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NewsBeat Published by the New York Press Association
on behalf of New York’s Community Newspapers
June 2014 NYPA
Times/Review was
the first weekly
newspaper group
displayed in the
Newseum’s
“Today’s Front Pages”
Gallery!
2 NewsBeat June 2014
Mark your calendar
Friday, June 6, 2014
Newseum relents, will display
NYPA Board of Directors Meetings
NYPA Foundation Board of Directors Meeting
Straus News, 333 Seventh Ave. (6th flr.), NYC
weeklies after protest by editors
daylong protest by weekly newspaper journalism at Montgomery College in Rockville, Md.,
A editors from around the U.S. against the
Newseum’s snubbing of community
journalism resulted in the Washington, D.C.,
museum changing its policy to include weeklies in its
Today’s Front Pages exhibit.
and helped coordinate the campaign.
The Newseum responded by removing the
offending word “daily” from the FAQs on the exhibit
site. “Any general interest newspaper” can email
frontpages@newseum.org for instructions on how to
Dozens of New York newspapers participated in participate.
the effort including, The Millerton News, Herald “When people get together like this and feel
Community Newspapers (Long Island), Neighbor-to- strongly about a specific issue, and mobilize and
Neighbor Newspapers (suburban Buffalo), Oswego make specific arguments, it does have an impact,”
County Weeklies, Times Community Newspapers of Jonathan Thompson, the Newseum’s senior manager
the Hudson Valley (Newburgh), Bee Newspapers, of media relations, said in a telephone interview
Thursday, September 18, 2014 Straus News (NYC & the Hudson Valley), Impacto, Thursday afternoon.
NYPA/NYPS Boards of Directors Meetings Spotlight Newspapers, Pelham Weekly, Alfred Sun,
Catholic New York, Queens Courier, The Forum, The Chad Stebbins, executive director of the weekly
NYPA Foundation Board of Directors Meeting newspaper society, said the larger issue is respect for
Columbia Paper, and Press News Group
Danfords Hotel & Marina, Port Jefferson, NY (Southampton). the passion and energy that community journalists
bring to their work. “We have forced them to at least
Friday & Saturday, For years, theNewseum has featured a daily start considering weeklies as real, legitimate
September 19 & 20, 2014 roundup of front pages, both electronically and along newspapers that should stand aside their daily
its Pennsylvania Avenue exterior. The electronic counterparts,” he said.
NYPA Fall Convention archive includes PDFs sent in each day by hundreds
Danfords Hotel & Marina, Port Jefferson, NY of newspapers, both U.S. and international. The In a phone conversation before diving into a
ground-floor exhibit, visible to passersby, includes a meeting of the Frazier Park Public Utility District,
Friday, November 7, 2014 newspaper from each of the 50 states, the District of Patric Hedlund, editor of the weekly Mountain
NYPA/NYPS Boards of Directors Meetings Columbia and a dozen other countries. Enterprise and monthly New Mountain Pioneer,
NYPA Foundation Board of Directors Meeting which cover an 800-square-mile stretch of rural
The Newseum’s written policy limited hamlets halfway between Los Angeles and
NYC Bar Association, Manhattan, NY participation to daily newspapers, a restriction that Bakersfield, Calif., called the Newseum’s change of
has long irked weeklies’ editors and publishers. The heart “timely.”
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 U.S. has approximately 1,380 daily and 6,000 weekly
Better Newspaper Contest Deadline newspapers. Her papers cover “all the major issues of our
time,” she said. The utility district was to discuss
“The Newseum is supposed to be a museum debt payments in the face of reduced revenues
about news, not about metropolitan news, not about following foreclosures during the recession, which
daily news specifically,” said Dan Robrish, a former has lingered in rural areas. Then she was off to a
Associated Press journalist who started The community panel on increased heroin distribution in
Elizabethtown (Pa.) Advocate in 2010 after Journal- Kern County.
Register Co. closed the Elizabethtown Chronicle. “It
seems like a ridiculous distinction to make.” “Their curatorial overview had a real blind
spot,” Hedlund said of the discarded policy. “To do a
Especially, perhaps, since the Newseum had credible job, they can’t have such a huge, gaping
allowed newspapers that reduced their print hole, the Newseum, as a reporter of the journalism in
publication schedules to three days a week to our country.”
continue contributing to the exhibit.
So April 17th, the International Society of
Weekly Newspaper Editors organized a “front page EDITOR’S NOTE: IT IS IMPORTANT THAT
Thursday, March 26, 2015 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER ROUTINELY EMAIL THEIR
NYPA/NYPS Boards of Directors Meetings blitz,” urging its members to email their front pages
to the Newseum and follow up with social-media FRONT PAGES TO THE NEWSEUM SO THAT LOCAL
NYPA Foundation Board of Directors Meeting tweets and posts. At least 130 front pages were sent, NEWS COVERAGE CAN BE INCLUDED IN THE FRONT
Gideon Putnam Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY PAGE ROUNDUP.
said Steve Thurston, who teaches community
Friday & Saturday,
March 27 & 28, 2015 Courtesy of the Jewish Press
NYPA Spring Convention and Tradeshow
Gideon Putnam Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY A NEWSLETTER FOR NEW YORK’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
Published by the New York Press Association
NYPA NewsBeat 1681 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203-4305
518.464.6483 • 518.464.6489 fax • www.nynewspapers.com
Executive Editor — Michelle K. Rea Layout & Design — Rich Hotaling
June 2014 NewsBeat 3
Newseum Front Pages
By CAROLYN DONAVAN
Measuring how much print
newspapers matter
T
he Boston Globe brought my attention to a paper triangulation between lifeworld, system, and physical then the provisioning of local news — which helps tie
recently published in the Journal of Political place is not necessarily replicated by digital media. And, citizens to each other and their communities — must
Communication: “Dead Newspapers and as dead newspapers are replaced over time by new media, continue. Newspapers like the PI and Rocky may be gone,
Citizens’ Civic Engagement,” by Lee Shaker. it is possible that citizens’ relationships with each other but a commitment to local news and information cannot be
As the title suggests, Shaker wanted to measure how and their society will fundamentally change as well. abandoned.
losing a newspaper changes the way residents interact So how important are newspapers? The results in this There’s prior art here; Sam Schulhofer-Wohl and
with each other, and with civic issues. While academics article suggest that eliminating a local newspaper from a Miguel Garrido found in 2009 that the closure of the
have struggled to accurately measure the impact of community leads to less civic engagement in the Cincinnati Post (which primarily served the city’s Kentucky
newspapers on communities in the past, Shaker says, their immediate aftermath among the citizens of that suburbs across the river) was correlated to a decline in a
demise actually provides a unique opportunity to do so. community. How citizens replace that newspaper, and number of behaviors related to voter engagement. The next
He finds that civic engagement, as measured by a suite of what the contours of civic engagement look like going question: Does the observable decline persist over time, or
indicators, declined notably in Seattle and Denver when forward, are questions for future researchers. The advent do the news ecosystem and the audience respond to the
their second papers (the Post-Intelligencer and Rocky of new communication opportunities suggests that new one-time shock of a closure?
Mountain News) closed a few years back. forms of engagement will also develop. Thus far, there are
In a newspaper, news is literally on top; on the many questions about the importance of place online: why
should any one place matter when we may all be virtual — Reprinted from Neiman Journalism Lab
internet, news may be easily overwhelmed by the
preponderance of other content. In addition, metropolitan and interconnected? And yet, our society is still
newspapers are inherently local and their presence is a tie geographically organized and governed. Ultimately, if we
between lifeworld and system in their communities. This desire healthy and productive democratic communities,
4 NewsBeat June 2014
PA NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION
CONVENTION
TRADE SHOW
AND
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY
Friday, April 4 - Saturday, April 5, 2014
(3rd generation)
De m oc ra t Pu bl ish er Fred Stabbert III & Cecile Lany
Sullivan County ura (4th generation) and Liz Tuck er
with daughter La
g D-Day”
eaker — “Rememberin
Morley Piper, Keynote Sp
The Trade Show
ance,
publisher of the Long Island Adv
Terry Tuthill (4th generation), zzi & Monica Musetti-Carlin
Joanne Tuthill, Linda Leu
Speaker Mike Wagner
The Trade Show
ne Ciotta
Speaker Dia
Straus News Group Photo Andrew Olsen (NYPA Bo
congratulate Better Newsard President) & David Tyler (Past President)
Michael McLoughlin & Meg Pennisi paper Contest Winners fro
Stephanie Whalen & Steve Mink; m Ithaca College
June 2014 NewsBeat 5
p
Speaker Kevin Slim
mmonds
rnstein and Keith Ha
e a ker Tea m David Bo
Sp
Dancing at the Friday Nig
ht Gala
Jeremiah Papineau and Christina Scanlon Speaker Todd Handy
Speaker Tim Harrower The Trade Show
The Scarsdale Inquirer Group
Speaker Russell Viers
Spring Convention, 2014
• 400+ Participants
• 74 Newspaper Companies atttended
• 44 Speakers
• 64 Workshops
• 22 Trade Show Vendors
• 440 Contest Awards
Many Thanks to All —
The Trade Show We can’t wait for next year!
6 NewsBeat June 2014
By MATHEW INGRAM
Appeals court says blogs are not only media, they’re
an important source of news and commentary
A
n appeals court has ruled that a blogger is a transformative… the impact of blogs has been so great The court stopped short of saying that any blog or
member of the media for the purposes of that even terms traditionally well defined and blogger would qualify for protection as a media outlet,
defamation law — another decision that understood in journalism are changing as journalists but said that VanVoorhis’s blog definitely falls “within
helps support the idea of protecting acts of increasingly employ the tools and techniques of bloggers the ambit of the statute’s protection as an alternative
journalism, rather than just specific people who are – and vice versa.” medium of news and public comment.” As the trial
defined as professional journalist. lawyer representing VanVoorhis described it in a blog
post about the judgement: “The essential point, which
Journalism is what you do, the appellate court agreed with, is that a journalist is
not something you are, but is rather something that
not what you are you do.”
The court went on to say that the This is the point that I and others have tried to
term blog typically refers to a site operated make about attempts to protect journalists through
by a single individual or a small group that “shield laws.” Such laws often try — of necessity —
has primarily an informational purpose, to define who qualifies as a journalist, and often resort
most commonly in an area of special to doing so based on whether they are paid, whether
interest, knowledge or expertise — and they work for specific media outlets, and so on.
one which usually provides for public
impact or feedback. Based on this, the
decision states, “it appears clear that many Everyone is protected, not just
blogs and bloggers will fall within the
broad reach of media, and, if accused of journalists
defamatory statements, will qualify as a Restricting protection to professional journalists
media defendant.” It continues: is exactly what some judges and courts have also tried
“There are many outstanding blogs to do in certain cases, like the one involving Montana
on particular topics, managed by persons of exceptional blogger Crystal Cox. The trial judge said she was not
It would be nice if the debate over whether expertise, to whom we look for the most immediate entitled to broader protection because she was not a
bloggers are journalists could be put to rest, more than information on recent developments and on whom we journalist — but an appeals court ruled that this was
a decade after it first began, and especially after rely for informed explanations of the meaning of these incorrect, and it cited the Ninth Circuit’s commentary
bloggers like Glenn Greenwald have not only broken developments.” on whether the institutional press should have any
news stories but won Pulitzer Prizes for doing so. But more protection than the average citizen.
it continues — especially when it comes to the
protections that bloggers are entitled to and whether “The protections of the First
they should be the same as those given to professional Amendment do not turn on whether the
journalists, as I have argued they should be. defendant was a trained journalist,
formally affiliated with traditional news
A recent legal decision that helps support this entities, engaged in conflict-of-interest
idea was handed down in a Florida court case disclosure, went beyond just assembling
involving accusations of defamation. Under state law, others’ writings, or tried to get both sides
anyone who wants to pursue a defamation case has to of a story. As the Supreme Court has
notify the media outlet in question five days before accurately warned, a First Amendment
filing. But Christopher Comins argued he didn’t have distinction between the institutional press
to do so in the case of a blog post from university and other speakers is unworkable.”
student Matthew VanVoorhis, because blogs aren’t a
traditional form of media and therefore aren’t entitled Somewhat ironically — given
to notice. these kinds of defenses of the
contributions that blogging can make to
As Techdirt notes, Comins’s argument was thrown journalism — one of the most prominent
out by the original court, but he appealed. Now, an and authoritative blogs writing about the
appeals court has upheld that decision — and in the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, the
course of doing so, the judges in question chose to SCOTUSblog, has been repeatedly
provide some great commentary on the importance of denied a press pass to cover the court
blogging as a form of media. The decision says: officially, because it is not considered to
“The advent of the internet as a medium and the be a member of the media.
emergence of the blog as a means of free dissemination — Reprinted from GigaOm
of news and public comment have been
June 2014 NewsBeat 7
By ABIGAIL EDGE
Community editors share tips “The best one I think we ever had was with the head of
tourism in Wales,” said Harper, “and last week we had one on
social media, which was great.”
for engaging audiences “We’re finding it gets a really nice response and then it
leads to a full-page article in the next day’s paper.”
Ask meaningful questions
As Harper mentions, asking questions and putting call-
Why is community engagement so “For us, that means showing respect editorially, like outs to your community is a great way to engage with them and
important? choosing as NYT Picks some of the most well-written or get them to contribute to your content. However, to avoid the
Nick Petrie, deputy head of news development at The interesting viewpoints we get.” Prior to its redesign, which potential pitfall of asking questions that might be seen as too
Times and The Sunday Times said it is about “developing a saw comments lifted from underneath the article, to run specific, or even too silly, Richard Moynihan said it is a good
loyalty” from your audience. “There’s a lot more competition alongside the content, the New York Times also experimented idea to first ask yourself whether they are things to which you
than there used to be,” he explained, “and so building up a with selecting certain comments to run as Readers’ or your friends might be able to respond.
relationship with your readers — or in our case subscribers — Perspectives next to the relevant part of the story.
“Sometimes I’ve fallen into the trap where you ask these
and making them feel like they’re a part of your community The idea of including the best of your community in questions to try and drive community engagement with things
rather than a fly-by-night visitor, means you’re far more likely editorials was also a point made by Nick Petrie, something he like Facebook and they’re just dreadful questions and they
to develop a loyalty.” defines as “closing the circle.” “It’s a way to involve your don’t make sense,” he said.
“That’s incredibly important nowadays because there’s a readers in the process of how you create and discuss your
coverage,” he said. “We once asked, on one of our stories, ‘is this the beggest
lot less reasons to be loyal — people have a lot more choice.” crab you’ve ever seen?’ which is just so random and absurd,
Richard Moynihan, community and social media manager Petrie pointed to The Times’s Cities Fit fro Cycling and definitely came under Betteridge’s Law of ‘if a headline
at Metro, added that, in the same way that newsrooms monitor campaign and The Sunday Time’s NHS Reform campaign, has a question mark in it, the answer is usually no’.”
analytics to see what stories work well, it is important to listen both of which he said have involved their subscribers “every
step of the way.” Use all tools at your disposal Of course, community
to feedback from your community. management is not just about engaging audiences on your
“These are the people who are consuming your content or “That’s a process of asking them what aspects of these website and social media platforms. Nick Petrie from The
product and are going to be doing so in the future,” he said. issues matter most to them,” he added, “and using their Times pointed out it is important not to forget about all the
“So in exactly the same way as it’s important to look at experiences and stories as case studies and examples of different tools available. “I think often people like to focus on
analytics of how stories have done, and do more of what works, where we need to improve things.” the sexy, and the new, and the tools that are being talked about
it’s the same with community. If you’re not actually listening a lot and so often at the moment that’s platforms like Twitter,”
to people, listening to what they think, and not getting he explained.
feedback from them, you’re essentially flying blind.”
Listen and learn
“However, there are tools that we let go by the wayside
Another point Petrie makes is about the importance of such as newsletters. They’re actually a really powerful way of
Moynihan also pointed out the amount of “growth really listening to your community, rather than just giving the
potential” in community engagement. “If you engage people building a relationship with your readership or your
impression you are doing so. “I think, especially with subscribers; a really great way to remind them of the quality
and they recommend you to their friends, especially on social numerous platforms, it’s very easy to pretend you’re listening
media, you’ve potentially got lots more people visiting your and depth and the breadth of what you publish.”
but it’s actually quite hard to make sure you’ve got the
brand that you wouldn’t be able to reach before,” he said. processes in place to follow it through,” he said. Just last week Quartz blogged that its daily newsletter had
gone beyond 50,000 subscribers. Helen Harper also says The
Petrie noted it is important to feed community tips and Daily Post has had success in engaging its community off-site
Encourage high quality comments ideas back to the newsroom to show that you are not simply by hosting regular social media cafes where they offer tips in
Bassey Etim, community manager for the New York paying your readers lip service. Richard Moynihan agrees, using Twitter and Facebook.
Times, crowd sourced his community tips from the news adding that it important to have a reason for any community
engagement you do, rather than just doing it for the sake of it. “It’s really good to get out into the community, meeting
outlet’s moderation team. “That first comment is the one that our readers so they know the people behind The Daily Post
will convince someone to read the comments,” said Etim. “For example comments at the bottom of stories — are tweets or The Daily Post Facebook page. It shows that they’re
“Most people, when they’re going through the comments you just trying to notch numbers up or do you really want an real people, it’s not just generated by a computer.” Be as open
section, they only read one, maybe two, maybe three open dialogue with your readers and are you going to use that as possible. If you’re making changes, don’t be afraid to
comments. to shape future stories as well?” he asked. actually run them past some of your most engaged users.
So you’ve really got to make sure that the first thing Including web comments in editorials is something Metro’s Richard Moynihan says community engagement is a
you’re showing people is of high quality.” Of course, the way Helen Harper, head of audience and engagement at The good way to get feedback when making any changes or
in which you moderate a community can also have a huge Daily Post in North Wales, has also had success with. developments to your site.
effect on the quality of comments. “We’re a big believer in getting readers’ comments in Get the feedback first of all rather than make all these
However, Etim points out that it is important to note that the paper,” she said. One of the best recent examples is a changes and have a confused and possibly even angry
moderation is not simply about removing comments that you story The Post produced on mobile phone coverage, Harper community on your hands.”
disagree with. “You’re not moderating out dissent, you’re added. After spotting a tweet about poor Vodafone signal, the “If you involve people, if you’re open about why you’re
moderating out disrespect from all points of view,” he explained. newspaper ran an article on its website asking readers what trying to do things, get the feedback. It can actually help shape
This is the touchstone of what the New York Times tries they thought about the subject on a wider scale. the changes you’re making in a much better way than perhaps
to do in terms of moderation, Etim said. “We don’t want to “The response was tremendous,” said Harper. “We got you would have thought of.”
moderate out any particular point of view, even if it is a really about a hundred comments in a very short space of time and
horrible point of view,” he said. “We just want to make sure this led to a double-page feature in the paper.
people are respectful to one each other, and at least respectful Stay calm!
“It’s now going to lead to a series of articles pushing on
to public figures and individuals named in our stories.” the problem of mobile phone coverage in rural North Wales.” Bassey Etim at The New York Times offers the final word
Another way of encouraging higher quality comments, Another thing that The Daily Post does to engage it’s in community management.
Etim said, is to make commenters feel valued. “Reward community is hold a weekly webchat called Ask the Expert, “Breathe,” he said. “It can be overwhelming. If you’re
comments that make you chuckle when appropriate and which provides an opportunity for their readers to get tips and tense, you’re more likely to miss something or make mistakes.
encourage creativity wherever it comes.” He added it is advice on anything from mortgages to holidays. Even in the midst of chaos, take a moment to breathe, get
important to find a way to reward commenters in a way that centered and then throw yourself back in.”
reflects your publication.
8 NewsBeat June 2014
By BEN SHAW
Responsive Design: Navigating Downside
Shaw Media, the 163-year-old, family-owned, 100+ print and digital publication
company that operates in Illinois and Iowa, opted to move quickly into the responsive
design space. Ben Shaw, who is head of digital operations for the company, notes that
the move solved many problems but created others.
websites on search engines by having a single site, While not a source of external feedback,
O
ur readers want to get our content everywhere,
and so our content has to look great and we are able to serve ads across all platforms with mobile pages should be quick and crisp in almost
everywhere. Simple right? Readers are using one campaign and effectively target devices as well as any situation. Slow page speed can seriously
multiple kinds of devices, also, everything geography within our ad server. impact the number of mobile pages viewed per
from iPhones and huge Android phones to tiny tablets visit. It can also affect commerce abandonment.
But as mentioned, there was a four-part People will often choose to stop the purchase
and every browser resolution you can dream up to downside, starting with traffic analytics. Going
interact with our content. process if they become frustrated with usability
responsive has helped us to grow our mobile audience issues. So as part of our responsive design 1.1
How do publishers keep up? It’s no longer enough since a mobile reader can now get to any content revision, we are examining ways of selectively
to simply have a single mobile site or even a single currently on our sites. One problem that has arisen, loading scripts based on device type.
tablet site. though, is accurately counting that growth.
For our own solution, Shaw Media, the 163-year- In the past, we had a separate mobile site and a
old, family-owned, 100+ print and digital publication separate tablet site for each core news site. A script
company that operates in Illinois and Iowa, opted to would then shuffle people to the appropriate viewing
experience. We found that there was some duplication Work with vendors
move quickly into the responsive design space. It
solved our problem of looking great on every device. and there was an omission of devices and users Lastly, we also realized that the many vendors
But there was a downside: responsive design has also happening within the reporting suite of Google we work with for advertising and content solutions
created as least as many problems as it has solved. The Analytics. have not fully embraced responsive design yet.
redesign created issues for us ranging from traffic Many of them have decent mobile versions of their
analytics to ad inventory reporting, page performance offerings, but were inflexible with our new
and vendor integrations. Investigate how mobile sites integration requirements.
Responsive is an approach to Web design that results counted Granted, this is a new direction in the
in a single website that will look great on any range of Our takeaway: publishers with mobile sites now industry, but many of our verticals have ended up
devices. From the largest “phablet” one can find to the who are considering a switch to responsive should looking less refined as a result of the vendor
smallest, oldest computer monitor, publishers only take some time investigating how their mobile sites solutions adaptive offerings. Until vendors update
have to update the site once. This is often are counted in relation to their desktop site and make their offerings, we will need to do a better design-
accomplished by laying out a website with a fluid, any changes needed to the site’s traffic reports at least side job of wrapping their widgets into our sites.
grid-based template style. a month before the switch. Even given these headaches, the benefits of
Among the Shaw sites, for example, one can see Ad serving has been greatly streamlined by responsive design far outweigh them. Responsive
this in action by visiting www.nwherald.com or moving to responsive. However, internal reporting on will surely not be the last stop on the road of
www.mysuburbanlife.com on a desktop and dragging the inventory became more confusing. We use Google progressively better Web development, but it will
the lower corner of the browser window slowly inward. DFP for Small Business to serve our local display ads. be the best choice for the foreseeable future for
At certain sizes, the same page collapses and What we learned on reporting is that it counts an users and publishers. Now that so many publishers
rearranges itself. Visiting the page from one’s computer impression when a page with its ad tag is loaded have embraced it, we need to work through the
and then from one’s smartphone further illustrates this regardless of whether an ad is served or not. So the problems it has presented, sharing solutions so we
dynamic. ads that we enter are all served properly and on time, can all optimize this experience.
By and large, our transition to responsive has but historical reporting becomes hard to distill.
been enormously positive and conducive to a better This is a problem for all responsive sites that use Ben Shaw has been with Shaw Media since 2004.
workflow. Shaw Media is guided by our brand’s DFP since all of the scripts load when every page is He was named IT Director in 2006 and assumed
promise. Every project we start, even in Web design, loaded. Some of the pages are from regular computers responsibility for digital operations in 2010. He now
begins with a conversation around how we can better so they don’t require serving an ad to the extra mobile leads technology efforts across the company as
provide relevant information and effective marketing ad spot. Google reports them all as an impression, Shaw’s Chief Technology Officer.
solutions and be community advocates. Responsive even though an ad was clearly never served. One
design helped us enhance this mission in many areas, solution to this problem that we’ve found is to use a
but it also created some new issues. device detection script to decide what ad tags to load — Reprinted from NetNewsCheck
On the upside, now that our 25-plus websites are at the outset of the session.
responsive, we only need to post a story for one site Another issue we found was that responsive sites
once, thereby creating more time in editorial to load slower on the phone than a mobile-only site.
produce and traffic relevant information. It also allows Since a website is loading the full site’s java scripts,
our teams to share on social media without worrying the mobile page loads tend to be a little slower than
about what sort of device from which a user will view the previous mobile-only site design had been.
it. We can more effectively optimize and promote our
June 2014 NewsBeat 9
By KYLIE DAVIS
Research proves advertisers must supplement —
not supplant — print with digital for advertising mix
New data — from Nielsen, The Newspapers Works, GfK, and News Corp. —
speaks to the new value of print as partner to digital rather than an alternative.
A
string of new research is identifying the The second quarter research from The
new value proposition that newspaper Newspaper Works reveals newspaper readers are
companies need to champion when more active shoppers than non-readers, with 64%
articulating the power of print. buying clothing in the past month compared to 61%
of non readers, 82% shopping at a local shopping
Gone are the days when we can assume that we center (compared to 76%), and 56% buying hardware
are the only game in town, or that digital is a (compared to 47%).
presumptuous upstart converting print dollars to
digital pennies and ruining us all.
Rather, we need to demonstrate how print is still Print triggers action and drives
a viable and essential part of any advertisers’ media online search:
mix – not based on emotion and defensiveness, but on
the data. The Nielsen Global Trust report indicated 66%
of people always/sometimes take action from ads in
There is now a raft of insights that talk to the new newspapers.
value of print as a partner to digital rather than an
alternative. Here are the highlights. The second quarter report revealed those seeing
a print advertisement for a grocery chain were six
times more likely to try or buy the advertised product
Print is the most trusted medium: than the retail average.
The data shows 58% of people trust newspaper Meanwhile, the Know the Locals research from
advertising, according to the Nielsen Global Trust in News Corp reveals 67% of respondents visited an
Advertising and Brand Messages Report from advertiser Web site after seeing an ad in their local
September 2013. This is above television (54%) and newspaper.
magazines (50%) and a long distance ahead of digital
advertising of all kinds, including ads served in
search engine results (32%), online video ads (31%), Print offers value:
and ads in social networks (27%).
Print advertising has a better return on
investment than online media and much better than
Print builds brands: radio or TV. On average, advertisers earn back their
print advertising investment in the campaign period
Second quarter research from The Newspaper along with 20% extra.
Works reveals 57% of readers feel more positive
about stores that advertise in their local newspaper
than a non-advertiser, while local newspaper It’s about mix, not alternatives:
readers were three times more likely to keep a
newspaper ad than catalogs or flyers. A combination of print and online can do what
digital alone could not – cut through the brand clutter
83% of surveyed respondents said their real for real estate agents and reach passive buyers.
Our readership will surprise you: estate section helped them understand which agents Properties that were marketed through a combination
were active in their area, influencing their choice of of print and digital achieved a higher price and lower
The quarterly newspaper audience report from agent when the time came to decide. time on market.
the Newspaper Works finds 86% of people read a
newspaper every month. That’s an impressive In the new world, the best way to advertise will
audience. Print targets new customers: not be about backing the winner in the battle to the
death of traditional versus new media, but having a
And the data disputes the idea that young people The Know the Locals research conducted this bet both ways.
don’t read newspapers. Eight in 10 under age 30 read year revealed 72% of respondents said they went
a newspaper every month, with career success being a into stores to browse after seeing a great sales ad in — Reprinted from inma
stronger driver of newspaper reading than age. their local paper.
10 NewsBeat June 2014
By S. ANTHONY IANNARINO
Why You Are Stuggling With Price NYS Court of Appeals:
Names of retirees
receiving public pension
are public information
ast January NYPA joined the New York Times,
L News Corp, the NY Daily News, the Empire
Center for NYS Policy, and a host of other
newspaper companies and media law firms in an
amicus brief which was submitted to the Court of
Appeals, seeking disclosure under FOIL, of the
names of retirees receiving public pensions. The
Empire Center had petitioned the NYS Teachers
Retirement System and the NYC Teachers
Retirement System for the names of retired
employees in the system. In the brief we noted that
access to open records, including the names of
retirees receiving taxpayer-funded pensions, are
important to fulfilling the press’role as watchdogs of
government. In particular, we noted the role that
exposure of fraud, waste and misuse in pensions
systems has played in sparking public dialogue and
our competitors sell at a lower price. It’s tough
Y
the additional value they are receiving, and you need changes in the ways pensions are administered.
to win when your competitors are willing to give to be able to help them defend the value you create
away what they should be selling. But there is within their organization. The state’s highest court ruled April 30th that
nothing you can do about your competitors. the names but not the addresses of retirees who
If you want your dream client to perceive the receive public pensions must be disclosed according
If this is your struggle, one or more of the value, help them by sharing what makes you different
following four reasons is the root cause of your losses. and how it makes a difference. Then give them the to the provisions of New York’s Freedom of
logic, language, and evidence to defend that value. Information Law.
The decision decided an action brought in 2012
1. You Don’t Believe by the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New
This is the first–and most pernicious–reason you
4. You Aren’t Selling to Your Dream York State Policy, which sought disclosure of the
have trouble selling at a higher price than your Clients names of those receiving pensions from the state
competitors. If you don’t believe in your heart–and with There are some prospects with systemic Teachers’ Retirement System and the system covering
every fiber of your being–that you are creating more value challenges to paying for value. In some cases, what you retired teachers in New York City.
than any alternative, then you won’t be able to capture do doesn’t create enough value. In other cases, your
more value. If you don’t believe you are worth more, than The 6-0 decision is “a big boost to the public’s
prospect’s low margin prevents them from making the
no one else is going to believe it either. And they are right necessary investments in their own business. And right to know,” said E.J. McMahon , the president of
not to. there are some who have a mindset that only accepts the Empire Center.
lowest price as the greatest value. These are not your The think tank’s six-year-old SeeThroughNY
dream clients. database compiles payroll and pension information as
2. You Are Selling From Behind
If you want to capture value, you have to sell to well as other data. Its most current data for the
Whenever I hear from salespeople and sales leaders people who perceive that value. This is why it is teachers’ systems covers 2010, while its information
that they are having trouble capturing some of the greater critical that you invest your time and energy on the for the state Employees Retirement System is current
value they create, I believe it is because they are right targets. to 2013.
struggling to justify a higher price point. But more often
than not I discover that they are selling from behind. The most recent data show about 136,000
Instead of calling on their dream clients, that are Questions members of the state teachers system and another
reactive, sitting by waiting for someone to reach out to 68,000 for the New York City system.
invite them to an RFP. Do you believe your higher price is justified?
Do you believe you create more value? “If you want to think about how important it is,
Selling from behind eliminates the ability for you to contemplate how it would have been if it had gone the
create value during the buyer’s journey. You are too late Are you in front of the buyer’s process or other way,” McMahon said. “We wouldn’t have gotten
in the process. behind it?
any new information in the future about who’s
Can you justify your higher price? Can you receiving public pensions.”
describe the ways the greater value you create
3. You Can’t Justify Your Higher Price benefits your clients? The center now plans to seek updated lists from
If you want to capture a greater portion of the value the teachers systems, and similar data for retired
Are you selling to people who can’t, don’t, New York City police officers who had initially
that you create, you need to be able to justify your higher or won’t perceive value in what you sell?
price. You need to be able to help your client understand refused its request.June 2014 NewsBeat 11
By DICK BARMSCHEIDT
Opinion:
‘Latino’ or ‘Hispanic’?
Push users to your content —
or vice versa
(Photo by Felipe Santos via La Voz)
A It’s time for media companies to move
beyond e-mail newsletters and text
message advertising and put all their
energy behind push notification technology,
Push notifications used in this way can serve
multiple purposes:
• Increase user engagement.
which has the power to drive users to their
mobile apps and Web sites. • Improve user retention rates.
News and analysis are valuable and important • Help drive certain activities.
for users. The common problem for users and
news media companies alike: How can the news A family from the Hudson Valley, where La Voz is based.
be easily paired with a targeted user? If you want to establish a new mobile feature or
announce anything else directly into your In an op-ed piece that appeared in La Voz, Kevin Soto
target group, push notifications are the best examines how the use of “Latino” and “Hispanic,” two words
Online Web sites are offering a classic push way to get your users on your mobile Web site often used interchangeably in the U.S., can be problematic.
service, the newsletter. But more and more users or app.
are using their mobile device for news There is a difference between the terms:
consumption. To establish an one-to-one
communication flow, some media companies In the retail market, only 31% of the top 100 “Hispanic” refers to people who come from countries
used — and are still using — text mobile online shops with a mobile app are currently where Spanish is the official language; “Latino” refers to people
messaging to reach their users. using push notification. In the news area it from countries of Latin America, including Brazil.
seems to be a higher percentage, but it is
mostly focused on breaking news. Therein lies one dilemma — both definitions encompass at
But this way of pushing the news is too least 20 countries of origin, each with their own history, culture
expensive and ineffective, mostly because the and identity. Enveloping them under one umbrella term of
text inbox will fill up with impersonal content To be successful with push notifications, you
have to build a portfolio of push channels “Latino” or “Hispanic” diminishes, if not altogether eliminates,
that users will simply delete. those distinctions.
where the user can select his personal updates.
Mobile Web sites and apps in particular are Further, as Miles Rodriguez, assistant professor of
offering another, more effective way of pushing It is not enough to produce great and relevant Historical Studies and Latin American and Iberian Studies at
news to the right users. The mobile news content. You have to distribute and promote it!
Bard College, says, the labels can conflate race, ethnicity and
company should offer multiple push channels for nationality.
every content feature, such as a live sports
tracker or breaking news, or content channel, — Reprinted from INMA “The problem is that both terms cover many distinct races
such as politics, weather, and celebrities. and ethnicities, including mixed ones.” The confusion carries
on to the issue of nationality – that is to say, the relation
between a person and a country. Rodriguez comments: “People
often refer to Latinos of a specific nationality or national
background as a single race or ethnicity even though it is
obvious that each national setting includes many people of very
different races, ethnicities, and intermixtures.”
Soto acknowledges that the two terms can bring immigrants
together to face mutual problems in the U.S. Ultimately,
however, “terms of ethnicity are fundamentally subjective.”
To refer to a person as “Latino” or “Hispanic,” one carries
the risk of ignoring how this person has chosen to construct
their identity based on their race, language, country of origin,
and how they are perceived by other people.12 NewsBeat June 2014
By JUSTIN ELLIS
Making writing more mobile-friendly —
where digital publishing is headed
“It feels like it’s a really nourishing and optimistic time to have conversations
with publishers and to rethink how media should look online.”
C
raig Mod spends a lot of time in motion. This essay presents how we — the folks who made Mod says that for Hi, the elements of the writing
He’s also spends no small amount of time Hi — think these maps can be made. And how digital stack are the initial inspiration or spark of an idea, the
thinking — and writing — about the creative tools could and should function. Or, if you like, capturing of that idea and related info, the drafting of a
future of publishing and the ways you can think of http://sayhi.co as a living version of this piece of writing, the publishing of that writing and the
technology is transforming how we write and what essay. conversation that occurs during the creation of the
we read. Given that he often finds himself shuttling But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before product and/or after it is published.
between New York, Tokyo, and San Francisco, it jumping into the nitty gritty of Hi, let’s start with an Some other platforms or companies provide tools for
makes sense that he would be working on a project anecdote from Art & Fear. It concerns a ceramics class: parts of this “stack,” Mod says (and while he doesn’t
called Hi that blends writing with a sense of place. name them, that group might include platform/publishers
The ceramics teacher announced on opening day
Hi is a publishing system that asks writers to that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those like Medium and interactive writing services like
build stories in pieces over time, using a on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded Wattpad) but Hi wants to provide all of them. And the
framework that pushes you from notebook-style solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those main benefit today this, the founder says, is that it’s
sketches to fully-formed stories. The site was built on the right solely on its quality. easier to make the community or audience — and more
specifically with smartphones in mind, pushing importantly, the interaction with that community — part
users to take advantage of the functionality in their His procedure was simple: on the final day of class of the writing process from the beginning.
hands — camera, GPS, maps — to jumpstart the he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the
writing process. As a site, Hi also blends elements work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an
of community through other users and outside “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded “What advantages come from having all of
readers, giving writers access to an eager and on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot your pancakes in one place? The biggest
encouraging audience. — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”. advantage is that it’s easy to weave community
Well, came grading time and a curious fact into each stage of the writing process. This creates
Hi, as in hello. a unique intimacy with an audience. It also makes
emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced
But also hi, as in, Hi, a new storytelling by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that building an audience feel accessible. In fact,
platform. It lives over here at https://hi.co/. while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles writing on Hi feels less like using a set of tools and
of work — and learning from their mistakes — the more like having an increasingly deepening,
Hi is a website. It lets you attach a snippet of extended conversation.”
text and a photograph to a location. We call that a “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and
moment. in the end had little more to show for their efforts than
grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.
The basic moment: a snippet of text and
location (and some weather information) Veracity of this anecdote aside, it is filled with
dizzying truth: Anyone who creates for a living — is
Moments are grouped by location. You can creative, has output — knows you need to produce more
then choose to return to that moment later and to get better. There are no shortcuts. The algorithm is
extend it — write 100 or 10,000 words about it. painfully simple: Sit in the chair and write, paint,
That collection — moments tied to location, some compose. Every. Damn. Day.
short, some extended — is a narrative mapping.
In doing so you will make mistakes. Travel writer
How can narrative maps be used? Pico Iyer eloquently summarizes the power of mistakes
Well, for example: We wish we had a mapping and misimpressions as you move throughout the world:
for those first few hours after the Sendai Mistakes can, in their way, be as revealing as
Earthquake in 2011. Who said what, where, and epiphanies, and even a wrong impression may say as Mod, who previously worked for Flipboard and
when? What did it feel like to be in Tokyo or much about a place as a right one. If Bali had not been launched his own publishing startups, cofounded Hi with
Sendai after that 9.0 quake? so full of real magic, my false assumptions, no doubt, Chris Palmieri . The site’s been in beta for over eight
Of course, mappings need not only be political would have been very different. And wide eyes are, if months, but is now open to anyone. Mod coined the
or centered around natural disasters. nothing else, quite open. phrase “subcompact publishing” as a way to get at the
Mistakes are fine. Quantity can blaze a path to smaller, stripped down, mobile-friendly online
Within you exists a general mapping of New publications that are flowering in the media. Hi is one
York City that’s different from my mapping of New quality.
way of putting that idea into practice.
York City. Your NYC street corners, storefronts, We designed and built Hi on three core principles:
and river benches feel — psychically, emotionally While he never planned on being a Johnny
— different than my street corners. Though • Smartphones are exceptionally great devices Appleseed for digital publishing, Mod said the
physically, they’re the same. for sketching ideas. environment now for experimenting with writing and
• Preciousness kills creativity; ergo, there is technology is better than it has ever been: “It feels like
Hi helps us surface, layer, and share these for the first time in years there’s such a good energy out
narrative maps. Maps concerned with your corner no such thing as junk.
there around publishing startups and media startups.”
in NYC or maps concerned with the protests after a • Public broadcast (“publishing”) should happen
trial or the energy in a city square after political in tiered layers.
upheaval. — Reprinted from Nieman Journalism LabJune 2014 NewsBeat 13
How to Write Top Job Postings
4. Double Check Your Work
Reread your job posting to ensure that there are
no spelling or grammatical mistakes. Those kinds of
errors reflect poorly on your company and will deter
some highly qualified candidates who take such
things seriously.
Ask someone else to proofread the posting as
well. Sometimes, a second pair of eyes will catch
mistakes not noticed by the original author.
5. Use Visual Enhancements
The actual design of the job posting is very
important. As many as 75% of candidates say that
the look and feel of a job posting has influenced
their decision to apply.
S
o you want to help your customers craft a 2. Get The Job Description Right
not-to-be-missed job posting? That’s not a
problem, as long as you put in place certain The job description is where the rubber
principles that lead to more views, and, meets the road. It’s where potential candidates
ultimately, more candidates to fill a specific will see if the advertised position is right for them.
position. Make certain that your job description
Here are some ways to help your customers includes the following: an overview of the
write job postings worthy of the top job search sites. requirements for the positing, salary, travel
required, noteworthy challenges associated with
the position, the potential for upward mobility, the
1. Get The Title Right department within the company that has the
Here’s where you want to start thinking like a opening, and, most importantly, a reason why
blogger. Bloggers, especially the most successful people should want that job.
ones, are known for creating an eye-catching title
that readers can’t resist clicking. 3. The Job Requirements The design of the job posting often determines
That said, hyperbole is to be avoided in job Should Stand Out whether or not people apply
titles. You don’t want to advertise for a “Rock Star” You want the job requirements clearly Use bold text so that specific parts of the
unless you really are interviewing for a rock star. visible. They should be sectioned off, preferably posting stand out. Use bullet points to not only make
Also, avoid the use of unconventional titles, such as boxed, and easily noticeable. That’s often the first things easy to read, but also to create some attractive
“Chief Architectural Liaison.” Nobody knows what thing that candidates will look at. Then, they’ll visuals. Also, break the job posting up into sections
that means, except people who already work for read more if they believe they meet the that are clearly labeled, such as “Company
your company. qualifications. Benefits,” “Job Requirements,” and “About Us.”
Put yourself in the position of someone who is Also, appeal to a core group of individuals There is no such thing as the “perfect” job
looking for a job online. What keywords will that when you list the requirements. Don’t create a job posting for everyone. However, with a little bit of
person use in his/her job search? What keywords posting that is meant to attract a large pool of added effort, you can make your job postings a lot
best describe the position you’re offering? Find the candidates. You’ll be wasting your time as well as more compelling to candidates. You’ll end up with a
intersection of those two lists and craft a title theirs. Instead, target people who have a very higher response rate and a better chance to find the
accordingly. specific set of competencies and market to them. perfect match.
Also, make sure that those keywords are used Finally, just to put the icing on the cake, you
frequently in the job posting. For example, instead should deter unwanted candidates from applying
of stating “the person in this position will be — Reprinted from Recruitment Advisor
by clearly stating that only those candidates who
required to…” you should instead state “The meet the qualifications will contacted.
Python developer will be required to…”14 NewsBeat June 2014
By COURTNEY STONE
Power Prospecting:
Get to the Point!
T
he decision maker you are trying to pin down is crazy busy.
All of them are. Not just the CMO of a large corporation, but
also the SMB owner who handles everything herself. This is
what you need to keep in mind when you’re prospecting.
Tweak your messages and approach to fit the time-starved
needs of prospects today.
Sirius Decisions finds that it takes 8-10 attempts to reach a
prospect. But the average salesperson only makes TWO attempts! Just
keep trying! And remember, it’s not that your prospect is not interested
when they don’t call you back. It’s just that they are “crazy busy” and
have moved on to the next fire they have to put out.
You have to commit to reaching out at least EIGHT times.
“You should do this 2-3 times per week.” One time, make a phone call.
The next time, send an email. Next week, reach out on LinkedIn.
Try sending them a text message if you have their cell.
You don’t even have to say what medium you represent!
Don’t bother throwing out the name of your company because it simply
stands in your way of better dialogue. Try leaving a voicemail message
that sounds like this:
“Hi Paige. This is Courtney Stone. If you’re like most SMBs, your
use of digital advertising is growing. That’s why I thought you might
be interested in how I’ve helped similar SMBs drive store traffic and
increase revenue by 2.3%. Watch for an email from me with suggested
dates and times for us to talk. Again, this is Courtney Stone at
614-794-0500.”
Your message should only last 20-25 seconds. It’s tough, but you
can do it. Really trim down all the extraneous details that you think
you need. Why?
Because crazy busy decision makers only listen to the first 5-7
seconds of a voicemail.
Think about how many phone calls SMB owners get each day.
Think about how many voicemails a media buyer gets just when she
leaves her office for lunch. These people don’t have time to listen to
every single message, nor the entire message. So get to the point!You can also read
