Interesting interview with John Hodgman in Wired. Hodgman — probably best known today as the PC in the “I’m a Mac” commercials — is a former literary agent, and he talks about his travails trying to get a book by B-movie actor Bruce Campbell published.
In addition to the bad journalism there is a problem with the medium. Pride and Prejudice, the novel is not equivalent to the movie or the TV series or the Cliff Notes. Yet it is all the "same" story.Designers: Someone has to design these books. Consider getting in touch with the ultra local niche newspaper in your area.
It becomes a little more clear if the medium is placed in the communication ecology in which it exists.
"Breaking news" became the newspaper's value with the rise of the telegraph and then the telephone. It was driven by war reporting which created the necessary focus for a large audience. The importance of speed was also fueled by financial speculation where an information advantage is not only power, it is money.
Before that the newspaper was not primarily driven by advertising, but by subscription. With mass industrialization there came mass marketing and here we are. But in the era when debates, lectures and religious revivals were a significant form of "entertainment", newspapers would routinely serialize what later became novels.
Today, newspapers are not read, they are viewed and scanned. Too much other distraction and too many other media to scan -cable TV, Google news,Search. Readers for any particular story are a small percentage of the people who scan the media. The value added of the great writer/journalist is to craft the 1000 words or less that gets to the crux of it for those few who have the time and interest to focus on that story.
The purpose of a wiki is a resource for the writer/journalist. It uses the "crowd" to investigate, the wiki to organize and store, and the writer to write for publication.
I've been on a soapbox for a while that newspapers should sell stuff, instead of trying to sell information. Given the latest advances in Print technology, it is practical to offer that "366 page book" to "scanners" who want to become readers for that story.
My bet is that every important story about education, health, government and local economic development would find fans who would willingly pay for a physical book that puts it all in one place. The price would depend on the story. The sales would depend on offering it when the focus is high. With that model the Print newspaper would be optimized for scanning and selling local ads.
Headlines + a lede and two paragraphs + a link to the website + 1 or 2 "feature stories" + lots of pages of local ads. When the time is right, use the wiki to write the book and sell it through the website
Tim-
"I just want to add the Print piece to your very reasonable model.
You say "...Ideally, a news web site *could* use the tools of the blog and the wiki to address the problem of timeliness and interestingness -- and focus their editorial energy on importance."
Ideally the content in Print should be determined, NOT on a calendar schedule, but a news event schedule. The Product is still delivered on a regular schedule. But editorial gives up chasing the "breaking news".
A sometimes undervalued feature of breaking news is that it creates focus . . for a moment. If journalists had 24/7 access to a wikipedia type site, focused on the local region and it's many ongoing stories, it should make it a lot easier to write the story that will "get the right information, to the right person at the right time in the right form."
It might be the way to deal with the fact that "general interest" news is best delivered by groups forming on the web and Search.
"Business Cards Ads - Just $15 - Call 570-769-2327. " ,"Combine your RADIO advertising with PRINT. . .Call us for Special Packaging Rates! 570 769 2327.It's hard to tell what money changes hands for what. The back of the envelope is 15 "Business Card Ads" on a page, so let's say lowest net per page at $225. Thirty one and a half pages of ads at $225 per page. Now consider the cost of a cold set web magazine product with minimal distribution costs. Now consider that the staff listed on page 2 is 1 editor, 1 editorial assistant, 2 contributing editors, and 4 sales people. Do the math.
Look at the product very closely. At the bottom of every page is "Please Patronize These Advertisers." On page 6 of the Print versions is a "SPOTLIGHT ON: A local Business Success Story! And my personal favorite, under the copy about each Radio show, "Please patronize this fine sponsor of "To Your Health" - page 8 in Print.Hint number 2.
If you think this can't be done in your area, consider how many natural groups of 25K to 100K people among your readership. Where do they live? Where are their laundromats?Sometimes you can learn more in a laundromat then in at an expensive conference listening to really smart people taling about the Future of x,y,z . . . Ain't Print grand?
To our Designer and Newspaper viewers:The free version is free, except you have to give MindfireInc your contact info. I did it, but no spam so far. It's only fair as they underwrote the costs of the report. It's a PDF, about 150 pages 8 1/2 by 11. It has graphs and charts in color. Print it out. Give it to your sales manager or the smartest person in your outfit. Tell them they have to read it and give you a summary of what your company should do. If you tell them they have to give a presentation at your next sales meeting, that will get their attention. In any case, there is at least a 40-60 chance that it will get them thinking.
The book is a fact based analysis of the Print industry. There's lots of stuff you will probably find useful. In any case, if you want to connect with each other and your local printer, assuming of course that he will answer the phone, it's a pretty good framework for a useful discussion. Maybe if you all get together you can figure out what kind of stuff your readers, customers and clients will willingly buy.
"I just read this book over the weekend. Take a look and let me know what you think we can use. And by the way, I want you to give a presentation at our next sales meeting."The "you" should be the smartest person in your outfit. It might even be your sales manager. More likely it will be a CSR, your receptionist or someone in Prep.
