Breaking News 4: When real news is fake

For this article I’m defining fake news as “news stories that have no factual basis but are presented as facts” (taken from “Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election”), whether a site’s goal is to make money or make partisan political points. Here are several ways real and fake news are the same. … Continued

Breaking News 2: When good ads go bad

Breaking News is a series on the self-inflicted fractures breaking the news business. The first was on malvertising. This second report is on the “ad tech tax” everyone pays — in dollars, time and readership.

Digital services suite helps community papers become one-stop shop for merchants’ advertising needs

Missouri Press Service has launched a suite of digital services designed to help community newspaper publishers boost their relationships with ad clients while generating additional revenue.   Services range from creating websites and social media pages for newspapers’ ad clients to training newspaper staffs to sell targeted YouTube and display ads. Since MPS, a Missouri … Continued

Online news startups explore revenue sources beyond advertising

Revenue was very much on the agenda when more than 100 local news entrepreneurs gathered at the LION Summit in Chicago Oct. 1-3. There were encouraging, if fledgling, signs that some sites are looking beyond banner display advertising. Supplemental sources include crowd-funding, membership programs, sponsored content, and events. For now, however, banner display advertising is … Continued

Is it time for the news industry to get smarter about advisortising?

This is the third of a series of blog reports about the status of the news landscape and a challenge to create a new one. The first two were “The future begins with P: Privacy, personalization and payment” and  “Imagining the 21st-century personal news experience — and how publishers need to collaborate to create it.”  … Continued