joshua J. Steimle: What's an Average or Typical Bounce Rate?

Future pix of newspapers

2008-05-02T10:56:10Z

Does Kodak has the digital picture of the newspaper industry's future?

Good piece in the New York Times today on the morphing of the company:

Kodak is by no means thriving. Digital products are nowhere near filling the profit vacuum left by evaporating sales of film. Its work force is about a fifth of the size it was two decades ago, and it continues to lose money. Its share price remains depressed.

But, finally, digital products are flowing from the labs. Kodak recently introduced a pocket-size television, which is selling in Japan for about $285. It has software that lets owners of multiplexes track what is showing on each screen. It has a tiny sensor small enough to fit into a cellphone, yet acute enough to capture images in low light.

The company now has digital techniques that can remove scratches and otherwise enhance old movies. It has found more efficient ways to make O.L.E.D.'s -- organic light-emitting diodes -- for displays in cameras, cellphones and televisions.

This month, Kodak will introduce Stream, a continuous inkjet printer that can churn out customized items like bill inserts at extremely high speeds. It is working on ways to capture and project three-dimensional movies.

And, of course, it continues to prompt consumers to take pictures with Kodak cameras, store them at Kodak sites online, display them in Kodak digital picture frames and print them on Kodak printers that use Kodak inks and papers.

At least analysts and pundits have quit predicting Kodak's demise. And at least one analyst has gone from sell to hold on the stock.

Find out how journalists think!

2008-05-02T00:11:44Z

The press release below is about a really interesting effort by The Society of Professional Journalaits (of which I'm a card-carrying member).

Chicago, Greensboro, LA. At $25 a pop, that's a deal. Deadline for the Chicago one is coming up fast.

SPJ to launch Citizen Journalism Academy in Chicago

For Immediate Release:
5/1/2008

Contact:
Clint Brewer, President, (615) 301-9229
Beth King, APR, Communications Manager (317) 927-8000, ext. 211

INDIANAPOLIS - The Society of Professional Journalists will launch the first of three Citizen Journalism Academy programs May 17 at DePaul University in Chicago.

The workshop will teach citizens how to practice accurate and ethical journalism. The Society aims to help participants understand how such practices could increase reach and reputations within a specified community and around the world.

"As people are practicing journalism through blogs, Web site production and interaction with sites maintained by mainstream news organizations, they're contributing to the daily news cycle while influencing how community members get their news and perceive the world around them," said SPJ President Clint Brewer. "SPJ sees this as an opportunity to help citizen journalists by arming them with the tools they will need to be an effective citizen journalist or community watchdog."

Topics in these one-day workshops will explore:

-- Journalism ethics. The new-media landscape is rife with dilemmas for anyone wanting to report accurately, fairly and outside the bounds of special interests.

-- The basics of media law. The same longstanding laws concerning libel, slander and access to people and information apply to 21st-century news-gatherers.

-- Access to pubic records and meetings. Public information can add substance and value to every news story. But knowing where to look for it can be tough.

-- Standard and responsible reporting practices. With media ethics and law in mind, how else should news-gatherers approach sources?

-- The use of technology. We'll show you an array of tools you could start using -- or continue using even more effectively.

The program will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost to attend the Citizen Journalism Academy is $25, which includes lunch and course materials. For more information about this program or to register, visit SPJ's Citizen Journalism Academy page. Please note, the registration deadline is May 3 and seating is limited.

Other upcoming Citizen Journalism Academy workshops include Greensboro, N.C. on June 7 and Los Angeles on June 28.

Funding for this program is provided by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) public foundation organized for the purpose of supporting the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and to serve the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation's largest and most broad-based journalism advocacy organization. SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For further information on SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.

Total basket case

2008-04-30T17:53:23Z

Jack D. Lail http://www.jacklail.com

Music Row overrated

2008-04-30T15:44:50Z

Nashville's Music Row makes MSN's "America's Most Overrated Places."

".. a visit to Music Row, supposedly a great tourist destination, really is just a walk down a block filled with ugly offices."

" ... go to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, the Bluebird Café or even the Grand Ole Opry to see Nashville's musical heritage really come to life."

(via M. Lail at the Raleigh Philosophical Society)

A critical election issue

2008-04-30T08:00:38Z

Co-worker Lauren Spuhler says someecards has to win the humor category of the Webby Awards -- if you vote for it.

Creating news that finds its audience

2008-04-30T02:35:07Z

An insider who's now an outsider has insider advice on outsiders for insiders running news sites.

Now I've got you as confused as Lou Costello in "Who's on First"?

Well, as Bud Abbott said: "I say Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know's on third."

I'm glad that's clear; Because is in centerfield.

In a much more lucid piece, I think former newspaper New Media journalist Melissa Worden says we haven't figured out for her that new buzz phrase:: "If the news is that important, it will find me." (And as a phrase, It's quite the rage.)

Or as media consultant Terry Heaton says: "You can't 'find' anybody by insisting them come to you."

It's a concept we need to get faster than Costello learned the names of the players on his new baseball team..

Worden has some great observations on how her news habits have changed and some suggestions on how news can find her. What are some more?

And best of luck, Melissa, in your HSN gig!