RJI news
Building new ad revenues could start on the obit page
An interview with Stephanie Padgett as she begins her fellowship year. About five years ago, Stephanie Padgett was doing market research to help smaller, Midwestern newspapers and radio stations. It was quite clear that her research on how to reach more consumers would be useless if the media companies didn’t change their old habits. For … Continued
What every newspaper publisher needs to know about e-readers and tablets
Sean Reily began his Reynolds Fellowship in August 2009 just as the market for e-readers was heating up. The Kindle, which Amazon had launched less than two years earlier, still was the only e-reader wirelessly distributing digital editions of newspapers. But Amazon’s surprising success with the Kindle was beginning to attract potential competitors. When RJI … Continued
A Look at CircLabs’ plans to track your browsing to serve news (and ads)
Stealth startup CircLabs launched in late May with the goal of “sustaining” the business of journalism by bundling content, social features and ads, while giving readers a single platform for subscriptions and micro-payments to multiple publications. Now, EVP Martin Langeveld offers some details on how the company plans to do it: with a browser add-on … Continued
Firing neurons, building relationships: Washington D.C. Conference
Washington, D.C. — The Radio and TV Museum inside George Washington University displays journalism’s past: a Philco Model 42-350, a 1942 radio to first offer FM broadcasts. Its fame soon faded: the museum notes 1945-57 was “dismal,” as television ate up once-loyal FM audience and advertisers. Dusty radio relics reminded journalists, bloggers and software geeks … Continued
In his own words: A selection of Matt Thompson’s blog entries Part 2
The W-bomb Sept. 22, 2008 You can’t tell from my blogging, but I’ve gotten rather sensitive about the word “Wikipedia.” Earlier this year, after I’d written my research proposal, I was casting about for a title to communicate the core concept I hoped to pursue. I recalled a whitepaper by Shayne Bowman, Ellen Kampinsky and … Continued
In his own words: A selection of Matt Thompson’s blog entries Part 1
The timing of local news cycles May 13, 2009 Howard Weaver writes a sweet, short paean to the dailyness of the newspaper: I’ve been arguing for years that newspapers — yes, printed, daily newspapers — have a good long horizon on the value curve if they shift their focus to the value they already do … Continued
Info Valet leads to Circulate
An article about the new Circulate created by 2008 Reynolds Fellow Bill Densmore Sorry, wedding planners: happy couples will soon have a faster and cheaper way to find ads for discounted designer duds or a Consumer Reports articles on best honeymoon getaways. It’s called Circulate, a new Internet-based service that will provide consumers a customized … Continued
JurnosWiki
The JurnoWiki site was created by Jane Stevens, Amy Gahran, Adam Glenn, and Bill Mitchell in Spring 2009 as a resource for journalists. For more information contact Jane Stevens or RJI Who are Jurnos? Jurnos are entrepreneurs. Jurnos come from all walks of life. Jurnos are community managers. Jurnos are community organizers. Jurnos are catalysts … Continued
Newspapers, farms and Bud’s advice
When the Tribune Co. announced bankruptcy in December, I had one immediate thought: I wish they’d really bought the farm. The World’s Greatest Newspaper is broke and an uncomfortable crowd of metros is teetering on the brink. Even the New York Times is hocking its skyscraper to pay the bills. It’s a sad time for … Continued
Jane Stevens’ report after the launch event: ‘With crisis comes opportunity…’
More than 100 journalists, advertising experts, community activists, technology experts, librarians, educators and students gathered — from Washington, D.C. to Hawaii, in person and virtually — for an RJI Talkfest to launch the RJI Collaboratory, a news organization incubator for Web-based entrepreneurial journalists. As the first example of how the RJI Collaboratory plans to be … Continued