July 2007 Archive

The World of Online News

July 29, 2007 | Written by Yan Shikhvarger

According to the Pew Internet Project, 50 million Americans use the internet for news content everyday. Many questions arise from such massive numbers, but the two that are top of mind are:

1) What are the top used online news sources? And,
2) How are those top sources keeping up with the demand for real-time news that the Internet allows?

An interesting analysis can be done by performing a "mashup" (see chart below) between Nielsen/NetRatings numbers for top online sources and a new study recently featured in eContent Magazine on verbatim pickup of news stories online. It seems that massive online news outlets are more than likely picking up stories from the wires without even slight edits. Yahoo! for example is the top online news destination and 97% of its stories are picked up verbatim from the wires. The situation is similar for MSNBC and AOL News. Online news sources have massive reach but little resources to run a real news department, and that is the biggest difference from print and TV outlets.

Of course this does not mean that the online news providers do not have any editorial resources. Yahoo!'s redesign of the home page late last year was centered around creating editorial features yet the content that is generated is still a tiny minority versus what is being picked up directly from the wires (AP and Reuters).  

Although many conclusions can be drawn from this reality there are some additional items for thought in the "online news" situation.

1) Online News Relationships: Online news sources rely on specialized and topical news providers for various areas like health, science, etc... - so what are those networks for each important online outlet?

2) Wikipedia and YouTube: Those two are growing so fast as news providers that no study can currently keep up on its impact, however, they are emerging as massive news providers

3) Online video: the question still remains of whether this will take off. Broadband adoption rates have been stagnating so it remains to be seen if online video news will continue to grow

4) Niche news providers: Local and topical news providers may not have mass reach but often have a very targeted following which is illustrated by growth of vertical search engines and these providers should not be disregarded

Comments (0) | Permalink

Digg It | Reddit | De.lic.ious | Facebook

So Why Do Corporations Want to Blog?

July 15, 2007 | Written by Yan Shikhvarger

I hope it's not because "everyone else has a blog." However, many companies, from Fortune 500 to your "local" online retailers have started blogs. It takes resources, many meetings, editorial policies, etc... so why do it?

So let's get into the good reasons...Blogs can:

1) Position a company as a thought leader - Typically an executive will blog on industry issues and provide an expert and insider viewpoint. Examples are a blog by SUN's Jonathan Schwartz and Boeing's Randy Tinseth

2) Be used as a communications vehicle - A corporation may use its blog as a bullhorn to communicate its position when a standard press release may not be appropriate. GM, for example, used its blog to respond to a scathing NYT Thomas Friedman editorial. Recently, J&J launched a blog with potentially this reason in mind as well.

3) Build a loyal audience - a well-written blog can get users to come back to the site and frequently interact with the brand. The online clothing retailer, BlueFly, has a blog which reviews general fashion trends. This would appeal to customers that may not be currently in a purchasing mindset but this blog will keep BlueFly top of mind.

4) Create internal brand ambassadors - chances are that employees want to blog. They want a voice and already happen to be experts on relevant topics. Therefore, allowing employees to blog functions as an internal "employee marketing" program that positions employees as topic experts.

Please comment if you want to contribute a reason or just to comment on the above.

Comments (2) | Permalink

Digg It | Reddit | De.lic.ious | Facebook

Various Approaches to Online Corporate Reputation Campaigns

July 12, 2007 | Written by Yan Shikhvarger

This is such a large topic that perhaps it is better to focus on a few examples in a single industry. A good example would be the recent intense debate around the energy industry and the campaigns that launched as a result. That brings us to two example campaigns...

1) "ExxonMobil Challenges" takes a very standard approach to such a campaign. The website serves as a destination for print and online ads that run on "decision maker" pubs such as The Economist, etc... The website is structured to deliver key messages around obvious Exxon issues.

The website actually does not deliver a lot of content but sticks to quick facts and headlines, and that does not work when talking about issues that should not be oversimplified. There is no real motivation to interact with the website or dig deeper into the content. The whole thing does not feel transparent.

And that leads into the next campaign....

2) "Shell Dialogues" a campaign that is nearly the opposite of Exxon's and actually borrows on social media concepts. Instead of simply presenting key messages, the campaign is perceived to genuinely invite dialogue over key issues rather than cramming key messages into visitors' heads. Web visitors raised many controversial questions and Shell did a great job delivering on the promise to answer all questions and something like that definitely gets its messaging out there, shows transparency, and increases favorability - usually the whole point of running such a campaign.

More companies can develop campaigns such as this that borrow on social media concepts if it can do a good job presenting its positions. (Of course it would be great to look at tracking studies on the effects of both campaigns but that data is not available)

Sample Dialogue #1

Q: "I need more specific information on how you treat communities, in particular in Nigeria..,"

A: "In 2006, we awarded 2,600 secondary school and 850 university scholarships, to give a couple of examples. Some 130 university scholarships were awarded to the physically challenged. At any one time a total of 13,000 secondary school students and 2,350 university students in Nigeria are Shell scholars."

Sample Dialogue #2

Q: "The 2006 performance data on Pg 36 [Sustainability Report] shows that Shell's waste has increased by 40% since 2005. What are the reasons for this increase?"

A: "Thanks for raising this point. In fact, the increase is mainly due to the disposal of non-hazardous waste following the destruction wreaked by hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. This sudden rise was caused mainly by the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico...."

See all questions

Comments (0) | Permalink

Digg It | Reddit | De.lic.ious | Facebook

iJournalists Are Coming (Real Ones)

July 9, 2007 | Written by Scott Schneider

Much has been written about the effects of internet technology on the news and the growing phenomenom of citizen journalism. There are books on the subject, sites explaining in great detail what it is, sites dedicated to tracking as many of these initiatives as possible, and even websites about how to introduce citizen journalism into your traditional media outlet. And this writing only compliments the established citizen journalist sites that exist such as Oh My News and Back Fence. And whether you are for the movement or against it, it's is hard to ignore the influence it is having.

Currently many of the major news organizations are trying to integrate citizen journalism components and give their traditional sites this grassroots outlet. Organizations like MSNBC and CNN are creating areas on their site for "citizens" to submit photos and stories. But will this shift truly establish a new form of online news or will news consumers continue to be loyal to the major news outlets and professional journalists that they trust and recognize?

There are two things that point to the latter.

First, with the advent of this new stream of "news" stories, comes a growing national educational movement about what is news and what isn't. The Knight Foundation recently gave a $1.7 M grant to teach undergraduates how to evaluate credibility of news. This is the country's first university level news literacy program and it will help a new generation of news consumers discern what is a legitimate news source and what is not. Just as some people might cringe at the thought of "citizen police" and "citizen doctors" to augment what tradtional police and doctors do (that would basically be "vigilantes" and "back alley doctors"), an educated public might soon not be comfortable with the concept of a "citizen journalist".

The second is that the iPhone came out last week. This might seem like a non-sequitor, but this new class of device is significant. Most citizen journalists today are well motivated and technically savvy (enough to gather images and content and assemble and post stories fairly easily). In many ways they have been more nimble and adept than their professional journalist counterparts. But what the iPhone begins to do is combine journalist functions into a streamlined interface and easy to use device. The days where Lois Lane grabs a notebook and shoves a pencil behind her ear are already long over. But soon she won't even have to bring Jimmy Olsen along. It is a matter of time (and some iterations of the hardware) before traditional reporters will be completely autonomous and set up to get the facts, get the photos (and video), write, send and file their story with a single device.

And when this next generation of traditional journalists are trained and armed with untraditional tools, we will see a gradual shift back to the major news outlets, who will be all the wiser for this citizen journalist movement.

Comments (1) | Permalink

Digg It | Reddit | De.lic.ious | Facebook

CNN and YouTube (Google) Partnership

July 5, 2007 | Written by Yan Shikhvarger

This initiative allows users to submit video questions on YouTube with a chance that the question will be broadcast and asked of the actual candidates during the presidential debates this summer and fall on CNN.

Sometimes these kinds of partnerships really make sense for all parties involved. CNN wants to be more "new media" and interact with their audience; YouTube (Google) is trying its hand at traditional media and benefits from the reach, credibility, and demographics that CNN can offer. YouTube needs to encourage unique "programming" that drives user loyalty versus being a destination for the latest viral video clip, which turns online video into a simple commodity.

Politics is a perfect platform as well. The 2004 Presidential Elections was a time when blogs became mainstream, the recent French presidential election saw massive political organization online, and the current polarization of the political landscape will only add to users being active online for political purposes.

For both YouTube and CNN that means growing a loyal user base and growing their page views.

http://www.youtube.com/debates

Comments (0) | Permalink

Digg It | Reddit | De.lic.ious | Facebook