2008 Capital Conference Blog

Here's some video of Hillary Clinton speaking yesterday at the NAA/ASNE Luncheon.

Looking for a few extra dollars?

We all are. Jon Kimball, vice president of marketing for NAA, wrapped up Tuesday afternoon's sessions with one focused on helping newspaper companies increase revenue. The ideas run across areas - circulation, online, advertising.

Audit Bureau of Circulation Programs

• The Audit Bureau's Insert Verification Service, which validates the reach of newspaper inserts, enables newspapers to give accurate numbers to advertisers.
• The Preprint Projection Center, where newspapers can project their insert volume going forward in an ABC database, also gives advertisers valuable information about when newspapers think there may be additional distribution days.
• Audience-FAX, a collaborative effort of ABC, NAA and Scarborough Research, shows verified combined reach for newspapers in print and online.

AMCEA
In addition, NAA is working with the Advertising Media credit Executives Association on new initiatives like standard credit applications and other tools that will make newspapers... well... "easier to do business with."

Rapid Easy Buy
The Rapid Easy Buy program is a series of initiatives that make it easy for newspaper advertisers to get standardized information about newspaper advertising purchasing information. SRDS has compiled much of this information, making it easy for regional companies to make purchases across multiple newspapers.

AdScapes
Advertisers can take advantage of the creativity in newspapers and do more than just standard ads through AdScapes, such as Bookends, U-Shape Single Page, Stairsteps and more. More than 200 newspapers participate in these creative ad units.

Although some of the very creative ad formats are controversial, such as watermarks (not part of AdScapes), there's money to be made. "I have as much respect as anyone in America for the quality and credibility of the journalism we produce; I don't think this compromises that," Kimball said, while showing various examples of creative - and sometimes jarring - ad formats.

Sponsorships
Logos on the top of the business sections, sponsored news briefs and ads in section-level print mastheads are a new way to tap revenue through the core product. Even the TV book can start being profitable by selling a sponsorship - a Philadelphia newspaper accomplished this by selling the sponsorship of their TV book to the cable company Comcast.

Online Ideas

• Niche sites (Moms and pets, as the obvious example)
• Localized business guides such as Bakersfield's Inside Guide
• Databases, which can be heavy online traffic generators
• Blogs and social networking elements that make the newspaper site more engaging - and increases page views
• Sponsored widgets, sections and more can translate from print to the Web.

"You learn so much more from failures than from successes."

– A.G. Lafley, chairman of the board and CEO of Proctor & Gamble, talking about some of the challenges the company has faced over the past decade. He and several other CEOs from innovative companies spoke during a session called "Innovation -- Successful Change Happens."

If you didn’t attend the reception at the Newsuem, you truly missed something special.  Located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave. and Sixth Street NW, this museum featured 7 levels of galleries and theaters that blend in 5 centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and exhibits. The Pulitzer photo gallery and the 9/11 exhibits were especially moving. This museum reminded us the power we have and the vital role we play in public service. It is truly inspiring for all journalists.

Catered by Wolfgang Puck, here’s the food roundup:
•    Shrimp, stone crabs, oysters and mussels… Fresh!
•    Sticky rice, dumplings and Lo mein… Chow it down!
•    Short ribs, short bread and BBQ chicken pizza… Yee Haw!
•    Lamp chops, crab cakes and chicken wings… Finger-licking good!
•    Mini-key lime tart, mini beignets and petite molten chocolate cake… Nothing low fat there!
•    Mini fun beverages were served on the elevator… Posh approved!

For more info about newsuem, visit http://www.newseum.org/
 

From chocolate mousses to petite cheesecakes, USA Weekend party was a star-studded event. Ken Paulson and Susan Clark-Johnson are kicking it to the tunes of Johnny Rivers ("Secret Agent Man"). Other sightings around the dance floor included Howard Weaver, Gary Pruitt, Dori Maynard, Gilbert Bailon, Dean Singleton and many of the industries titans. Can't wait to see those videos on youtube ; )

Again, I could blog but why if you can watch. Here are a few clips on YouTube

• Obama on “bitter” comments controversy
• Obama about his childhood
• Obama on John McCain

 For complete Obama’s remarks at the AP annual meeting, go to real clear politics

I could blog about it but wouldn’t it be easier if you can watch it!  By the way, did you know McCain really likes Dunkin Donuts with sprinkles? Here are a few clips on YouTube

• McCain discusses his relationship with the press
• McCain talks about Obama’s remarks
• McCain’s answers a question about shield law

Membership in online communities has more than doubled since 2004, according to the USC Center for the Digital Future. Online community members join and participate in these because it connects them to other people, they get more information from their communities and it engages and interests them.

Four years ago, Dale Peskin, co-director of iFOCOS, spoke at a conference and predicted (like many others had) that social media would come to the forefront of the Web.

"Something here is really going on," Peskin said this afternoon, displaying a headline from just a few weeks ago about AOL's purchase of social networking site Bebo.

But news organizations tend to be very controlling of their information. They lecture, tend to be physical and tend to be distributed - the opposites of the characteristics of social media: conversational, virtual and otherwise two-way, Peskin said.

The paradox, Peskin said, is that 70 percent of people were aware of the importance of journalism, but only 36 percent were satisfied with it (according to a Zogby survey from earlier this year.)

So, why does this growth in social networking really matter for newspapers???

The value for news companies will be in page views, brand loyalty, engagement and community connection.  This value will come from working with communities and content creators to essentially increase the newspaper's digital footprint. How to do this? Here are some ideas from Peskin:

• Tag everything.
• Link OUT (not just to other pages on your own site).
• Blog.
• Distribute content (think RSS feeds).
• Enable (allow your audience to add constructively to the site)

Carroll, who was up next on the panelist roster, gave just a few of Gannett's success stories as that companies rolls out social networking features across the all of its newspaper sites.

Best case: The Fort Myers News-Press in Florida, which did amazing work in online community participation surrounding hurricanes there a few years ago. (Learn more about it in "Citizen Journalism and Newspaper Sites: The Revolution will be Uploaded.")

More examples:

• NKY.com in northern Kentucky, which combines professional reporting with community-contributed content.
• The Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, New York, where the company is being "smarter" about how people are accessing the Web site and making every page engaging for its audience.
• Other Gannett sites, where visitors can post videos, photos and more, comment on stories, create avatars and personalized pages and much more. Aside from page views, newspapers are benefiting by getting story ideas from the community.

David Hallerman wrapped up the session by giving the "reality check."  The reality in the case of newspapers is a combination of good news and bad news (at least it's not all bad...).

Here's the reality: Online ad spending will keep growing at impressive rates. Ad spending in social media will be growing more slowly than it is now. "Just because something is important and just because something gets a lot of traffic, doesn't mean it's always readily monetized," he said.  

The panelists were Dale Peskin, co-director of IFOCOS; Jennifer Carroll, vice president of digital content for Gannett; and David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer. Vikki Porter of the Knight Digital Media Center at the University of Southern California moderated.

On a semi-related note, I want to point to NAA's Online Community Cookbook, which has a ton of advice (a step-by-step guide, really) to how to build, manage and sustain online community on your newspaper Web site.  Head over to www.naa.org/digitaledge/cookbook.

Also, check out the Digital Edge report "Newspapers at Networks: Redesigning Around Social Media," which you can download here.

Maybe it lacks the timeless eloquence of the First Amendment, but the slogan hints at what could be a very good year for efforts to bring awareness of our most fundamental rights into the digital age. During a Monday session, ASNE members unveiled initiatives to bring public documents to the Web and win over a public whose opinions of the First Amendment could be charitably described as “conflicted.”

Through a partnership with the Online News Association, ASNE will work to get more government records digitized and develop tools to make them accessible, said Baltimore Sun Editor Timothy Franklin. Making media sites the gateways to such FOI fodder as restaurant inspections, crime statistics, public school test scores and bridge safety records could help drive online traffic, but “our readers will be the ultimate winners,” Franklin said.

Meanwhile, with polls continuing to show limited public awareness and support for First Amendment and media rights, a host of media organizations, entertainers and legal organizations have joined forces to create the Liberty Tree Initiative. Named after the historic tree in Boston Common where pre-Revolutionary protesters would meet, the initiative is working with the world’s largest PR firm to create a branding campaign to bolster understanding and support for the First Amendment.

“In the marketplace of ideas, sometimes you have to market,” explained USA Today editor Ken Paulson. “The right message planted the right way will grow support all over this land.”