What do readers want out of online news?
Yes, people want multimedia. They want games, maps, 30 Rock on Hulu, bootlegged first-run movies from Pirate Bay, and whacked-out amateur videos on YouTube and a dozen other sites. But there’s no evidence that they want, for instance, a thoughtful interactive map/video/database mashup on Afghanistan or global warming on which they can comment. There’s no evidence that users love these things so much that they flock to them, stay around, and convert to a news site’s brand because of cool multimedia.
So here’s my position: There is no future in a paywall. No salvation in digital razzle dazzle.
There is, however, a bold future in relevant content.
John Yemma is Editor of the Christian Science Monitor. Since focusing on their Web presence, Yemma says the csmonitor.com Web site has grown steadily. How did they do it? By looking at the internet as a tool to enhance their core business, not replace it. In this article at paidcontent.org, Yemma espouses a simple strategy - focus on original content, quality journalism, and the technology to make that content easily available for readers.
What do you think? Is content enough to drive traffic, or do we need more?
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5 comments:
Content is King.
No way what we really need is more punch the monkey adds that crash web browsers!
No way what we really need is more punch the monkey adds that crash web browsers!
I agree how about news websites that just work at delivering the news.
Of course, developing content would require an investment in actual productive employees. That would upend the whole business model.
MediaNews just can't bring itself to spend hardly-earned lucre, especially on uncultured buffoons like the rank and file. If those clods wanted to make money in journalism, they should had gotten an MBA and joined the winning team.
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