Session 5: The Economics and Business of Online Journalism
Comments(0) In this lecture we go deep into a central question of journalism’s transition: how to pay for it. We look at the economics of online publishing and online advertising, and try to understand how they differ from print and broadcast. We discuss Demand Media and other “content mills,” and study basic search engine optimization practices. Then we go deep into the paywall debate with two opposing case studies: the Wall Street Journal vs. The Guardian. Finally we look at the evolving business strategies of real news organizations, including the Huffington Post, NPR, the BBC, ProPublica, Spot.us, and small local news sites.
This class was held Tuesday, June 15, 2010.
Readings:
- Newspapers and thinking the unthinkable , Clay Shirky
- The future of news: not so bleak, not so rosy, Martin Moore, MediaShift Idea Lab
- Sources of subsidy in the production of news, Jay Rosen, NYU
Things to think about:
- Five years later, The Huffington Post (and online media) are coming of age, Henry Blodget, Bussiness Insider
- The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model, Daniel Roth, Wired
- Play Paywall! The new web game that’s sweeping the newspaper industry , Jonathan Stray, Nieman Journalism Lab
- Google’s SEO Starter Guide, Official Google Blog
- Google News tips for publishers, Google News Blog
References:
- Bradford: Demand Media Will Take Out AOL First, Yahoo Later, Edmund Lee, AdAge. Joanna Bradford quote.
- Huffington Post denies controversial quote about Kachingle, Time Out Chicago. HuffPo has 70 reporters
- Block by block part I and Block by block part II , Michele McLellan, Reynolds Journalism Institute. US local news production statistics.
- Ad-funded Guardian could switch off presses by 2015, Peter Kirwan, Wired UK
- How Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Support Five Big Newspapers, David Weir, Bnet. High fraction of traffic from search engines.
Homework: Analyze a site and estimate its per-article/item available budget, assuming that it is supported entirely by ads.