AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

The Media Oxpecker: In Mobile We Trust?

october 5, 2012 01:30 pm

Every week we round up media news you may have missed while you were busy eating Gannett's lunch.

But is the focus on mobile ads missing the point? Group Commerce CEO Jonty Gelt sees revenue opportunities elsewhere:
Newspapers -- as trusted sources of news and recommendations for local audiences -- have begun to understand how to leverage their unique position at the nexus of digital content and commerce. Rather than simply relying on revenue from an ad unit to send a consumer to another Web site, newspapers have begun to realize that they themselves possess all the necessary resources to own the entire e-commerce transaction.

By operating full-scale e-commerce programs and developing digital relationships with retailers (who are increasingly looking to go direct-to-consumer), newspapers come one step closer to a digital equivalent to a freestanding insert, driving consumers to purchase a retailer's product directly on the newspaper's domain. Here, an old model is made new, with the newspaper digitally serving the classic function of a freestanding insert, but also supporting the click-to-purchase component as well. In short, this isn't just a patchwork model hoping to compensate for the loss of print revenues -- a la online advertising -- this is a superior, more profitable model.
Gordon Borrell says newspaper online ad revenue will grow by 30% next year, with a 0.5% gain on the print side.

One newspaper has stopped counting online pageviews and is instead finding ways to measure its visitors by loyalty and engagement.

ProPublica wants your help assembling a database of television ad buys in swing states.

"The day that we stop caring about how many Tweets per second people Tweet will be the day that Twitter actually matters."

How should one balance the personal and professional in your online presence? Ann Friedman's take:
My friend Samhita made a very compelling case to me a few years ago that there should be little to no distinction between all of these selves online. In real life, she argued, you're serious and funny, high and lowbrow, casual and formal. Don't try to split these things into different compartments, because you start diluting the power of your unique perspective. I took her advice--tentatively, at first--and found that she was right. People responded to my work more. They retweeted and shared it more. And, perhaps best of all, I had more fun. It's hard work compartmentalizing, and it was a relief to stop.
Patch fired an editor in Lamorinda, Calif. for moderating comments without the approval of a supervisor who operates 70 miles away in Sacramento. Hyperlocal!