Comments on: MiamiHerald.com asks for donations (too subtly)

By: Frymaster

Frymaster — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:14:16 +0000

Well, I’m late to the party. “Curiouser and curiouser” keeps ringing in my head. I’m certainly interested in MH’s results and yours, Steve.

But rather than talk logistics, let’s do the ‘higher math’.

Equation 1: Online CPMs
This is a complex equation that sets the value of an impression. By releasing inventory to “the networks”, NPs have effectively decimated their own CPMs, and I think the CBS move to cut the networks entirely will generate important data for this equation. Other key variables: click-thru rates, awareness (eye-tracking shows horrifying results), relevance, and engagement (time spent per session).

Equation 2: Content vs Community
Is Content still King? Maybe, maybe not. Community is a strong, strong rival. Where Content is the NPs strength, Community is their weakness. And the trend is toward Community. At some point, it won’t matter how good the content is because community-driven information will be essentially equal. CF, Sacramento Press.

Equation 3: Us and Them (Paywalls or any other kind of wall)
Anders, I call to your attention a small matter of language. On your story today, you refer to “readers”, but Steve refers to “users” here. He uses the more accurate term, and, IMO, NPs failure to understand this core concept represents their largest stumbling block. Symptoms other than chronically calling users ‘readers’: source articles have no links or only links to internal pages, link URLs in comments do not render as ‘hot’ links, comments are not moderated, journalists/authors do not interact with users (you get full marks here, Anders), commenting rules not fully disclosed (including available tags), site requires login but does not use any common ID systems (OpenID, Disqus, IntenseDebate, etc). I could go on and on.

So these three equations are swirling around, interacting with each other. In my analysis, NP efforts will almost inevitably fail because thus far they have only approached one or a few variables within any one equation. Success would only come through dumb luck.

Given enough time and enough experimentation by enough different newspapers, we could probably greatly simplify these equations, if not solve them entirely.

But if the newspapers have failed to give themselves enough time for enough of them to do enough experiments to cobble together a solution, what then?

Why not start _now_ with a systemic approach that seeks to drive user engagement (views, time spent) by building community around the content to create opportunities to place high(er) CPM ads that are relevant to the community and the content?

By: Anders Gyllenhaal

Anders Gyllenhaal — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:18:59 +0000

Steve, first thank you for your thoughtful critique of The Herald’s donation experiment. We aboslutely view this as a modest starting point to test the waters. I think the reaction both in South Florida and beyond says this is a worthy idea that needs to evolve based on how readers make use of it. There’s no question that the appeal isn’t prominent enough and that the actual pay system needs work. But we thought it best to take the low-key approach in the beginning. We’re a week into this and talking a great deal about how to make it better, which is the only way to really test out this idea. Again, thanks for all the feedback on this.

By: Bill Garber

Bill Garber — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:34:35 +0000

When the Miami Herald asks for quarters on the street but leaves their boxes open is when I’ll believe they believe in donations.

By: Kachingle Blog : Kachingle applauds the Miami Herald for innovation

Kachingle Blog : Kachingle applauds the Miami Herald for innovation — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:32:28 +0000

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By: Jerry Baker

Jerry Baker — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:08:38 +0000

I saw Gary Weiss’ comments about this, posted on Beethoven’s birthday, on his blog. Gary doesn’t like the idea of newspapers adopting the manner of mendicant entertainers, à la Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” Mr. Bo Jingles, and Joni Mitchell’s “one-man band, by the Quick Lunch stand, he was playin’ real good, for free.”
This is something to consider.

By: Richard R. Klicki

Richard R. Klicki — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:40:03 +0000

I totally agree, Steve. In fact, I’ve often wondered why newspapers don’t adopt the Amazon business model. Track where your regualar readers are going on your site and offer related material (but, unlike Amazon, for a nominal fee), packaged and delivered when the reader wants it, in the format he prefers (e-mail, mobile, Kindle, etc.) People generally are willing to pay for a something that provides individual value and convenience.

By: Paid Content : paidContent Quick Hits 12.16.09

Paid Content : paidContent Quick Hits 12.16.09 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:34:08 +0000

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By: Just Me

Just Me — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:49:35 +0000

Newspapers are unique in that they are rooted in public service but also require a fee to pay for items of ink, paper, reportes pay, etc. Thus they turned to charging a fee for the paper, and to advertising for a supplemental income.
Its been my opinion news sources (paper and tv media) should charge for electronic content as they do for the paper. The obvious method would be a quick summary of the headline/story with a fee for detailed or complete information. Let the user decide how far to proceed but also keep them quickly informed. Of course, some information would have to be provided for free, ie, elections, city meetings, emergency service information. Just my 2 cents.

By: Jon Donley

Jon Donley — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:50:56 +0000

Newspapers rooted in public service? The people at a newspaper who believe their careers are public service are exactly those most likely to be laid off. Newspapers are rooted in profit margins. They have many times performed public services, but it’s never been the cornerstone of the business. Hence the current mess. The cornerstone of the newspaper business has been advertising revenue – classified and display. Public service is a byproduct of the business, not the root.

Most journalists I rub elbows are true believers in journalism as public service. But that’s not what drives the Newspaper Factory. “Journalism” in the board room is what drives circulation and advertising.

By: Raj Mehta

Raj Mehta — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:29:30 +0000

A model we are offering includes several of Steve’s ideas. We’re days away from deploying to a medium sized publisher and will share that on this forum shortly.

Our model allows a “network” approach. A user starts with a small free credit with a very simple registration (name, email). She can use the system on multiple sites seamlessly, without requiring to re-login or provide credit card info.

We’re working with our publisher customers in defining ideas that people would pay for. For example, provide the article for free, but request a donation when reader clicks on an embedded video.

I’m curious about the results of Miami Herald as well.

Thanks for a great blog.

Raj