Content segments provide clues to emerging value propositions of news for democracies

I read with great interest today the recent Economist article “The rebirth of news: the internet is killing newspapers and giving birth to a new sort of news business.” The article regurgitates what many of us in the newsmedia business know:

The rich world's newspaper industry is being re-engineered by the internet and made worse today by the advertising downturn.

Technological change is destroying yesterday's products such as the Walkman, but the news isn't just another product.

Newsmedia companies are bearing the costs of two models: a print model that is declining and an online model that isn't growing fast enough.

Technology options such as the Kindle and iPhone open new avenues to viewership and, potentially, revenue.

Online news delivery opens up new definitions of what “news” is.

The internet is unraveling the print bundle as feature experiences such as breaking news, share prices, and weather are better in an online ...[more]

Reflections on the INMA World Congress: sick feeling we’re running on 3 tracks

Reflecting on last week's INMA World Congress, I can't help but realise that we're in an industry running on three tracks:

Running a newspaper: The first track involves running the day-to-day operations of a print newspaper with a small effort to extend the brand to multiple media.

Transforming your company for today's world: The second track involves a lot of transformational energy to catch our properties and our industry up to the digital revolution to date. This track is in overdrive at the moment because most newspapers are horribly behind the curve and realise they can cut through inertia in a recession.

Preparing for revolutions ahead: The third track is barely a blip on the radar: carving out the time and budget to prepare for 2011 and beyond.

The majority of our industry remains in the first track. Much of the Miami conference was about the second track, how to get there, how to marshal the ...[more]

Welcome to the new INMA.org!

In recent weeks, I've talked with friends throughout the newspaper industry about the pending re-launch of INMA.org. They all give me the same knowing smile and the same knowing glance when I tell them “it's almost ready to launch.”

I better understand those knowing looks.

The fact is, web site re-engineering projects are never done. They all take too much time.

The new INMA.org gets you to answers quickly and connects you with people better than any other site in the media industry. Its seeming simplicity masks an incredibly intricate series of Web 2.0 features that we hope will add value for members and our industry.

This re-launched venture is the product of a fascinating team of professionals:

First, the INMA Board of Directors. Without their explicit leadership, suggestion, guidance, and support we might not have gone down this road.

Drawbackwards of Phoenix which did the strategic design and implementation.

Avacata of ...[more]