Around Journalism | Jul 12, 2009 |
Newscloud and other mash-ups: Around Journalism
I’ve been busy in my off-hours this week learning how to create a WordPress theme, a skill that should benefit both this site and another project that I’ll discuss later. (You may have noticed a few changes in ianhillmedia.com already – there are more to come.)
Unfortunately, it hasn’t left me with much time to post, even though it’s been a busy week in the newspaper industry. Questions were raised as to whether or not newspapers have been making money, another publication shut down, a second start-up was created from the ashes of the Rocky Mountain News and the news was preempted for a few days by coverage of Michael Jackson’s death.
There also was an interesting post by Vadim Lavrusik on the Online Journalism Blog with the provocative headline “The end of news websites?” (OJB is big on provocative headlines lately.) Lavrusik discusses some of the journalism/social networking mash-up projects that have launched online recently, noting that:
With increasing convergence between social media and traditional content, what is known as a traditional news website might not exist in the coming years.
I think it’s a bit too early to start throwing around statements like that. (Wait a minute, did I just throw around that statement by quoting it? Damn kids!) I haven’t seen evidence that mash-ups are popular away from college campuses, and the social networking audience has proven to be extremely fickle, which doesn’t bode well for mash-ups’ long-term success. Remember Friendster? MySpace? Twitter?
I’d also like to read more about how these projects will generate revenue. I could only find two ad units on Newscloud. MnDaily is better, and Lavrusik tosses around some interesting ideas on how mash-ups can make money, including business-sponsored user challenges:
For example, a business would pay for you to post a challenge that involves going to their business (prizes could be sponsored too).
But most of his post focuses on how mash-ups present content. And while journalists and others certainly can bring together different existing technologies to tell better stories – check out the map/audio mash-up Open Sound New Orleans – social networking/journalism mash-ups will have a very short life unless they can come up with a working business plan.
In other words, they’re just like everything else in the newspaper industry today.
Footnote: Lavrusik’s post strangely omits News Mixer, one of the better-known mash-ups. Maybe it’s a Big Ten thing.
Thank you for your the post and your response to the idea. I am from the Big Ten, and am well aware of News Mixer, which I mentioned in another recent post (http://mashable.com/2009/06/19/teaching-social-media/).
I agree that a solid business model has yet to develop. The challenges on the application now are mostly to engage users in the site more (following the Twitter account, submitting a letter to the editor, etc). The idea of sponsored-challenges is one that should be developed and tested, and could attract a lot of advertisers who could then get direct results from the challenges. It’s much more direct than a banner ad because it requires action from the reader. It will be interesting to see whether this idea gains more traction and what comes of it. The potential, however, is great.
Hi Vadim. Thanks for the comment. I agree there is potential, and I’m glad you’re thinking about alternative revenue sources. But if you’re going to launch a product that you want to succeed in the industry (or possibly take it over, as you suggest), you need a solid business plan before you launch. Otherwise, you end up with a lot of wasted effort and a burst Internet bubble.