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In an article for the fall edition of Nieman Reports, ‘Let’s Talk: Journalism and Social Media’, RJI Fellow Michael Skoler questions the notion that the Internet is to blame for journalism’s lost business model. He asserts that journalism began losing its value when it started to become less relevant a few decades ago. The connection journalists had to their communities diminished once news conglomerates took over local papers and stations and cut on-the-ground reporters.
Skoler believes discussions about saving the future of journalism should not be about finding a new business model - the focus should be on how to make news more valuable. After all, people only pay for what has obvious value to them - as Skoler puts it - “every good business plan starts by explaining how it creates value for the customer.”
The Economist and The Week
are two of today’s more successful media outlets. The value these magazines offer is not only in the smart analysis of everything they consider worth knowing – but also in the smart packaging. Smart analysis and smart packaging overlap very closely with Newsy’s vision and goals.
Newsy offers value to consumers by providing analysis on a variety of sources and perspectives in short video clips - we blend context with convenience.
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Yesterday, Slate unveiled
The Slatest, a thrice-daily recap of a day’s news cycles. The new site is replacing Slate’s ‘Today’s Papers’, a once-a-day summary of national news that was one of the Web’s first aggregators.
The Slatest joins a group of other web aggregators including
Newser,
The Daily Beast and
The Stimulist. These sites claim to filter and curate the news - promising the reader that they will only consume the most important news nuggets during their busy day.
Each web aggregator describes their value proposition a bit differently. The Slatest’s describes itself as ‘The most important news and commentary to read right now,’ The Daily Beast offers ‘Curated news aggregation,’ Newser invites viewers to ‘Read less, know more,’ and The Stimulist offers ‘A daily brief for the (curious) optimist.’
None of these sites analyzes a variety of video and text reports and point out the key differences in reporting. And all of these sites are text based - not offering online video, which is increasingly what Web viewers are looking for. Only Newsy.com analyzes the news, it doesn’t just aggregate it.
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In The Atlantic Monthly, Michael Hirschorn wrote an interesting piece about The Economist download star trek dvd magazine.
Here’s the money quote:
“True, The Economist
virtually never gets scoops, and the information it does provide is available elsewhere … if you care to spend 20 hours Googling. But now that information is infinitely replicable and pervasive, original reporting will never again receive its due. The real value of The Economist lies in its smart analysis of everything it deems worth knowing - and smart packaging, which may be the last truly unique attribute in the digital age.”
While I am not sure I agree with Hirschorn on the original reporting front, I absolutely concur that “smart analysis of everything it deems worth knowing – and smart packaging” is enormously valuable and that overlaps very closely with our vision and goals here at Newsy.
Read the full article here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/news-magazines
Enjoy.
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Two of the sworn enemies of the media business agree on one thing: there is too much news. To even try to consume it, news needs to be “sifted,” “sorted,” “filtered” and “curated.”
Both Tina Brown and Michael Wolff use these buzzwords when they describe their news startups, The Daily Beast and Newser.com, respectively. Wolff says that the real value in a world of infinite information is sorting and filtering and Brown described her venture as curated content, typified by the interpretive scoop.
In this recent post on AlwaysOn, http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/31308 , Magnify.net’s Steve Rosenbaum quotes Wolff as saying that “There is no killer mass market news brand. No network news replacement. No trusted online paper. Nobody has yet to unlock the two key elements of general interest news — an efficient and entertaining experience — and combine them with all the new functionality of digital delivery.”
Newsy.com meets this description perfectly. Stay tuned for a new site design in the coming weeks – it’s based on our users’ feedback.
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As traffic continues to build to Newsy.com, it’s eye opening to see which stories are the most viewed on our site. Last week’s video ‘U.S. Stimulus: Legitimate Differences’ struck a chord with viewers - clearly news about economic recovery is on the minds of many.
It’s a challenge to feel well informed on issues, especially partisan issues, from watching only one news source. After all, the Gallup annual Governance poll found that less than 50% of Americans have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the mass media. And nearly half of Americans — including over 75% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats — perceive the media as biased.
The Newsy format is perfect for a story about partisan politics. in less than 3 minutes, you understand how media outlets from around the country and world are covering the story - so you can make your decision.
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According to eMarketer, ‘news/current events’ remains the number one type of online video content that US online video viewers watch monthly or more frequently. That’s good news for Newsy and another proof point that we are in the right space at the right time.
This morning’s video is about how Obama might need to cash in on his personality to tackle the country’s many challenges. A complicated topic requires multiple opinions — Newsy delivers with a wide spectrum of sources. In less than three minutes, you understand all sides of an issue - so you can form your own opinion.
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In the spirit of new beginnings, as of today, Newsy.com will be regularly updated to provide you with the latest multiperspective news.
Coverage of Obama’s inauguration dominates every media outlets worldwide. It’s a daunting task to try to understand how this historic event is covered around the world – Newsy.com is up to the task and hopes you will visit our site daily to keep yourself better informed in this increasingly networked and interconnected world. Also, please visit our sources to see how the world, not just one nation, is covering the major events of the day.
The future of journalism is delivering context conveniently so that you can form your own opinion.
