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| NAA mediaXchange is the largest annual gathering of industry executives in North America, offering unprecedented networking opportunities that combine an exchange of information and ideas with programming designed to generate results. The conference is designed to provide valuable ideas and insights to help newspaper professionals grow audience and revenue for their print and digital products. Sessions highlight leading-edge thinking about media strategies, successes in product and revenue development, new ideas and innovation inside and outside the industry, and tactics and techniques to employ in print and digital. |
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April 2010 - Posts
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By Rachel Purdy
GENERAL SESSION -- Today's media landscape is increasingly competitive and constantly changing. Dave Murphy, CEO of Novus Media Inc., said this atmosphere is forcing newspapers to think: "There is always a better way." The customer is becoming a more prevalent factor in adapting to this environment, Murphy said.
Judy Vogel, research director for PHD, identified six qualities the typical consumer exhibits:
- Anxious
- Smart shopping
- Trading down
- Cocooning
- Free fun
- Redefining luxury
Anxiety about debt and finances has created the trend of smart shopping, which includes using coupons and thoroughly researching products. This leads consumers to trade down by shopping at less high-end stores or eating out less at fine dining establishments. More consumers are staying in and focusing on less costly home-oriented activities. Luxury is less about owning products as status symbols; more consumers are searching for meaning in their purchases.
Along with these changes, there are even more ways to connect with customers. The industry needs to restructure its traditional model, said Craig Atkinson, Midwest director of Omnicom Media Group Inc. He suggested replacing it with a new one based on testing approaches that may not be perfect, but are innovative and appealing.
Jeff Minsky, director of emerging media for Outdoor Media Group, predicted several future developments:
- Ultra-fast broadband
- 3-D standard in all televisions
- "TV everywhere" continues to decentralize the video viewing experience
- Geo-location brings a new level of contextual relevance
- New laws to protect privacy
- "Generation IP" - people with no experience of an Internet-free world - will enter the work force in three to five years
The dynamic and challenging nature of media's advertising approach means the newspaper industry will have to adjust to these predictions.
"Embrace the gray, despite it being black and white and read all over," advised Dave Yacullo, president and CEO of Outdoor Media Group.
Rachel Purdy is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Rachel and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Rachel Purdy
Preprints are critical to the success of newspapers, as they comprise nearly half of all retail ad expenditures, said Steve Bernard, vice president of advertising for McClatchy Co. As circulation numbers decline, the franchise's fate is uncertain. Experts joined together in a mediaXchange breakout sessions to discuss the resuscitation of preprints.
Bernard explained how expanding the success of preprints requires newspapers' commitment to these actions:
- Collaboration of media companies
- Listening to the needs of customers and advertisers.
The Four-Media Initiative brought together MediaNews Group Inc., Tribune Co., McClatchy Co. and Gannett Co. to explore new opportunities. New ideas tested by Gannett alone sometimes received lukewarm results, said Colleen Brewer, the company's vice president of sales. After the coalition was formed, outcomes were more successful because the ideas became mainstream, she said.
One of the ideas proving viable is Sunday Select. By delivering preprint advertising direct to targeted ZIP codes important to advertisers, Sunday Select is built with the advertiser in mind, Brewer said. It allows consumers to opt in to an ad package they would normally receive on Sunday. Brewer said that in order to make this option profitable for Gannett, seven pieces of advertising were necessary. The company averages about 25 pieces per market.
Doug Thomas, senior vice president of retail advertising for the Chicago Tribune, said he also valued the importance of knowing the "who" and "where" for preprint customers. Through the company's advertising distribution program, which relies on database analytics, the newspaper determines households with high-value prospects for advertisers. It also matches clients in the advertiser's database with customers in the newspaper's database.
Consumer behavior is the focus on the approach presented by Chris Hendricks, McClatchy's vice president of interactive media. His digitalized preprint solution is an answer to repairing the disconnect between increased online consumer usage and the Internet's fragmented qualities. In this digital marketplace, ads are stripped down to a product level, making it easier for users to search. This is the first time that local and national advertising is mixed within the newspaper industry, Hendricks said.
These standardized platforms align with the hope for collaboration within the industry and answering the demands of consumers and advertisers, Hendricks said. He noted that the preprint franchise should not be about generating revenue, but stabilizing its critical condition.
Rachel Purdy is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Rachel and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Jessica Campbell
Amy Webb, principal consultant for Webbmedia Group, spoke about 2010 technology trends in a Wednesday morning breakout session at mediaXchange. Her presentation looked at what consumers want and how they want it delivered. She noted that the digital media landscape is growing into a largely mobile world.
The journalism approach to reaching consumers is focused on editorials and delayed presentation of news content. Consumers are not interested in delayed information, but they still want the content. They are savvy and expect a more sophisticated approach to receiving information.
"It's not enough to have Twitter on Web sites anymore," Webb said.
Media companies need to consider the six spheres of consumers' social networks - traditional, Web, mobile, tablets, e-readers and connected TV - in order to communicate with them. The new approach to journalism involves using the functionality of mobile applications and advanced technology.
Webb's approach to news and information is to mobilize and monetize emerging media trends. With regard to tablets, for example, newspapers should ask: What is your tablet offering? How will you make your information meaningful to the consumer?
Intuitive advertising with mobile technology is one such emerging trend, Webb said. The old way of advertising, with pop-up and banner ads, induces annoyance and ad avoidance. Nor does ad content always match consumers. The new trend in advertising intersects emotion and interactivity. Consumers engage with ads that incorporate sound clips, video playbacks, games and trivia. For example, a Nike ad might allow consumers to build custom shoes or find local retailers.
Real-time adaptive video streaming enables mobile phones to track where an individual is and present ads for businesses and venues in that location, Webb said. These ads avoid overkill by setting parameters, such as the number of times the ads appear. Thus, consumers won't be bombarded by the brand and become annoyed with it.
Another emerging trend, Webb said, is hyperlocal content. Consumers want to connect with local social networks by ZIP code in a more sophisticated manner than just inputting the numbers on Web sites.
Instead of offering local Web sites, newspapers should target specific niches with the geo-location factor. Webb cited the example of a hyperlocal network about dogs within a particular ZIP code. Consumers participate in distinct local communities on a daily basis: where they live, where they work and where they play. Hyperlocal content should target real-time niches that consumers value at the moment they engage with them.
A third trend, "checking in," monetizes social media platforms. Advertisers can engage with consumers and promote brands in geo-targeted, real-time situations through mobile technology. For example, consumers can add badges to their social media platforms and receive rewards: Buy ice cream at a local business, click on the badge, take a photo of the ice cream and get a free ice cream instantly. There's also the ability to track real-time behavior of consumers by predicting where particular demographics are going to be (venues, businesses, bars), and when.
A fourth emerging trend is that consumers have access to specific, immediate information regarding people, places and things through their mobile phones, Webb said. For instance, do you have trouble remembering peoples' names? Not to worry. Just scan the person's face. Your mobile phone will display the person's name, photos, address and any other information that can be acquired through Facebook or other public sources.
Last but not least, Webb said, is the new age of Google. The search engine's advanced technology draws in users in distinct, interactive and investigative ways. Translate one language into another just by typing it. Fast-flip through Web home pages to find what you want to view. Instead of reading blogs, watch them as movies. It all makes getting information easy, stylish and significant to consumers, providing enriching experiences that will encourage them to use the site again and again: a marketer's dream.
Jessica Campbell is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Jessica and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Jerriann Sullivan
Publishers, journalists and advertisers are all eager to know if it's true: Are newspapers that charge for premium content making a profit? Will they continue requiring subscriptions or join the many media organizations that provide their information on the Internet for free?
The "Premium Content: Is the Strategy Paying Off?" breakout session at the 2010 mediaXchange conference attempted to answer some of these questions.
Greg Swanson from Itz Publishing has studies of 160 newspapers that are charging for access to premium content through their Web sites. Swanson focuses intensely on what he thinks are the top 60 papers. His results are mixed.
Of the newspapers that are charging for premium content, most are making money. Whether they will continue to do so or abandon their efforts is still a mystery. Swanson said that the most interesting aspect of the online premium charges, in the last four to five months, is the creative ways companies are selling content.
Without giving specifics Swanson mentioned a company that only charges people who comment frequently on articles. People who are dedicated enough to comment daily will also pay to do so, he said. Swanson also noted that the popular magazine Consumer Reports charges for their online content because it includes years of archived information.
"The can put so much more information online then they ever could in one issue," said Swanson.
Doug Bennett from Freedom Communications, Inc., the other panel member, explained his company's success stories with charging for online content.
Bennett explained how 33 of his daily papers have been successful at charging for a PDF version of that day's paper. He also gave examples of two of his publications charging for online content. At both publications, one based in the Southwest and one based in the Midwest, Freedom charged to see everything but obituaries, classifieds and ads.
Although both papers were producing a profit from subscriptions, the Southwest paper lost almost all of its Web traffic.
"Our Southwest paper became an irrelevant site because there were so many competitors in their area," said Bennett.
The Southwest paper stopped charging for subscriptions as soon as possible to gain back audience.
"Our job as content creators is to grow our audiences," said Bennett.
The Midwest paper is still charging for premium online content, however. It is competing in a less competitive market and producing a profit while keeping the audience intact.
The presenters shared stories as diverse as the publications they represent, leaving the conversation regarding premium content open and ongoing.
Jerriann Sullivan is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Jerriann and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Rachel Purdy
The basic tenet of newspaper advertising remains the same for mobile marketing, panelists said during a breakout session geared toward strategies for mobile advertising.
Local media is still the 800-pound gorilla, says Tim Repsher of Media General Inc.
Smartphones allow advertisers to pinpoint where people are and what they are doing. This makes local advertising increasingly more effective in the mobile sphere, Repsher said.
Mobile advertising is still in its infancy, he said, but its appeal is unique and advertisers want to reap the benefits as it grows.
Research shows that 40 percent of phone interaction is not spent talking or text messaging, but with applications, averaging about 55 minutes per day.
David Buckley of The Associated Press named three successful ways to monetize this frequent application use: rich media banner ads, full-page ads and video ads.
Banner ads have become a familiar staple of the mobile world. But in order to be most effective, Buckley said, banner ads should take users to a specific landing, not just advertisers' home pages. One example he mentioned was redirecting users to the directions to an advertiser's nearest store.
Full-page ads are successful at providing click-through interaction to a Web site. But Buckley said he is betting on video ads to lead to more lucrative mobile advertising. Video content is desirable for its broad appeal and its viral potential, he added.
Andy Lobred of Media General Inc. highlighted two categories where mobile marketing has been particularly successful: events and restaurants.
Event advertising is designed to provide awareness for a short period of time, but it casts a wide net over consumers, Lobred said. It can be used to promote ticket sales as well as general inquiries.
Restaurants are increasingly using an integrated approach to target consumers through mobile coupons and e-mail subscription services to drive awareness to Web sites.
Although there are more than 185,000 applications on the iPhone alone, "the iPhone is not a mobile strategy," Lobred noted.
All three presenters agreed that using mobile advertising is complicated and expensive.
Open conversations are necessary to provide advertisers with realistic expectations and ideal solutions, Repsher said.
Rachel Purdy is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Rachel and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Jerriann Sullivan
GENERAL SESSION -- Kodak's Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Hayzlett came to the 2010 mediaXchange conference to share his success stories with the people he trusts on the Internet -- journalists.
"Who else to trust in this medium than you? At least I'm going to trust newspapers," said Hayzlett.
The general session was so popular that attendees chatted for 30 minutes about Hayzlett's high-energy presentation while standing in line to receive a copy of his book "The Mirror Test."
Hayzlett started the show with the popular viral video "Winds of Change." In the video, Kodak talks about how it is going to take over the digital world with its new products.
"People are going to have their Kodak moments again. You were a Kodak moment once and by God you'll be one again, only this time it's digital," the Kodak spokesperson screamed at the end of the video.
From start to finish, the session was exciting.
Hayzlett pushed publishers to redefine themselves during the digital transition.
"My chief responsibility is to cause tension, which should be the job of most leaders," said Hayzlett. "Tension causes healthy debate which causes new, creative ideas."
Hayzlett used his tension-creating theory to transform Kodak's brand and make it known for innovative digital technology.
"A brand is just a promise delivered," said Hayzlett, as he urged newspaper publishers to transform their brands to compete and succeed in the digital world.
He said publishers need to start thinking about who they are as a company and who they want to be in the future.
"We wanted to be a cool company so we needed to make cool products," said Hayzlett.
He told the audience a story about the latest inkjet printer Kodak developed -- the fastest, highest-quality inkjet printer in the world.
"It looked like a big, grey box," Hayzlett said. "I told the engineers it should look like a Maserati...that thing needs to look really cool, especially if we are charging them $4 million dollars for it."
Hayzlett explained that the grey box story was about setting standards and urged publishers to do the same.
"It's about setting a standard and telling everyone this is where we are going," said Hayzlett.
He noted that newspapers need to shake things up, get their staff motivated and excited about their company. That they need to become who they want to hire and lead by example.
Hayzlett also encouraged newspapers to adopt Kodak's social media strategy, the four E's. He said while some papers do it now, most are missing what is necessary in social media -- engage, educate, excite and evangelize.
"Newspapers need to interact with their readers," Hayzlett said. "You have more content than everyone in the world, you should be dominating this and I guarantee that this will lead to sales."
Jerriann Sullivan is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Jerriann and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By William Perry
The newspaper is all about value, both to the customer and to the company providing it.
Randy Hill of The Modellers opened by saying the newspaper is "all about value for the money. If value isn't there, the customers won't stick around."
That kicked things off for Mark Medici of The Dallas Morning News and Philip Pikelny of The Columbus Dispatch. Both said they have long believed the newspaper industry has undervalued its product.
Medici highlighted four ways that newspapers can find the value:
1. Think critically about the business and be honest.
2. Right-size the audience you want to monetize with cost-saving methods such as EZPay.
3. Answer the quality vs. quantity question. How do you provide both?
4. Research, test and use data to determine direction.
In order to protect the legacy of The Dallas Morning News, Medici said the newspaper decided to increase pricing. The revenue generated help to facilitate the audience's move from print to digital, a transition Medici said was inevitable.
Although the newspaper realized that circulation would drop, Medici said the model allowed the company to post year-over-year, double-digit growth in both circulation revenue and contribution margin for the third straight year.
Medici offered six tips for making decisions when raising prices:
1. Build an 18-month forecast and pay close attention.
2. Be as prepared as you can be in customer service.
3. Tell subscribers why you increased prices and be straightforward.
4. Hold the line internally and externally.
5. Be prepared for the roller coaster. Mistakes will be made, but you can recover,
6. Price again immediately.
The Columbus Dispatch used similar methods to bump up its revenue, Pikelny said, moving from 5- and 10-cent increases to full dollar amounts. With the "aggressive pricing" model, the newspaper was able to generate the revenue it needed while limiting circulation loss.
Pikelny closed by noting the importance of thanking customers, from offering free short-term service, contests and giveaways to sending simple thank-you e-mails. All of these methods have helped to generate positive interaction with The Columbus Dispatch's audience, he said.
William Perry is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about William and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Ashley Carnifax
James Dunn from The New York Times, Sean Reily from the Los Angeles Times, Blake Pollard from LibreDigital and Gil Fuchsberg from Skiff discussed the positives and negatives of e-technology.
Reily said that unlike Web sites, e-readers contain content managed by a store owned by the device developer, similar to the way iTunes controls content for the iPod.
Dunn said that there are mixed feelings about this shift in content control. Losing control, even in a minor way, is always a concern, he said. But citing a positive aspect of the Kindle, he noted that Amazon.com also takes care of customer support and managing subscriptions. That eliminates some of the work for content providers.
Fuchsberg said one benefit of e-readers is they don't come with the distractions associated with reading on the Web. Users can simply sit down and read without clicking on links or checking e-mail, he said.
Pollard agreed, saying that e-reader users often want an experience similar to reading an actual print product without the hassle of carrying around a bunch of paper. Users want to "escape into the reading process," he said.
Reily said one of the struggles with adapting newspapers for use on e-readers is that with all of the major national publications available, there is a lot of competition for readership. He suggested specializing in something such as arts and entertainment.
The iPad came up several times. Panelists agreed that it shouldn't force e-readers out of the market, although those behind these products will need to react in some way.
Dunn said that there is always a need for something that does one thing really well, and e-readers are a perfect example. For example, he noted that while all-in-one printers exist, people still buy basic ones.
Panelists pointed out that cost will be an important factor in keeping e-readers competitive with the iPad.
Fuchsberg said he expects to see e-readers enabled with Wi-Fi for as little as $99 by this holiday season.
Panelists seemed to agree that the most important thing to do is to keep an eye on statistics and trends, continuously evaluating what is best for your individual publication in terms of which e-readers to use and what kind of content to provide.
Ashley Carnifax is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Ashley and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Jerriann Sullivan
With more than 100 exhibitors featured at mediaXchange, there are plenty of new services and products to see and evaluate. Here's an overview of three and what they have to offer.
StyleSpot
Booth 712
StyleSpot is every fashionista's dream come true. It is a Web site that uploads about 200 posts of celebrity styles each month. The cute fits aren't why this site stands out, though.
When you visit the site, you see celebrities and their looks with links to where you can purchase the exact pieces. Under that tier is the StyleSpot look, a similar style to ones sported by Nicole Richie or Lauren Conrad but from different designers. Celebrities often wear clothing and accessories not available to the general public yet. StyleSpot provides links to places where similar pieces are already in stock.
Clothes and accessories come with all types of price tags and sometimes the most popular pair of shoes on the red carpet would end up costing two months' rent. To help provide visitors with all possible options, StyleSpot features a budget look that mimics celebrity styles at more affordable prices.
Founders and CEOs Rafi Gordon and Alex Amin started StyleSpot after watching their wives flip through fashion magazines. They noticed that while the magazines supplied photos of the latest celebrity styles, they didn't make it easy for readers to purchase them immediately.
"Now it [the perfect fit] is just a click away," Gordon said.
Gordon and Amin came to the 2010 mediaXchange conference to connect with publishers and other key industry players. They currently provide content for six clients, including Hollywood.com, and aim to secure deals with three or four more this month.
StyleSpot costs clients nothing and provides a chance for additional revenue, too. The company has partnered with several retail establishments to receive commissions from products purchased online within 30 days of the first visit from StyleSpot. Amin and Gordon said they will pass some of that profit on to clients as well.
StyleSpot's main goal, though, is to provide newspapers with premium content.
"Historically, newspapers are at the center for style," said Gordon. "And StyleSpot is a great opportunity for newspaper publishers to come back to that world with a revenue model."
TownNews.com
Booth 611
Roger Lee and his team from TownNews.com are attending the 2010 mediaXchange conference for one reason: to help newspapers thrive in an online world.
It is no secret that newspapers have been struggling to adapt to the digital arena. TownNews.com, which hosts approximately 15,000 Web sites, has been building its content management system to make that transition just a little bit easier.
"Journalists have to know how to do everything nowadays – write a story, take a photo, design the printed page, be in front of the camera and upload the content," Lee said.
With that in mind, TownNews.com has developed a multitasking tool called BLOX Total CMS. Called BLOX for short, it eliminates the need for the traditional two-system (print and online) production process. Newspapers using BLOX system can flow their online content into InDesign templates.
In addition to the InDesign component, BLOX allows newspapers to rearrange or redesign sites with minimum effort. The program puts content into separate blocks that can be moved around to change the overall look.
PixPalace
Booth 923
Subscriptions to traditional wire photo services come with heavy price tags. PixPalace is helping companies that are looking to cut back on costs without sacrificing content, said Kelli Grant, the company’s U.S. director.
PixPalace partners with more than 80 global image agencies who provide photos for customers to pick and choose from for publication. Companies pay for only the photographs they use instead of the right to use thousands of images they'll never touch.
More than 6,000 new images are uploaded daily. The range of subject categories includes fine art, food, sports and history.
PixPalace features a database of more than 80 photo agencies, which gives clients access to archived photos. Clients submit request forms to one or all of the agencies, paying only for the images purchased. The system makes looking for older images less time-consuming, a plus in the converging world of journalism where every minute counts.
Jerriann Sullivan is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Jerriann and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By William Perry
The decline of the newspaper industry has forced newspaper companies to find fresh, new ways of approaching the business, but the transformation of the industry is something James C. Currow of Morris Publishing Group said he believes is long overdue.
Currow said newspapers have had it too good for too long and newspaper companies have "just skimmed the cream off the top." He emphasized that now is the time to do things he believes the industry should have been doing all along.
Moroney highlighted three important points for the future:
1. A huge opportunity lies in mobile media.
2. It is important to keep up with ever-expanding digital as well.
3. It is imperative to find out what content which customers want and on which devices they want it.
The downturn of the industry forced The E.W. Scripps Co. to take radical action. Mark Contreras, senior vice president/newspapers and new NAA chairman, said that the "very thing impeding the newspaper industry from transforming itself were the very people running it."
With revenues declining sharply, Contreras stressed the importance of taking the complexity out of the business and making things simpler.
Going forward, Scripps is looking to create sustainable business while maintaining journalistic integrity and doing things more efficiently, a sentiment Currow and James Moroney III, publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News, also shared.
Because consumers consume news in segments, Moroney said he believes newspapers need to organize their businesses to adapt accordingly.
Currow said he sees the transformation as a way to provide a wider range of services for a wider range of customers, while strengthening the core of the business, including making smarter decisions with hiring, training and development.
And while all three acknowledged that while transformation is necessary, they realize it is a work in progress.
William Perry is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about William and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Ashley Carnifax
Facebook and Twitter were the focus of this Tuesday morning session.
Ian Schafer from Deep Focus, an interactive marketing company, spoke about the importance of being part of the conversations started on these social networks.
He said news organizations are in the conversation-starting business and need to adapt to the changing definition of news. Three things that define news, he added, are that it is portable, personalized and participatory.
Schafer focused on four main factors of social media in his presentation: real-time intelligence, real-time conversations, rethinking the ad and location.
The ability to gain real-time intelligence allows media companies to access information regarding current conversations on social networks to determine what interests users. Twitter's "Trending Topics" feature is one example of an easy way to keep track of this.
As the source of reliable, credible information, media companies often have their content retweeted or shared on Facebook. The key to capitalizing on this, Schafer said, is to be sure to bring these conversations back home.
Facebook and Twitter conversations are hard to maintain because they do not have the same threaded-reply feature that message boards do. However, most commenting sections on news sites incorporate this feature. Bringing users back to a site allows newspapers to increase ad impressions and to help users continue conversations in a more productive way.
In terms of advertising, Schafer said that utilizing these social networks increases click-through rates dramatically.
As an example, he showed a chart of social networks and click-through rates. An average display ad on a site has a rate of 0.19 percent, compared to a 40.1 percent rate on Twitter and a 24.6 percent rate on Facebook. Being able to take advantage of these opportunities is vital.
Schafer said he expects the use of fan pages on Facebook to shift more to companies and products trying to get users to click the "like" button on their products. When users click "like," messages appear on their friends' news feeds, which promotes the products more effectively than just becoming a fan would.
Schafer said that his company used the Facebook game "Farmville" as a means of promoting advertisers. More than 80 million people play Farmville, in which users purchase "Farm Cash" to buy items within the game. Schafer said Deep Focus offered free farm cash to users who became a fan of Bing on Facebook. Within 24 hours, Bing gained 400,000 new fans.
Tim Condon from The Washington Post and Jay Horton from the News Sentinel in Knoxville, Tenn., also shared success stories of how their newspapers have used Facebook and Twitter to their advantage.
All three speakers emphasized the fact that these social networks provide an invaluable and mostly untapped opportunity to make money in this economy.
Ashley Carnifax is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Ashley and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Ashley Carnifax and Jeffrey Riley
GENERAL SESSION -- Great minds met and discussed innovation, the key concept of the afternoon general session for the first day of mediaXchange.
The Detroit Media Partnership was a topic of discussion for Susie Elwood, the organization's CEO.
The partnership is responsible for managing the business side of both The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, as well as digital and direct marketing for the newspapers.
Elwood discussed the changes the partnership has gone through and the process taken to make it all happen.
She said that the changes - including decreasing the number of weekly home delivery days for each of the publications - show that the core of what newspapers were founded upon is still alive and well, but not quite the same.
The company has supplemented print products with e-editions, mobile updates and e-reader-compatible papers.
Michael Maness, vice president of design and innovation for Gannett Co., talked about the changes that can come about through paying attention to the wants of readers - the consumers of the product.
The key to the proper implementation of new ideas once they are created is knowing the society in which the ideas exist, Maness said.
The data based on the Detroit readership area that Maness examined showed that people ages 25 to 40 are interested in the places where they shop and the culture that creates, not the civics aspect common to many news stories.
Maness also pointed out that people were discouraged by the current state of news. The news focuses too much on fear within content and the credentials of reporters and not enough on solid visual design.
He noted that the days of "pure objectivity" are over. Subjectivity is the key. That way, readers can see there is a heart and soul behind the product giving them the news, he said.
On the topic of innovation, Maness said some people exhibit "cognitive closure," in that they make a decision and stick with it without considering other options. They "seize and freeze." People who think like this flock mostly to jobs with tight deadlines, he said.
While these people are needed to get the product done on time, they are not always the best for being free-spirited enough to create ideas and see through their implementation. Maness said that a flat organization, or one with a lack of hierarchy, is one that can better produce fresh ideas.
Ashley Carnifax and Jeffrey Riley are students at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Ashley, Jeffrey and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Bianca Fortis
Michael Smith, executive director of the Media Management Center (MMC) at Northwestern University, doesn't advocate changing news Web sites to attract younger readers. Instead, he thinks news organizations should create new home pages altogether.
Smith said the typical news site caters to "news junkies" who have a deep understanding of the news. These sites don't appeal to teens and tweens, who find them too overwhelming and confusing.
What teens really want, he said, is a way to keep up, as well as more help with understanding the news and more help getting interested in news.
The goal is to develop a prototype that is a condensed version of the daily newspaper, he added.
In "Teens Know What They Want From Online News: Do You," a 2009 study from the NAA Foundation and MMC, researchers found that the news site youths liked most was one that provided story summaries, background and explanation and was not too cluttered.
Smith suggested creating a second home page targeted toward both youths and adult casual readers. He said this home page can be used to engage these readers and encourage them to migrate to the main site.
Jeanne Fox-Alston, vice president of the NAA Foundation, said young people spend as much time consuming media as their parents spend working: an average of 7 hours, 38 minutes each day.
"We at the Foundation really want to see this demographic be informed and be engaged in news," she said.
Newspapers can engage young people, Fox-Alston said, by providing ways for them to get information about things to do. In addition, newspapers can develop Twitter alerts that might appeal to youth and create a connection between social networks and news Web sites through Facebook Connect or another Open ID platform.
Dr. Aralynn McMane of the World Association of Newspapers stressed reaching out to parents and teachers because they are key influencers in the way youths use media.
McMane shared examples of how newspapers around the world have engaged youths, such as hosting contests related to the environment and sustainability. She said newspapers should strive to give young people hope for the future.
Bianca Fortis is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Bianca and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Kelly Allen
With more than 100 exhibitors featured at mediaXchange, there are plenty of new services and products to see and evaluate. Here's an overview of five and what they have to offer.
KidsLinked.com
Booth 901
Newspapers can turn their Web sites into networking, organizing and researching hubs for local parents without changing things one bit.
KidsLinked.com is a resource for parents framed within an existing Web site. Without ever leaving the site, users sign up and access tools such as a family calendar, where they track and plan birthday parties and other events. They can get reminder e-mails about upcoming activities or even share events with contacts in the community. The coaches' tool lets coaches and parents sign up so that kids' sports information is always on hand.
Incorporating this service into a Web site keeps parents coming back, said Greg Yoakam, KidsLinked.com's chief executive officer. And while they may return to check the time for Jimmy's birthday party, that's not the only content they're seeing.
"They have a reason to come back, and then they're getting exposed to the newspaper's content," he said. "We're able to retain the community as well as contain it and make sure the newspaper gets its message out. We're within their Web site, so we really support their brand."
Scarborough Research
Booth 629
Before advertisers spend money, they want to know that readers seeing their ads are the kind of readers who will buy their products. Scarborough Research can provide data on anything from what types of coupons newspaper readers use to which leisure activities they enjoy. Scarborough surveys local markets in sample sizes ranging from 2,000 to 11,000, then creates databases of information for media outlets to present to advertisers.
"The advertisers actually want that," said Mitch McKinnon, account director. "They want to know how they're doing, not only from the perspective of the reader, but also how they're doing against their competition."
For example, McKinnon said that before advertising in the Orlando Sentinel, Publix could find out how many readers typically shop at its grocery stores and how much they spend each week. "They use it to justify their advertising expenses," he said.
Scarborough's databases may prove useful beyond advertising - surveys show whether people read weekly or daily newspapers, how often they pick up an issue, which newspaper Web sites they visit and which sections they read. How popular are those editorial columns, really? Does anyone read the local news section? You can find out.
AdPay Inc.
Booth 604
It's best to bundle to keep classifieds sections relevant and profitable, says Deborah Dreyfuss-Tuchman of AdPay Inc.
AdPay gives customers the ability to develop one ad for both print and online. A self-service option lets customers create their ads online if they want to do so.
In July, AdPay is going mobile. The company is partnering with WeatherCentral to create the first mobile application to integrate local news, sports, real-time, street-level weather and classifieds in one resource.
"The mobile application has a social aspect to it and allows for user-generated content," Dreyfuss-Tuchman said. "If someone snaps a picture or sees breaking news happen, you can allow, through the Web application, a user upload."
The mobile application offers the ultimate bundle: Not only can users create classified ads that will run in print and also will post online, but they also can share their ads on up to 25 social networks.
"We're encouraging our partners to really look at online as a value. ... There is so much richness going on," Dreyfuss-Tuchman said.
Tracktor Media Inc.
Booth 618
You don't have to have a video crew traveling the globe to offer timely coverage of global news. In fact, you don't even have to search the Internet for it.
Tracktor provides video content that can be uploaded to a Web site automatically. Users can see video and then choose to read the story from CNN or The Associated Press, among others - all without leaving the site. Vice President Eric Giguere said it merely requires enabling a frame on the site where Tracktor can input the video.
"It actually simplifies everything because everything is automated on our side," he said. "We do all the work in the background and we provide all the content."
Giguere said video is a Web site's most important multimedia component. "Video is the fastest-growing product on the Web right now," he said. "It is forecast that 67 percent of the online ad budget is going to go toward video over the next five years."
As for local content, this type of instant video coverage might take longer to develop. "Right now we're really focusing on world news," he said. "[Local] is going to come at a later phase."
ICUC Moderation Services Inc.
Booth 706
One of the ways newspaper Web sites first incorporated user interaction with stories was through comment sections. A new forum for thought and debate was opened - unfortunately, a forum that sometimes attracts bickering and name-calling.
ICUC Moderation Services Inc. works with clients to develop guidelines on what is and is not acceptable for their Web sites, then reads every comment on the sites to check for dialogue that abuses those guidelines. Some newspaper staffs are able to moderate comments themselves, but need a moderator on nights or weekends. ICUC fills in the gaps or works 24 hours a day to keep offensive material off the sites.
Chuck Dueck, director of client services, noted that many newspapers say they cannot afford to pay someone to moderate comments, or that they can do the moderating themselves. In the first case, Dueck said they can't afford not to do it. In the second, he added, they often are not doing a good job of moderating.
"If a journalist is moderating their own story, they can take offense to something that's written that really isn't against the guidelines, but they'll block it," Dueck said. "People scream censorship for deleting for opinion."
Moderators from ICUC are trained to moderate only according to the pre-set guidelines, not based on their own biases or personal tastes. "We don't have a vested interest in the story like the journalist does," Dueck said. "I moderate to the guidelines, not to my opinion."
More from the Exhibit Floor as NAA mediaXchange 2010 continues ...
Kelly Allen is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Kelly and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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By Bianca Fortis
GENERAL SESSION -- When Grady Burnett joined Facebook in 2009, the Web site had 150 million users. Burnett, director of Global Online Sales and Operations for Facebook, said the site now has 400 million users, many of whom visit daily.
In "How Social Media Has Transformed the Media Landscape," Burnett shared shared three key tips: Social change is everything. The world's gone social. You can be social too. Burnett described how the gap between technology and media has been bridged. He shared the story of two young girls in Australia who were trapped in a storm drain -- instead of calling police from their mobile phones, they sought help by updating their Facebook statuses. He added that Facebook can be used to give people the power to share and to make the world more open and connected wherever they are.
"Facebook is very much about creating a platform where that can happen," Burnett said.
Burnett described three key ways in which newspapers could leverage Facebook. First, users can share online articles by copying and pasting URLs into Facebook or using Facebook share buttons that many news sites have enabled.
"I'll see the link on my news feed and comment on my friend's link," Burnett said. "Then I might go to the news site and comment there as well."
Second, Web sites can share user login credentials with Facebook. Burnett said users often miss opportunities to receive content if they cant remember their login information for a Web site. If news sites allow users to login via their Facebook username and password, they are more likely to log on.
Finally, Burnett said there are three primary filters by which most people receive information: editorial, popularity and personal. Most news organizations feature editorial and popularity filters on the front page of their Web sites. However, including a personal filter would create a unique experience for more users. Burnett said that when the Huffington Post enabled Facebook Connect, Facebook referalls to the Huffington Post site increased 500 percent, comments increased by 50 percent and user growth increased 50 percent. Ultimately, newspapers can use Facebook to improve monetization by driving more traffic and having more relatable content.
Bianca Fortis is a student at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Find out more about Bianca and the other students reporting live from NAA mediaXchange here.
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