Idea 005: the digital magazine
In Ideas for the Future of News I’m collecting positive, tangible, practicle examples of business models, products and content which could pave the future.
To catch up on previous ideas, head to the Ideas for the Future of News page.
Idea 005: Mag+ concept
By: Berg London and Bonnier R&D
Magazines have a value above newspapers: people don’t just read the words, they buy them for the amazing photographs, lifestyle statements, and sometimes just because it looks great on the coffee table.
Magazines will be revolutionised by technology – but in a really positive way. For proof, see the work of Berg London and Bonnier R&D.
They’ve had a really good think about how future e-readers (like the much mooted Apple Tablet) could work with magazines – and crucially they have started with the benefits of magazines and worked from there. As the creaters explain:
“The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading which people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reader experience in which high quality writing and stunning imagery build up immersive stories.”
They’ve looked not at the e-readers themselves, but how magazine layouts should adapt to them. They have created, I think, a very enjoyable reading experience, which will add huge value to magazines.
“We don’t want to interrupt the core reading experience,” says Jack Shulze from Berg, “we’re very keen to make sure the UI doesn’t get in the way of the experience – it’s not covered in buttons.”
It’s 8 minutes long, but I highly recommend you watch this video, a demo of Mag+ in action.
A business model?
Could the e-reader provide a financial saviour for magazines? In short, yes. For two reasons: firstly, as I mentioned they add extra value to the magazine itself. The experience of scrolling through pages on a touch screen is so enjoyable, people may buy mags just for that.
And more importantly people will pay to download an electronic magazine and experience it on these e-readers. They won’t pay to view the content on a website.
Berg London and Bonnier R&D’s ideas are very new, but magazine owners should waste no time in chasing this concept and making it a reality. Newspapers too need to wake up to the possibilities and ask how the Mag+ concept could help them.
Their success though depends on the readers themselves. Who will make them and how much will they cost? Magazines will need to think about subscription models again, but that shouldn’t be too hard as that’s how many magazines make money anyway. And how will you download the content? Will it take long?
But these creases will no doubt be ironed out over the next two to three years.
As well as keeping current magazines afloat, they could also inspire a new generation of magazines, and most importantly keep journalists in business doing what they do best: writing great content and presenting it with great designs and pictures.
Thinking of a journalism start-up? Here’s a checklist
If the future of journalism is indeed entrepreneurial, we have to start thinking with a business hat on.
It’s a big change in mentality for some journalists. I’ve been to several events and meetings recently where hacks have insisted people will have to pay for news “because journalists have to eat”.
This is upside-down thinking. People don’t buy iPhones because Steve Jobs needs to eat. They buy them because they are an innovative product which satisfies a demand people are willing to pay for.
And so it must be if journalists are to be entrepreneurs. I’ve put together a list of criteria a new business idea might need to satisfy to see it become successful. I don’t think a successful business will need to satisfy all of them, or maybe even 50%. But ignoring these questions means another financial failure…
News start-up checklist
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Is it a new idea?
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Does it have a defined target audience?
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Does it provide niche (i.e. hyperlocal) content?
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Does it satisfy a desire that is not being fulfilled by someone else?
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Or does it do something better (faster, cheaper, more effectively) than someone else?
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Does it actually have income potential, or will it rely on funding?
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Does it use the power of crowd-sourcing/community?
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Would it be fulfilling for journalists to work for?
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Does it publish/exist on more than one platform?
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If it has content, is it sharable?
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Does it require a lot of money to run?
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Does it have boot-strapping potential?
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Does it scale?
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Does it fulfill a public service?
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Is it a legally sound idea? What about copyright?
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Would it appeal to venture capitalists, angel investors?
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And…does it have a cool name?
That’s what I’ve come up with so far. I think if you answer these questions at the early stages, you’ll have a greater chance of your start up succeeding. What it says is a sustainable business – journalism or otherwise – begins with a solid well-defined customer base.
You need to know who these customers are, and be really clear about why you are providing something they can’t get elsewhere. Innocent Smoothies was begun by three British students in 1999 who realised there was a demand for healthy fruit smoothies, which wasn’t being satisfied by anyone else. It now has a revenue of £128m.
US start-up “incubator” Y-Combinator is looking for new media business ideas which embrace this form of thinking:
What would a content site look like if you started from how to make money—as print media once did—instead of taking a particular form of journalism as a given and treating how to make money from it as an afterthought?
Add more to the list in the comments below if you have any. And while you’re here, read the comments of one reader on an earlier blog entry. Some interesting criticism of the notion journalism is entrepreneurial at all…
More good video journalism
The New York Times has come up with another stunning display to remind the rest of us how multimedia journalism should be done.
Flipped takes us inside the dark and mysterious world of private equity, and it’s affect on the market, business and jobs…OK, I’ve lost you already haven’t I.
Well this is exactly why Flipped is so good. It fulfills two things journalists of the future will need to do no matter what changes in technology come along. Firstly they need to keep telling us about complicated things in an accessible way. And secondly they need to find a way of grabbing us by the collars and saying “this is really important!”
Flipped does that. I have never had an interest in private equity, but the style, brevity, flair of Flipped kept me watching through all 10 videos. 15 minutes of my time, and I was enlightened.
And that’s what this is all about, right?
So what lessons can we learn from Flipped?
- It is made up of 10 short (2-5 minute) videos, instead of one long one. This makes it easier to digest.
- It has an easy to navigate flash carousel, which leads you through the story.
- Videos appear instantly inside the window (very important).
- The subjects (mostly NYT reporters) are extremely engaging, and very good at breaking down the issue
- It doesn’t take itself too seriously, with short cartoons to help understand the complicated bits
- It puts a human side to the story, with workers who’ve been screwed by the system
Mindy McAdams writes on Twitter it could have done with key words on the side to help chose which videos to watch. I agree, but I got most value from watching all the videos and understanding the whole story.
And there is huge value in this isn’t there? Matters of huge interest, broken down and made accessible, relevant and engaging. Private Equity is a creator of huge wealth…but also huge debt, and impacts all our lives.
Mashable’s How To on launching your own Indie Journo site
There’s a tidy post over at Mashable today with advice on how to launch your own indie journalism site.
It doesn’t offer anything we didn’t know before, but sums it all up quite nicely:
- it’s pretty much free to set up a site like this
- think about how to get advertisers or sponsors (without losing editorial control)
- wordpress is best
- use Twitter and Facebook to build up an audience
Interestingly, at the time of writing, this article – by Maria Schneider over at Editors Unleashed – has been retweeted 445 times and facebooked 25 times.
There’s clearly an appetite for this and with so many lay offs this year, it’s not surprising. Will 2010 be the journo-start up year?
Journalism posts: a summary
Here’s a summary of some of the practical journalism posts I’ve written this year.
Multimedia journalism
Great free apps for multimedia journalists :: the most popular one by far, covering some online sites to aid journo production
Shooting multimedia-a lot to juggle :: the challenges of covering stories in multimedia in the field; in this case, Iraq.
Video Journalism
The ultimate budget film making kit :: a guide to how I kitted myself out for video journalism on a £500 budget
Broadcast Journalism
The radio emergency survival guide :: how radio newsrooms should prepare for major news events
Making the most of your network :: a good example of how to use other journalists in your group
Three ways to instantly improve your newswriting :: a quick guide to broadcast writing
Five even quicker ways to improve your newswriting :: more tips
Covering court cases-the questions you were afraid to ask :: everything from what to wear in court, and where to sit
How to avoid being THAT annoying PR person :: advice for those unfortunate PR professionals
9 questions for newsreaders :: a checklist for newsreaders
It is time for commercial radio to embrace the web
Newspapers, television and radio – the rule is simple: embrace the internet or die.
Newspapers were the first to feel the cold breeze of death standing nearby. Now papers from the Guardian right down to local titles run regularly updated websites, often complemented with video coverage.
The BBC has embraced it with much gusto across both TV and radio. From the groundbreaking (and bandwith-breaking) iPlayer to the Editors Blogs to Scott Mill’s daily podcast.
But commercial radio – not for the first time – is standing on edge of the swimming pool, tentatively dipping its toes in, while the others are doing underwater cartwheels. Visit any local commercial radio website and it is distinctively web 1.0. The focus is “what comes out of the speakers.”
But new communities are forming. People don’t just make connections with the box in the corner of the kitchen anymore.
As a whole, and as individual groups and stations, radio needs to act. Now.
What can it do? Well the wonderful world of web 2.0 offers a whole host of options and ideas for the digital prospector; here are a few. For as many as possible I have tried to include real examples.
Local news
This is the first and the most obvious web option. But news editors across the land please don’t just copy and paste 3 line cues onto the web. It doesn’t make the viewers journey there worthwhile, and you don’t write online text like you write radio cues. If this isn’t an option, at least take the time to remove radio-isms like spelled out numbers, typos, pronunciation guides and the word “sez”. Here’s an example of how Real Radio do it in Wales.
Presenter blogs
A well maintained and updated blog can create a new channel for presenters to connect with their listeners. It can reveal the ‘off air’ side to their life, and make listeners feel a closer connection. Features and competitions can be plugged too.
Newsroom blogs
The same thing goes for a newsroom blog. A chance to show what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of the daily newsroom operation. Appeals for stories and interviewees could turn it into a goldmine. Similarly it must be regularly updated, and must use platforms like WordPress to ensure a Google ranking, tags, meta data and comments. Mercia FM in Coventry were an early adopter. Sadly the blog looks abandoned since October, and it didn’t contain any RSS feed.
Presenter twitter
Tweeting during shows gives followers the inside scoop on what’s going on in the studio. Most of all it gives listeners a free way to respond to on air elements. Text revenue might take a hit, but interaction will boost. It works particularly well on ‘getting-the-listener-to-suggest-ideas’ features. According to the Media UK twitter table, Radio 2 DJ Jonthan Ross has 106,000 followers and Chris Moyles has 66,000. There are more than 164 radio presenters registered.
Playlist twitter
An automated system can tell music fans what your station is playing now and next. Imagine if you just saw your favourite song was about to be played on XYZ FM. Wouldn’t you click on a link to listen online? Q-Radio based in London have their own playlist twitter-feed.
Podcasts!
The only reason these haven’t become a stable of commercial radio, like they have with BBC radio, is resources. In honesty though, making podcasts is so much fun, it’s hard to see why programmers aren’t gagging to put in an extra hours work once a week.
Online specials and archive
Big events and news stories should be given their own specific pages, with background information, extra facts, audio downloads and advice on where to go next. Key 103 in Manchester has developed an excellent page on cervical cancer in response to Jade Goody’s terminal diagnosis.
Audio slideshows
I believe this is a massive growth area for radio news. Practically it’s not possible to send a reporter out with both a microphone and a video camera and hold them both. But a small digital camera plus some cheap Slide Show technology can give your station the edge when a big story rolls round, and create something memorable.
Online video
For the reasons mentioned above this will likely remain a rareity. But it shouldn’t be disregarded altogether. Radio Aire in Leeds produced a report on the Karen Matthews case as the verdict was announced.
Traffic mashups
Connect your traffic and travel data with google maps and show your listeners where the snarl ups are. The CN Group started this in 2008 and it looks great.
Web chats
A big issue affecting your listeners? Get an expert in to answer questions, during a live webchat. As well as giving presenters something to talk about it gives your station an authority over a particular issue. At Viking FM we got a local financial expert to answer questions from listeners on the credit crunch. Lots of on air plugs and we got a good response.
Online polls
Thankfully this obvious way of generating original news content is being used all over the shop. In my previous life, working at Touch Radio, I used to run a daily news poll on the big issue of the day and run the results as an add-on to the story in the 5pm news.
A design overhaul
Turn listener communities into virtual communities
Imagine if listeners could register on your station website and set up their own profile? They could build their own community of fans of a particular show, swap pictures, get heads up on competitions and all that.
Facebook bonuses
The next best thing for this is to create an effective, regular and well run Facebook community. Thinking outside the box reaps rewards too. After launching a Facebook campaign to save a presenter from suspension, Viking FM then gave everyone who’d joined the group free entry to a local nightclub. Even before the nightclub announcement more than 3,000 people had joined.
Just a taste of the sheer numbers of people out there – if stations would just reach out and touch.
Inspirational online journalism things
Two things: one video, one text; view them right after each other and you almost want to go out and become an online journalism mogul still dressed in your pyjamas.
First, watch this
And then watch part 2 and part 3 if you can. (HT @paulbradshaw)
Most inspiring thing: Michael runs a hyper-local video journalism station in Washington DC for an annual TOTAL cost of $600,000. They can charge just $5 per 30 sec ad slot and break even.
Then read this:
@Dave Lee on creating an online news site while in New Zealand.
Most inspiring thing: how cheap and easy it is to create a fully multimedia news service.
5 even quicker ways to improve your newswriting
Not long ago I put down Three Ways to Instantly Improve your Newswriting.
It’s occured to me since, there are even more – even quicker – ways to instantly make your copy shine just that bit more.
Note: these ones are more for broadcasters, who write to be heard not read.
01. Get rid of “that”
Once you’ve written some copy, go through it and remove the word “that” and see what a difference it makes. For example:
“The International Monetary Fund has said that Britain will be hit hardest by the economic downturn.
It has predicted that the economy will shrink by over 2.8 percent in the next year.
Meanwhile the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims that the British government will be saddled with debt for the next 20 years.”
OK, so remove the “that”s and we’re left with something which slips off the tongue far more easily:
“The International Monetary Fund has said Britain will be hit hardest by the economic downturn.
It has predicted the economy will shrink by over 2.8 percent in the next year.
Meanwhile the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims the British government will be saddled with debt for the next 20 years.”
02. Contract words
This one is simple and should become automatic for broadcast writers. Contract everything where possible:
He is –> He’s
She will –> She’ll etc.
So our recession copy above can be improved further:
“The International Monetary Fund’s said Britain will be hit hardest by the economic downturn.
It’s predicted the economy will shrink by over 2.8 percent in the next year.
Meanwhile the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims the British government’ll be saddled with debt for the next 20 years.”
The only possible exception is ‘will’. It’s not so easy to contract that down – although I’ve done it after “government” in the example above.
03. Knock it all into the present tense
Especially the top line. News is about what’s happening now. If you can’t put your topline into the present tense, you need to find a new angle on the story. If you can’t do that, it’s time to can the story.
“The International Monetary Fund says Britain will be hit hardest by the economic downturn.
It’s predicting the economy will shrink by over 2.8 percent in the next year.
Meanwhile the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims the British government’ll be saddled with debt for the next 20 years.”
04. A new top line
Let’s be honest, this copy is pretty boring. More bad news about the economy. Instantly sharpen it up by sticking in a new top line – something short pacy, which sums up the whole story.
“Another headache for Gordon Brown tonight…
The International Monetary Fund says Britain will be hit hardest by the economic downturn.
It’s predicting the economy will shrink by over 2.8 percent in the next year.
Meanwhile the Institute for Fiscal Studies claims the British government’ll be saddled with debt for the next 20 years.”
05. Over is out
This is the one thing that turns me into a grammar nazi: the difference between “over” and “more than”.
When you’re talking about numbers, figures, statistics, you use more than. You can’t go over a number. You go over a hill.
So it’s “…the economy will shrink by more than 2.8 percent in the next year.”
Five quick steps and we’ve knocked that boring bit of econo-copy into shape. On top of that, I’d get rid of the long organisation names and replace a few ’says’/'claims’ with ‘reckons’. But you get the point.
Any other tips you’ve picked up? Stick ‘em in the comments box!
“Deadbeat Dads”
It was an innocent enough piece of copy from our news provider in London:
“A new crackdown on parents who refuse to pay child support goes before Parliament later.
“So-called ‘Deadbeat Dads’ could be stripped of their driving licences and passports without the courts being involved.”
Well, use of the word ‘crackdown’ aside, it sparked a big reaction from our listeners. Why? Because of the phrase “deadbeat dads”.
The script itself even says “so-called deadbeat dads” but that didn’t stop several people calling into complain.
But everyone was using it. I heard BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat use it, without the “so-called”; it also appeared in several newspapers.
And you can see why it’s used – it’s a catchy phrase which makes a bit of a woolly legal story more interesting.
Our callers – single dads, mostly – felt singled out as the responsible party. Mums, they said, also skimped on child support. Why should they get a hard time in the press? And they’re right.
So what’s the answer? Should journalists avoid pithy catchphrases all together? Or do they make the story more interesting and relatable?
A good bit of advice for other journalists: the complaints weren’t bad news for us. We listened to their concerns, explained how the word made it on radio…and then convinced them to speak on air, giving us the best local audio on this story.
Covering a missing persons case
So I have a confession to make. Last week, I made an editorial decision; the wrong editorial decision.
It was a Thursday afternoon, and with my editor at a management meeting I was left alone, in charge of the news desk.
A press release from the police appeared in the inbox: “Police seek help in finding missing teenager, Cleethorpes“. I opened it up, scanned through it and pondered whether to include it.
After some umming and ahhing, I decided not to. Here’s why:
- She’d only been missing for about 18 hours
- Teenagers go awol quite often; if she was still missing in a week, then it would be news.
- The family were not giving interviews.
- We’d already run several missing persons stories in the week before
- My bulletins were already jam packed with big stories-local and national-on which we had lots of good audio; there was just no room.
It wasn’t a rushed decision or a lazy one; I gave it thought, and felt justified in my approach when I closed the message.
But that missing teenager would later turn out to be Laura Stainforth, and 7 days later her name would be in every national newspaper.
Later that evening, when the search was the lead story on the BBC regional news programme, was when I started questioning whether I’d been right to leave it out.
Now it wasn’t a disastrous decision. The next day we were able to pick it up when a new angle about her internet life emerged.
And this week I spent several days in Cleethorpes making sure we had all the right coverage, including interviews with the police and Laura’s headteacher.
Would our audience have noticed? No. Was it a massive boo-boo? No. But still I’ve learnt it’s important to always be prepared to question your decisions, but at the same time be prepared to stand up and defend them too.
What would you have done?
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