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December 18, 2009
Washington Post
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1) Crowd-sourcing can be a very smart strategy for newspapers. He cited the example of the Guardian, which when confronted by the release of thousands of pages of documents from the UK government on expenses incurred by MPs, offered the public the chance to assist in evaluation, leading to significant new investigative stories (http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/06/four-crowdsourcing-lessons-from-the-guardians-spectacular-expenses-scandal-experiment.) "There are so many passionate experts in the government policy arena who can also help our readers to understand issues. We should give them a venue to discuss policy even as we provide deep factual backdrop for stories in our on-line edition."
2) In print, the Post is a local newspaper in that it primarily serves DC and about 8 counties in Maryland and Virginia, though its content is inherently global and national. Bureaus in three US cities have been closed recently; reporters will continue to cover significant breaking stories nationally. There is no longer an artificial separation of the print and on-line reporting or editing staffs.
3) A key online challenge for the Post, as for all newspapers, is to monetize content. Will readers pay more for immediacy, for topical discussion roundtables online, for a higher level of analysis? In addition to the website, other delivery vehicles, whether the Kindle or Nook or other electronic platforms such as iPhone will all be key to news as you want it when you want it.
4) It is necessary for the Post journalists to have a more personal connection with readers. This explains the inclusion of photos of columnists and emails of reporters as part of the paper's recent redesign. There are still many opportunities for short form topical video, with more reporters making a more 360 degree view of a story.
5) As with all newspapers, Post's advertising revenue in traditional categories of retail, jobs, financial services and autos has fallen. The Post is still garnering robust policy and brand advertising, both in print and online, from industries seeking to reach and influence Washington decision-makers.
Narisetti, who reports to Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli, sets an ambitious agenda for the paper in online and print, to have a national/global impact from a local footprint. I love his vision of tapping into the global expertise of the crowd in order to enrich the discussion around certain issues.
Posted by Edelman at December 18, 2009 11:31 AM |
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Comments
As a DC area native, now living in New Jersey, and a life long reader of the Post I think they still have it wrong, as do all newspapers: they continue to write for the print edition and "experiment" with the online edition. If newspapers are to break through, they need to start writing and releasing stories for the web, and then digest them in print. A good picture of this can be seen in the coverage of the Washington Capitals, the town's hockey team. The beat writer does a wonderful job blogging, with video even, and tweeting as well, but the emphasis and deference still seems to be put on cranking out columns for the print edition. Sooner or later, papers will need to go whole hog and focus on their web deliverables first - it's what I believe the majority of their audience wants, or will soon want. Print readers aren't being born everyday these days. The money will follow a solid online-first effort.
Posted by: Steve Shannon at December 19, 2009 12:33 AM
Disagree on point one. That crowdsourcing was a handy way of disguising a lack of journalists to do the job.
Posted by: Craig McGill at December 20, 2009 8:11 PM