Feature request: search within context (key word + author)…
In an tweet earlier today I asked: Would you pay $40 per month for your local newspaper… if it included a free iPad? (1 year contract.)
How much would you pay to subscribe to your local newspaper, if the newspaper through in an iPad for free? At $40 per month the 16GB WIFI version would be paid for within a year. The 3G version would cost about $53 for the same 1 year term.
An interesting concept for sure, but would it work? What are the ramifications to consider? Andrew Chavez asks “who pays for the data plan? Good point, if the newspaper paid the data plan they might be able to turn off the 3G signal if the subscriber defaults on payments.
It’s just an idea at this point, curious what other out there might think about the concept.…
Continue reading about Free iPad, with newspaper subscription
As Sean Blanda points out in his blog post, community (small) newspapers maybe left out of coming the e-reader (iPad) revolution. I would like to lead a team of news innovators in creating a iPad strategy for community newspapers.
The following is Sean’s “very, very basic outline” I agree on all but the last point, for the foreseeable future I don’t expect newspapers to incur any costs in this endeavor. That’s right free, as in “free beer.” The way I see it getting publishers to ACT is the hard part, followed by coming up with compelling ideas. The technology is really quite trivial nowadays, so by committing the technical resources, I’m getting off easy.
Step One: Publishers band together based on common interest. For example, local Web sites likely have similar interests in the functionality of their iPad and mobile applications.
Step Two: The publishers come to agreement on a list of common feature sets and what they envision an app looking like.
Step Three:
Each publisher contributes a fraction of the total cost to hire a centralized development team (or just one developer) to maintain and focus exclusively on developing platforms with an emphasis on the Apple SDK.
So what are you waiting for, no time to loose right? Please leave a comment here with your intention to participate or email me at jboydston at gmail. Check back here often, I’ll update this page with additional info as we progress.…
Draft KNC10 application:
TITLE
Reverse Publishing Workflow for WordPress
DESCRIPTION
More than a WordPress plugin, this “wizard” style systems guides the user through the processes of reverse publishing. Web-first has been a motto in the newsroom for years, but few have actually achieved it. This technology will allow the newspaper to use WordPress as their main CMS and publish to the web in real time, providing a simple way to edit, assign and move stories from the web to the print edition.
Step 1, WRITE – Writers or first line editors select stories to be edited, and assign them to the appropriate category.
Step 2, EDIT – Editors make corrections and assign stories a page number.
Step 3, PRODUCTION – Pagination staff monitor this page for copy that is “ready to place.” Content that is ready shows green. Placed content is identified in black, and red signifies that copy has been previously downloaded, but a copy change has occurred. Text/XML can be downloaded by individual story, grouped by page or entire section.
Step 4, WEB – Online editors browse content categories and select specific content to showcase on the home page or section fronts.
NEWS & INFORMATION DELIVERY TO GEOGRAPHIC COMMUNITIES
Enabling a truly WEB FIRST workflow will dramatically improve the timeliness and volume of content news orgs are able to publish.
WHAT IS UNIQUE?
The simple wizard style interface keeps the processed streamlined and simple.…
Perhaps there is a more strategic reason newspapers have not implemented the Everyblock software yet. What exactly would a newspaper implementation of everyblock look like?
⁃ A stand alone site, that the newspaper links to?
⁃ A separate section of the newspaper site?
⁃ Somehow integrated into the CMS providing context?
⁃ Something else entirely?
In order to answer these questions I think it’s important to define the expected outcome. What would be the expected goal if implementing Everyblock on a new website? Here are my top three:
1. Build online “hyper-local” neighborhood resources – Many newspapers lack a true hyper local aspect to their site. The ambition would be to segment news and information down to the neighborhood or even block level. Something most CMS’s don’t do, or newsroom organizations are not equipped to manage. Everyblock could in theory provide a framework for a newsroom with a narrowly focused workflow.
2. Publish public records – Everyblock includes some powerful data tools. From scraping & parsing data to publishing subsets in logical groups. Many smaller news organizations still collect data the old fashioned way. Individual spreadsheets are not uncommon, but completely unuseful in creating data driven web features. Portions of the Everyblock code could be used by newspapers to collect, store, organize and retrieve public data in a highly structured and consistent manner.
3. Content discovery tool – Everyblock.com in it’s now commercial form allows the user to browse it’s data in an interactive way. This process of discovery by the user is missing from newspaper sites. Everyblock could provide newspapers with an alternative to the traditional list of headlines interface.
How would you like to see everyblock used in a newspaper environment?…
Continue reading about Everyblock – how would your newspaper use it?
The code behind Everyblock.com (as of June 09) was released under an open source license, but as of today I’m not aware of a single website using the technology. Newspaper in particular I would expect to have a keen interest in this software, but so far not a single paper has tried it.
What’s the hold up?
The code has been downloaded 859 times as of this writing.
For those who care enough to download, one read through the documentation is probably enough to scare you off. If you actually try installing the system, all but seasoned LINUX geeks will likely balk or fail completely. (out of date dependancies, etc.)
It’s like baking bread from scratch vs using a boxed recipe. The materials required to cook from scratch cost more, you need to be or employ an experienced cook and it takes far longer. Unless newspaper have a budget for this project of even a fraction of Everyblock’s original 1.1 million they can forget about implementing software like this.
… unless … we we simplify the installation procedures and provide tutorials on best practices and example use cases for under funded newspapers.
Have you installed the Everyblock software? Where did you get stuck? Do you have ideas on what we as the open source community can do to make it more useful to the majority of newspapers out there?…
Continue reading about Can newspapers benefit from Everyblock?
Draft KNC10 application:
TITLE
newspaper-subscriptions.org
DESCRIPTION
Newspaper Subscription Network (NSN) allows community newspapers to sell website subscriptions while providing additional value to readers. Value to readers comes by way of access to all local newspaper content from member websites.
Consumers pay to subscribe to the participating newspaper nearest them geographically, included in the subscription fees is access to ALL other newspaper websites in the NSN network.
Subscribers are asked to pay the subscription fee to support their local newspaper, but NOT asked to pay again for each and every news source on the internet.
NEWS & INFORMATION DELIVERY TO GEOGRAPHIC COMMUNITIES
Increase financial sustainability for online newspapers. Provides incentives for competing newspapers to link to each other and collaborate.
WHAT IS UNIQUE?
Unlike commercial paywall solutions NSN would be open source with no proprietary logic or ulterior business motives. Subscriber data can be used to enhance advertising effectiveness, but participation is such activities is optional for each publisher.
In contrast to the current AP model, content will not be syndicated. Only unique content created by the publisher can be secured behind the subscription system. This is intended to act as a dis-incentive to publishers creating little original content and simply aggregating to collect subscription revenue.
…
Draft KNC10 application:
TITLE
Class-APP
DESCRIPTION
iPhone / Droid application providing realtime classified ad submission to newspaper websites.
Users can snap a photo, enter a description, price and tap UPLOAD. Vastly lowers the barrier of entry for classified ad submissions. Can be used for merchandise for sale, autos, real estate and personal ads.
Business version allows businesses to post multiple items and mange their inventory. Creates a virtual marketplace for local merchants on newspaper classified sites.
NEWS & INFORMATION DELIVERY TO GEOGRAPHIC COMMUNITIES
From merchandise for sale to personals, classified ads are content. People interact with each other, creating the 5th estate of media. Class-APP creates a platform that encourages people to submit content and share with others, particularly people they do not even know.
A relationship between the newspaper is created is non traditional readers, potentially elevating civic awareness.
WHAT IS UNIQUE?
Promotes the interaction between young smart phone users with civic media.
Sustainability – Create new revenue streams for newspaper websites, offering the commercial version of the app for classified ad inventory.…
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