For part three of our homework assignment, we were asked to answer the following questions about our semester project:
Question: I have read your idea and I would like to understand a little more about it. What need does this idea fill? Is this a need that you have yourself? Who would share this need?
Answer: I personally do not have a need for this idea, but it fills an area of journalism that does not currently exist. Now that journalism is entering a fully digital age, I think it is time to start embracing unique ways in which we tell stories; my idea fills a need to tell stores in a new and digital approach. My idea is aimed primarily at the gaming community, so it would be fans of video games and the video game industry who would share this need.
Q: At this point you should have some idea of who the average user of your product will be. What is the profile of that person?
A: Like I said before, the average user of my product would be a fan of video games and the video game industry. That being said, it would be hard to put a profile on this person. The common stereotype of a gamer is a nerdy individual who spends hours upon hours playing games, but that stereotype isn't necessarily true. Anybody can play video games, so it is impossible to make an accurate profile of a user of my product.
Q: Who wants this product that you intend to develop?
A: Anyone who has an interest in news and/or video games would have an interest in my product. The idea is to appeal to both everyday news readers and gamers, and I think this would provide both types of people a unique way to experience news.
Q: What problem or need are you satisfying for your customers? (Remember, the customers aren't necessarily the people who will be using your product. For example, television audiences aren't customers unless they pay for the product, as in HBO. The customers are advertisers.)
A: It's hard to deny that two of the biggest industries are the gaming and news industries. I think it would be a great opportunity for advertisers to get their products out to a large population.
Q: Who wants this product?
A: Gamers and those interested in new ways to tell journalistic stories want this product. The video game community is critical, but it is also willing to try new things. There are unique innovations in the gaming industry all the time, and gamers are always willing to try something that could potentially improve their gaming experience.
Q: We all have to live. Where is the money in this product?
A: Like other news outlets, the company would offer different subscription packages for the news stories and the video games.
Q: You are a journalist. Where is the journalism in this product?
A: Although my company would be making games, it would also be dedicated to delivering factual and ethical stories on a daily basis to prove that we are serious journalists. In addition, hired reporters would make sure that each game is as factual and ethical as the articles. We would be making games, but we would be making games for the sake of telling stories in a new and interactive way.
Q: We've read that passion is key to success of a new venture. Money alone will not sustain it. So where is the passion in your product?
A: I have loved video games ever since I was a child, and for the past three years I have been learning how important and integral journalism is to the world. These two things have had a large impact on my life throughout my college career, and I don't believe it is enough to work in one of the industries. I want to make good video games that tell well-written stories.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Semester project discussion
For part two of our homework assignment, I sit down with three of my friends to talk about my semester project idea, which is a news company that makes games based off of news stories.
My semester project idea
Our homework assignment for this week consisted of three parts. The first is to clearly and concisely write out our semester project idea in a couple of sentences. The second was to run our idea by three people, and the third part was to answer a series of questions that our professor made up for us. Here is the first part:
My semester project idea is a news company that aims to appeal to the gaming culture by developing small video games on a monthly basis based off of top news stories that have strong narratives. In addition to this, the company would secure its position as a news outlet by reporting on international and gaming news. The company would embrace the digital age of journalism, and it would allow readers to comment and share articles.
Monday, September 23, 2013
My interview with Sandy Posa
Our assignment from this week as to interview an entrepreneur from any field, so I chose to speak with Sandy Posa. Sandy used to work with my dad at Gillette several years ago. As he explains in the interview, he always invested in early stage companies and continued to do so after he left Gillette. Here's what he had to say:
Joel Kost: Describe
what kind of business you do and how you’re an entrepreneur.
Sandy Posa: I’ve
got been working for large companies for most of my career. On the side I’ve
invested in a bunch of small early stage companies over extended period of time
since 1990, I would guess. So when I left Gillette like your dad did, I started
becoming an angel investor. For the past five or six years I’ve invested in probably
half a dozen start-ups in that period of time. With a few of the companies I’ll
either get on the board or I’ll work with equity.
JK: Why did you decide
to work with smaller business after you left Gillette?
SP: A lot of my career has been in the early stages in big
business. That’s always been my best work. It was sort of a natural evolution.
When you look across the venture community, there isn’t that many people that
want to be involved in early stage companies. Most of our dollars got to
high-tech stuff. By and large there’s a hole in the market for early stage producers.
JK: Can you describe
the product you’ve invested in now, the cleaning product?
SP: There’s this technology
that’s been around for nearly a decade, but its never been commercialized
really well. It’s a product that’s based off electrolyzed water. And what it
is, is a combination of salt, water and electricity, with the right kind of
device. Believe it or not, that produces sanitizer. It will kill mold, bacteria…really
mold and bacteria from flu virus, to mrsa, to everyday bacteria. It effectively
kills that. It also has cleaning properties to it. And it’s made with salt
water and electricity. It has some very green, eco friendly characteristics to
it, as well as sanitizing properties that are difficult to get without harsh chemicals.
JK: Why are people
reluctant to invest in it?
SP: There’s a whole
series of reason why. Most of the other people who have tried to commercialize
the technology are trying to do it on industrial side. Nobody’s tried it on the
commercial side. It’s a really small number. I think the commercial cleaning
business is north of 30 billion a year. And it’s basically all kinds of stuff.
There’s been very little innovation, very incremental innovation for a long
time.
JK: What are some of
the other companies you have invested in?
SP: One that’s a
little bit on the rental beat. It’s a database of rental apartments. If you’ve
very tried to rent an apartment, it’s really a tough experience for consumers for
a couple of reasons. And this company has a database that consumers and brokers
can access. And that database doesn’t exits anywhere else in the country.
I’ve invested in a consumer
business that is involved with Glow Design, and we design really cool products.
One of the lead items is cases for your iPhone. We design for some really neat
applications.
It’s a very eclectic group of
companies. They all have kind one thing in common, which is addressing consumer
pain points. Those are the common things that I look for, companies that solve
that problem.
JK: So you tend to
look for companies that try to solve consumer problems or work with technology?
SP: Yeah, That’s generally
what look for.
JK: What has been the
hardest part of being an entrepreneur?
SP: For me
personally, is I’m not someone who raises capital. I just don’t like to do it.
So I like helping the operation side of companies. The biggest problem is
having to raise capital.
JK: What is your favorite
part of being an entrepreneur?
SP: I like to get
involved with younger and dedicated people. That’s fun for me. And eventually
these companies will have the ability to change some of these markets. It’s also
a little bit of a hobby.
JK: Do you have any
advice for young entrepreneurs?
SP: I think if
you’re at an early stage and the idea stage, a couple things. One, it’s a
longer haul that you think. You’re going to have to get yourself attached to
companies that have made it. It’s a very real commitment if you’re going to do
it. You have to be really devoted to your idea. And the second phase, I haven’t
seen one company evolve who’s original idea hasn’t’ turned 180 degrees. You
have to know how businesses evolve. And number three, you have to know how to
work with people. If you do and you get friends and family to invest in you
early and get good market traction and validation, the earlier the better.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Now this News: another great and original contribution to news
I love watching well-made video stories made by The New York Times and The Boston Globe, but sometimes I just wish there were short video clips that updated me about current events. Enter Now this News: my recent obsession.
Now this News is a website that offers short (often between one and two minutes) videos reporting news ranging from politics, world affairs, science, and popular trends on the internet. The journalists who report are fun to listen to and watch, and there is new content all the time. Aside from news reports, there are also videos that re straight up video footage of current events. For example, Now this News is currently featuring footage of the Kenyan mall siege.
Now this News is great because its easy to use and its content can be shared easily. The videos won't take up much of your time but they are very informative and fun to watch; it's easy to get lost while exploring its content.
But what exactly makes Now this News unique? It's really that it fully embraced the digital age and is one of the few news outlets that reports purely through multimedia. It's casual, fun, and most importantly relevant. In a time when everyone is panicking about news, its comforting to see a news outlet that has so much fun with what it does.
Thoughts after reading Ken Doctor's "runway" article
Ken Doctor wrote an article the other week about Jeff Bezos' purchase of The Washington Post and how he plans to give the newspaper a "runway." It's an interesting piece that I suggest you read.
But there's one thing that I can't get off my mind after reading it: are newspapers destined to be bought and nurtured by millionaires and billionaires until the news industry recovers from the shift to the digital age? That what it seems like.
At first this made me sad and rather depressed. Has the news industry fallen so far that it needs to be bought out of its trouble? Something about that just sounds awful.
But at the same time, these corporate powerhouses have the two things that the news industry needs: money and faith. Doctor says in his article that Bezos' investment in The Washington Post is both expensive and long-term. Nobody, not even millionaires, would make such a large investment if they didn't have faith in the news industry. Journalists may have to rely on others to help their profession recover, but if it works in the long then I guess it can't be that bad.
But there's one thing that I can't get off my mind after reading it: are newspapers destined to be bought and nurtured by millionaires and billionaires until the news industry recovers from the shift to the digital age? That what it seems like.
At first this made me sad and rather depressed. Has the news industry fallen so far that it needs to be bought out of its trouble? Something about that just sounds awful.
But at the same time, these corporate powerhouses have the two things that the news industry needs: money and faith. Doctor says in his article that Bezos' investment in The Washington Post is both expensive and long-term. Nobody, not even millionaires, would make such a large investment if they didn't have faith in the news industry. Journalists may have to rely on others to help their profession recover, but if it works in the long then I guess it can't be that bad.
My idea for my semester project
Last week I had this crazy idea of making a reporting/video game company that made video games based off of top news stories. As crazy as it sounds I think it's a great idea and I'm going to pursue it as my semester project. This class is all about taking risks, and this idea seems as risky as you can get.
To review, my idea was to make a video game company dedicated to making games based off of top news stories. I don't know what the news appetite among gamers is, but I'm sure this would be an effective method to educate them more about journalism and important current events. In a way it's the opposite of video game journalism; there would be video game developers making games based off journalism.
So what do I have to do to make this happen?
Well to start, I think the games would be smaller projects than big-budget games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, and I see them being released on the iOS app store and Google Play. It's cheaper to make games on this platform and mobile devices are quickly becoming gaming consoles of their own. If the company did this, it would be able to produce content quickly and effectively while reducing costs.
In terms of employees, it would consist of both reporters and game developers. If a game based off of a top news story is to exist, it would have to have excellent narrative detail and no factual errors. The reporters would get this information and sit down with the developers to discuss how they could make it work. The reporters would also have to have knowledge about video games so they could contribute to the development process. To make this project more journalism-esque, I think it would be good for the company to have a website or blog to write actual news stories on. This way the company's followers could play the games and read the stories.
The only thing I'm really concerned about is ethics. Some stories are obviously not appropriate to make games about (Boston Marathon bombings, Connecticut shootings), but where do you draw the line? This is something that requires some serious conversations.
To review, my idea was to make a video game company dedicated to making games based off of top news stories. I don't know what the news appetite among gamers is, but I'm sure this would be an effective method to educate them more about journalism and important current events. In a way it's the opposite of video game journalism; there would be video game developers making games based off journalism.
So what do I have to do to make this happen?
Well to start, I think the games would be smaller projects than big-budget games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, and I see them being released on the iOS app store and Google Play. It's cheaper to make games on this platform and mobile devices are quickly becoming gaming consoles of their own. If the company did this, it would be able to produce content quickly and effectively while reducing costs.
In terms of employees, it would consist of both reporters and game developers. If a game based off of a top news story is to exist, it would have to have excellent narrative detail and no factual errors. The reporters would get this information and sit down with the developers to discuss how they could make it work. The reporters would also have to have knowledge about video games so they could contribute to the development process. To make this project more journalism-esque, I think it would be good for the company to have a website or blog to write actual news stories on. This way the company's followers could play the games and read the stories.
The only thing I'm really concerned about is ethics. Some stories are obviously not appropriate to make games about (Boston Marathon bombings, Connecticut shootings), but where do you draw the line? This is something that requires some serious conversations.
Monday, September 16, 2013
A new idea to save journalism
Ok, so this idea probably won't save journalism, but its certainly a unique idea that will get a large population educated about current events and maybe get them interested in journalism. I think it would be cool to see a video game developer that made small games, possibly for the computer and/or mobile devices, based off real news stories and current events. The idea came to me last week when we were discussing our ideas to save journalism, and someone had the idea to "songify" news stories. So why can't the same idea be put towards video games?
It would be impossible to make games everyday, so the games that would be developed would have to be based off memorable news stories. There could be racing games, role playing games, puzzle games, etc. There are so many types of news stories that the possibilities could be endless.
The development team would also have to have a small team of reporters to do some extra reporting to get some great narrative detail, and they would probably be the ones to choose which stories could be made into games. Certain stories have the potential to make great games, but would they be ethical? That's a big question the reporters would have to ask.
I think this idea actually has some potential. The gaming and news populations are huge, so why not try to combine them? Video game journalism exists, so journalism video games could exist too. The quality of the games would obviously determine the success of such a business venture, though. I really like this idea, so I may try to pursue this as my project for the class. I'll keep you all updated.
It would be impossible to make games everyday, so the games that would be developed would have to be based off memorable news stories. There could be racing games, role playing games, puzzle games, etc. There are so many types of news stories that the possibilities could be endless.
The development team would also have to have a small team of reporters to do some extra reporting to get some great narrative detail, and they would probably be the ones to choose which stories could be made into games. Certain stories have the potential to make great games, but would they be ethical? That's a big question the reporters would have to ask.
I think this idea actually has some potential. The gaming and news populations are huge, so why not try to combine them? Video game journalism exists, so journalism video games could exist too. The quality of the games would obviously determine the success of such a business venture, though. I really like this idea, so I may try to pursue this as my project for the class. I'll keep you all updated.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
I lost so much money making lemonade when I was a kid
I remember it like it was yesterday.
It was a hot summer week, so I went up to my mom to ask her for help with my lemonade stand. The next day we set up our old foldable table, some ice, and lemonade-making material. I have no idea how much money I made, but I had fun. That's all that's important...right?
Not in the real world of lemonade stands. Our first group project for entrepreneurial journalism was to come up with a business plan for a lemonade stand. It sounded pretty easy at first: we decided to partner with UNH dining, allow cats cache and dining dollars, sell other lemon-based products, use a mobile base of operations, etc.
We came to class last wednesday with all of this prepared, but then we were asked about prices. How much are supplies? How much are our products? What's our profit? Also, what permits do we need to acquire? What does it take to actually work with UNH dining services? Would we sell all year round? If lemonade is this hard to sell, I don't want to know what it's like to run a newspaper.
I'll post our final findings here once we calculate them.
It was a hot summer week, so I went up to my mom to ask her for help with my lemonade stand. The next day we set up our old foldable table, some ice, and lemonade-making material. I have no idea how much money I made, but I had fun. That's all that's important...right?
Not in the real world of lemonade stands. Our first group project for entrepreneurial journalism was to come up with a business plan for a lemonade stand. It sounded pretty easy at first: we decided to partner with UNH dining, allow cats cache and dining dollars, sell other lemon-based products, use a mobile base of operations, etc.
We came to class last wednesday with all of this prepared, but then we were asked about prices. How much are supplies? How much are our products? What's our profit? Also, what permits do we need to acquire? What does it take to actually work with UNH dining services? Would we sell all year round? If lemonade is this hard to sell, I don't want to know what it's like to run a newspaper.
I'll post our final findings here once we calculate them.
Indie Statik - a unique take on video game journalism
For those who don't know me, I am a huge fan of video games; ever since I was a kid I've been in love with them. But for the past three or four years I've been setting my sights on video game journalism. A lot of people don't know such a thing exists, but trust me when I say it does. News outlets like Game Informer, IGN, and Polygon are highly respectable journalism sites; in fact, Game Informer is ranked as one of the top most subscribed magazines in the U.S.
A lot of attention in the gaming world has been centered around independent (or indie) game developers. Just like the film and music industries, gaming has its fair share of independent creators that don't operate under the budget of publishers and have limited resources. Just like indie movies and bands, indie games have a unique style that separate themselves from big-budget titles, and for whatever reason they have been extremely popular.
While I was browsing the web I found a website called Indie Statik, a video game journalism website that only reports on indie video games. This might not seem like a big deal, but in the gaming world it is. The video game industry may be popular but it's still small. I'm sure it's no easy task to operate news outlets like Game Informer and IGN, but it must be even harder to operate a site based solely on the small indie developer beat.
Video game sites report on indie games when the news is relevant, but this is the first time i've ever seen one focus entirely on them. Considering their popularity now it's surprising, and it seems like Indie Statik is the first journalism site to take advantage of their popularity and report on them.
The whole idea makes sense. If people are interested in indie games, they are going to read about them more. But I'm curious to know what running such a specified beat of journalism is like. I've reached out to the site's founder, Josh Mattingly, to see if he'd be willing to do an interview. I'll post what I found out if I hear back.
A lot of attention in the gaming world has been centered around independent (or indie) game developers. Just like the film and music industries, gaming has its fair share of independent creators that don't operate under the budget of publishers and have limited resources. Just like indie movies and bands, indie games have a unique style that separate themselves from big-budget titles, and for whatever reason they have been extremely popular.
While I was browsing the web I found a website called Indie Statik, a video game journalism website that only reports on indie video games. This might not seem like a big deal, but in the gaming world it is. The video game industry may be popular but it's still small. I'm sure it's no easy task to operate news outlets like Game Informer and IGN, but it must be even harder to operate a site based solely on the small indie developer beat.
Video game sites report on indie games when the news is relevant, but this is the first time i've ever seen one focus entirely on them. Considering their popularity now it's surprising, and it seems like Indie Statik is the first journalism site to take advantage of their popularity and report on them.
The whole idea makes sense. If people are interested in indie games, they are going to read about them more. But I'm curious to know what running such a specified beat of journalism is like. I've reached out to the site's founder, Josh Mattingly, to see if he'd be willing to do an interview. I'll post what I found out if I hear back.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Facebook's "personalized newspaper" might just be the future of journalism
Back in March Facebook announced that it's news feed would eventually transform into a "personalized newspaper." To put it simply, Facebook's new look is going to simplify the user face and make things easily accessible. From photos to posts to groups you like and follow, you choose what you want to look at.
It's a cool move on Facebook's part, especially since it seems to be embracing the idea that it has a large role in journalism, but I want to see newspapers and news outlets adopt this personalized newspaper idea.
My news diet is very specific. I follow a lot of gaming and tech news outlets, and I primarily read The Boston Globe for national and international news. I occasionally listen to NPR and NHPR, and I'll pick up some local papers from time to time. But when I do pick up the Globe or local paper I don't read the whole thing; most of the time I only read about half. It's not that I don't like what's being written, but sometimes issues are heavy in subjects that don't appeal to my interests.
With journalism heading to a completely digital age, I think it's time for personalized newspapers to make a permanent appearance. If I want to pay for news, I don't want to pay for a paper that has a bunch of articles I'm not going to read. This relates to my idea that papers should offer specific subscription packages.
Newspapers should start adopting this idea now to prepare for the completely digital age. Journalism isn't what it used to be any more. Readers can read anything they want on the Internet; that means they cam choose to completely ignore your articles. Why not avoid that and let them choose what their paper looks like every morning?
It's a cool move on Facebook's part, especially since it seems to be embracing the idea that it has a large role in journalism, but I want to see newspapers and news outlets adopt this personalized newspaper idea.
My news diet is very specific. I follow a lot of gaming and tech news outlets, and I primarily read The Boston Globe for national and international news. I occasionally listen to NPR and NHPR, and I'll pick up some local papers from time to time. But when I do pick up the Globe or local paper I don't read the whole thing; most of the time I only read about half. It's not that I don't like what's being written, but sometimes issues are heavy in subjects that don't appeal to my interests.
With journalism heading to a completely digital age, I think it's time for personalized newspapers to make a permanent appearance. If I want to pay for news, I don't want to pay for a paper that has a bunch of articles I'm not going to read. This relates to my idea that papers should offer specific subscription packages.
Newspapers should start adopting this idea now to prepare for the completely digital age. Journalism isn't what it used to be any more. Readers can read anything they want on the Internet; that means they cam choose to completely ignore your articles. Why not avoid that and let them choose what their paper looks like every morning?
I love news aggregators, but I think they're slowly killing newspapers
One of my favorite apps on my phone is the news aggregator News 360. You pick as many categories of news as you want and the app collects hundreds of up-to-date articles as it can for your reading pleasure. How much more digital and progressive can you get with this? There are only a few publications that I read on a regular basis, so this app introduces me to a lot of different new outlets and writing styles.
But as I was writing my 10 ways to save journalism I realized that my favorite app might be one of the reasons newspapers are dying. My first idea to save journalism was to have all news outlets establish paywalls on their websites, that way people would have to pay for their news. But news aggregators like News 360 are only encouraging the idea of free news. I know that in this era it seems ridiculous to have news that isn't free, but that's how it used to be.
When you look at it from this angle, News 360 seems pretty bad for journalism. It's great that I have access to all these articles, but is it worth it at the expense of newspapers losing money? Probably not. But regardless of how bad it is I still love News 360; I don't want to see it disappear. So how do we solve this problem?
Paid subscriptions, that's how! Readers are stuck in this mind set that news is free, and we have to break that. I want news aggregators to stay around because they are extremely useful applications, but users should have to pay for them. One of my other ideas for saving journalism was to have different level of subscription plans for news outlets; why not have that for aggregators? You can pay for a certain amount of articles per week/month. I don't aggregator developers can use this plan yet, though. For this to happen, news outlets have to establish a paywall system for online readers, otherwise we'd be seeing riots in the streets.
Story of invasive pigs in Texas could be a great interactive story
I never thought I'd be writing about pigs on this blog, but journalism has this way of shoving random things in your face.
My roommate pointed out an interesting story from NPR to me Sunday night about invasive pigs wreaking havoc in Texas. According to an article in the Smithsonian form 2011, these pigs cause millions of damage.
It's definitely an interesting story, and it has a lot of potential to be a great interactive feature. I couldn't help but think about those interactive maps during the last presidential election. You could select a state and see what its projected votes were. I think it would be really neat for this story to have something similar with a map of Texas. It could be divided up into sections based on towns or counties, and information like how many pigs have been reported in that area or the amount of damage could pop up. Hunters have even been granted permission to hunt these pigs, so there could also be info on how many pigs have been hunted. Readers could also submit photos or videos of their damaged property to add to the map's detail.
This would take a lot of reporting and digging around, but it would be a fantastic way to interact with readers.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Why news has to look good on the Internet and some examples
This past summer I had a change to intern at The Lowell Sun newspaper in Lowell, Ma. I've always had a lot of respect for the paper, but I hated the website. It was crowded, clunky, and disorganized. The newspaper changed its interface over the summer that looked more like a front page of a newspaper. It was cleaner, things were spaced out, and it was so much easier to navigate.
But for some reason the readers were not happy. As the intern, one of my duties was to listen to readers reaction voice messages, and so many of them thought the interface was terrible; some even said they stopped going to the website. That can't happen. A news outlet's website and user interface have to look good or else some readers will abandon it. And now that people have smart phones and tablets, news outlets need to make sure their website's format looks good on a smaller screen.
I did some searching on the Internet and found some news sites that have excellent page layouts:
Polygon
Polygon.com is a great gaming site. It has awesome news reports, well-written articles, and above all else, a great website. It's biggest and newest stories are on top, and the res of the articles are lined up in rows of three. It's very clean and easy to navigate; it reminds me of an online magazine. It also looks fantastic on tables and smart phones.
Mashable
Mashable is very similar to BuzzFeed in the sense that it reports on a lot of pop culture, but its articles focus more on writing. Posts are neatly displayed in the right in a zig-zag type of pattern and a small bar to left showcases newer posts. Mashable also has a fantastic app that seamlessly transitions from post to home page by simply scrolling down the bottom of the post.
The Lowell Sun
The Sun's readers may have not liked the website, but I think it looks great. It look like the front page of a newspaper, and the white background looks clean. When the page loads there is a giant ad on top, but it disappears to make room for the articles.
But for some reason the readers were not happy. As the intern, one of my duties was to listen to readers reaction voice messages, and so many of them thought the interface was terrible; some even said they stopped going to the website. That can't happen. A news outlet's website and user interface have to look good or else some readers will abandon it. And now that people have smart phones and tablets, news outlets need to make sure their website's format looks good on a smaller screen.
I did some searching on the Internet and found some news sites that have excellent page layouts:
Polygon
Polygon.com is a great gaming site. It has awesome news reports, well-written articles, and above all else, a great website. It's biggest and newest stories are on top, and the res of the articles are lined up in rows of three. It's very clean and easy to navigate; it reminds me of an online magazine. It also looks fantastic on tables and smart phones.
Mashable
Mashable is very similar to BuzzFeed in the sense that it reports on a lot of pop culture, but its articles focus more on writing. Posts are neatly displayed in the right in a zig-zag type of pattern and a small bar to left showcases newer posts. Mashable also has a fantastic app that seamlessly transitions from post to home page by simply scrolling down the bottom of the post.
The Lowell Sun
The Sun's readers may have not liked the website, but I think it looks great. It look like the front page of a newspaper, and the white background looks clean. When the page loads there is a giant ad on top, but it disappears to make room for the articles.
10 ways to save journalism
Journalism isn't dying, but some news outlets are finding it difficult to stay in business. The way we get our news is undoubtedly changing. Fewer and fewer people are reading physical newspapers, and more and more people are getting their news online. So while journalism itself will be here forever, news outlets might not.
So how do we stop news outlets from disappearing forever? That's one of the question this class hopes to answer. One of our homework assignments was to come up with 10 original ways to save them (yes, it's as hard as it sounds. Here are my thoughts:
1) Every news outlets should establish paywalls on their websites
Just to review, a paywall is a feature news outlets use that force readers to subscribe to their paper before they can read their online content. The Boston Globe uses this, and The New York Times activates its paywall after a certain amount of article views a month. If people really cared about their news, they would pay to read it online.
2) Better interaction with readers
Many journalists use Twitter and Facebook to interact with their readers, but maybe we should go beyond that. When readers comment on articles we should respond to their comments. We should ask readers what THEY want to read. I'm not saying newspapers should transform to their needs, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. What about user submitted photos, articles, and opinion pieces? I think the more interaction, the better.
3) Print, TV, and radio news outlets should work together
News outlets are separated; you never see, for example, NHPR and The Boston Globe collaborate on projects together. It might not necessarily bring in more money, but it would attract a lot of attention. And who knows, maybe it could pave the path for future business ventures.
4) Print, TV, and radio news outlets should merge
What would happen if news outlets like The New York Times and WMUR pooled their resources and worked under the same company? So many news outlets spend money to survive against competition; let's just combine various print, TV, and radio news outlets that focus on different forms of media. The new company could dominate the many different methods of reporting.
5) Offer different subscription packages
Some people enjoy reading the news, but not enough to pay for the whole yearly package. What if they only like the arts section of the newspaper, but they don't want to subscribe to the whole thing? That newspaper could be losing customers just because they don't offer specific packages.
6) Focus on getting it right, not first
Let's look at stories like the Connecticut shootings and the Boston Marathon bombings. The number of false reports is staggering. I actually stopped paying attention for a day or two so some of the false news could correct itself. I think this all boils down to news outlets focusing on reporting first and not correctly. People lose faith when there are false reports. If journalists built their career around this standard, maybe people would have more courage to pay for news.
7) An easier way for readers to become involved with their news outlets
Readers have been able to comment on articles, share articles, and write letters to the editors for a long time now. We should let our readers become even more involved. Maybe let worthy contributors or bloggers sit in on editing meetings? The more readers can interact with their favorite news outlets, the better.
8) Hire more contributors
I sometimes think news outlets are too proud. Many don't allow contributors to submit their work...why? This is free content. As long as the work is well done, I don't see anything wrong with it.
9) Prove to the public that journalists can be trusted
This will be tough, but not impossible. When I was a senior in high school, there were a series of tragic deaths that plagued my home town. A lot of journalists were in our town during that time, and most of them did not respect the publics wishes. I heard so many stories of reporters disrespecting my classmates and taking photos without asking them. I'm not saying every journalist does this, but a lot do. We need to prove to the public that we have respect and integrity. If we can accomplish this, then maybe more people will pay for their news.
10) Save colored images for the Internet
Some facts: colored ink costs more than black ink, and more people get their news online than in print. By putting two and two together, it makes sense to only use black ink for print newspapers.
So how do we stop news outlets from disappearing forever? That's one of the question this class hopes to answer. One of our homework assignments was to come up with 10 original ways to save them (yes, it's as hard as it sounds. Here are my thoughts:
1) Every news outlets should establish paywalls on their websites
Just to review, a paywall is a feature news outlets use that force readers to subscribe to their paper before they can read their online content. The Boston Globe uses this, and The New York Times activates its paywall after a certain amount of article views a month. If people really cared about their news, they would pay to read it online.
2) Better interaction with readers
Many journalists use Twitter and Facebook to interact with their readers, but maybe we should go beyond that. When readers comment on articles we should respond to their comments. We should ask readers what THEY want to read. I'm not saying newspapers should transform to their needs, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. What about user submitted photos, articles, and opinion pieces? I think the more interaction, the better.
3) Print, TV, and radio news outlets should work together
News outlets are separated; you never see, for example, NHPR and The Boston Globe collaborate on projects together. It might not necessarily bring in more money, but it would attract a lot of attention. And who knows, maybe it could pave the path for future business ventures.
4) Print, TV, and radio news outlets should merge
What would happen if news outlets like The New York Times and WMUR pooled their resources and worked under the same company? So many news outlets spend money to survive against competition; let's just combine various print, TV, and radio news outlets that focus on different forms of media. The new company could dominate the many different methods of reporting.
5) Offer different subscription packages
Some people enjoy reading the news, but not enough to pay for the whole yearly package. What if they only like the arts section of the newspaper, but they don't want to subscribe to the whole thing? That newspaper could be losing customers just because they don't offer specific packages.
6) Focus on getting it right, not first
Let's look at stories like the Connecticut shootings and the Boston Marathon bombings. The number of false reports is staggering. I actually stopped paying attention for a day or two so some of the false news could correct itself. I think this all boils down to news outlets focusing on reporting first and not correctly. People lose faith when there are false reports. If journalists built their career around this standard, maybe people would have more courage to pay for news.
7) An easier way for readers to become involved with their news outlets
Readers have been able to comment on articles, share articles, and write letters to the editors for a long time now. We should let our readers become even more involved. Maybe let worthy contributors or bloggers sit in on editing meetings? The more readers can interact with their favorite news outlets, the better.
8) Hire more contributors
I sometimes think news outlets are too proud. Many don't allow contributors to submit their work...why? This is free content. As long as the work is well done, I don't see anything wrong with it.
9) Prove to the public that journalists can be trusted
This will be tough, but not impossible. When I was a senior in high school, there were a series of tragic deaths that plagued my home town. A lot of journalists were in our town during that time, and most of them did not respect the publics wishes. I heard so many stories of reporters disrespecting my classmates and taking photos without asking them. I'm not saying every journalist does this, but a lot do. We need to prove to the public that we have respect and integrity. If we can accomplish this, then maybe more people will pay for their news.
10) Save colored images for the Internet
Some facts: colored ink costs more than black ink, and more people get their news online than in print. By putting two and two together, it makes sense to only use black ink for print newspapers.
BuzzFeed: a totally new way to report news and interact with your audience
My last two posts focused on what journalism has become and what it means to be an entrepreneurial journalist, so I want to focus on a website that I think uses a new idea to report news called BuzzFeed.
BuzzFeed heavily focuses on photos, Internet memes, and videos. Some posts focus more on writing, but you'll find that most of them don't. This isn't a bad thing. While it's true you have to be a good writer to be good journalist, you also have to be good at understanding what your audience wants to see when they go online everyday. This is where BuzzFeed excels. From cute puppies to social justice to national news, BuzzFeed provides its audience with a new way to read and interact with online media.
BuzzFeed has a variety of methods it uses to report. Here are few examples:
13 Ways to Survive a Party Without Drinking
This post isn't "news," but it's a great example of how BuzzFeed uses memes in its articles.
James Blake and the Difficulty of Learning to be Happy With What You've Got
Then there are posts like this, which are essentially opinion pieces. Unlike the previous post, this reads like an actual newspaper article with appropriate photos.
J Street Won't Back Obama on Syria Resolution
This post is an actual news article.
8-Year-Old Boy Shot in the Face While Playing
Finally there's this post, which uses reporting skills with photos that tell most of the story.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
What does it mean to be an entrepreneurial journalist?
This thought came to me as soon as I wrote my first post about what it takes to be a journalist in today's world: what exactly is an entrepreneurial journalist? That's what this blog is about, but I've never actually sat down to come up with a concrete definition. My entrepreneurial journalism class just started last week so my definition may change by the end of the semester, but my definition, as it stands now, is a journalist who uses new ideas and concepts that reflect what his or her audience wants to deliver fast, accurate, and timely news. The more unique the reporting, and the more unique ways in which one reports, the better.
A really good example of unique reporting is the website Newspaper Death Watch. This was introduced to me during my first EJ class. When ever a newspaper or news outlet goes under, Newspaper Death Watch reports on it. It also reports news about news outlets financial situations, like the removal or additions of paywalls. To go even further, the website lists newspapers that have died under a "RIP" section. With all the talk about how newspapers are dying and how print won't be around soon, Newspaper Death Watch seems like the only place that is keeping track of what's happening.
College Media Matters is another great example of unique reporting and ideas. Focusing entirely on college level journalism, College Media Matters has some great articles as to what's going on in the college journalism world.
So, why are new ideas like these so important? The way I see it, newspapers and news outlets don't have much money to hire every single aspiring journalist. They need to hire those who have proficient reporting and writing skills, and those who have new ideas that will attract more readers. If I find more websites like Newspaper Death Watch and College Media Matters, I'll post it here.
A really good example of unique reporting is the website Newspaper Death Watch. This was introduced to me during my first EJ class. When ever a newspaper or news outlet goes under, Newspaper Death Watch reports on it. It also reports news about news outlets financial situations, like the removal or additions of paywalls. To go even further, the website lists newspapers that have died under a "RIP" section. With all the talk about how newspapers are dying and how print won't be around soon, Newspaper Death Watch seems like the only place that is keeping track of what's happening.
College Media Matters is another great example of unique reporting and ideas. Focusing entirely on college level journalism, College Media Matters has some great articles as to what's going on in the college journalism world.
So, why are new ideas like these so important? The way I see it, newspapers and news outlets don't have much money to hire every single aspiring journalist. They need to hire those who have proficient reporting and writing skills, and those who have new ideas that will attract more readers. If I find more websites like Newspaper Death Watch and College Media Matters, I'll post it here.
An intro: what I think it takes to be a journalist in today's world
For my first blog post I want to talk about journalists themselves. I feel like everyone is so concerned about newspapers and how journalism itself is changing that there is little room to discuss the actual people. Journalism is about reporting and writing about people to people so this topic is definitely something I want to explore more, but for now I'll just start with the basics: what it takes to be a journalist in today's world. I learned a lot during my two internships, and the most important thing I learned is that journalists need to be multi-talented individuals.
When I say today's world, I mean what everyone calls the "digital age." Almost everyone has a tablet, laptop, and/or a smartphone. That means that all these people have constant access to the Internet, which means constant access to news. The general public isn't going to wait around for tomorrow's newspaper or their favorite TV station's report at 8 p.m.; its wants news that it can get on any device at its earliest convenience
Is it possible to reach such a demand? Yes, but that means staff reporters can't just write stories. Editors can't just edit. Critics can't just review the latest books, restaurants, and movies. Photographers can't just take photos. You get the idea.
In order to survive in today's world as a journalism, one has to be able to do everything I just mentioned. Unfortunately, there isn't much money in journalism today, so news outlets are looking for journalists who have a wide range of skills. The quality of reporting and writing is obviously still very important, but interacting with your audience, photo and video skills, and knowledge about social media is becoming equally important.
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