Steal this idea! Hot new revenue for news

How does this sound? A million dollar revenue stream that requires only a salesperson or two, some web support and off-the-shelf e-commerce and newsletter tools? It caught my eye. And I’m suggesting you steal the idea for your local news operation fast before national competitors own the market. The idea is Deal Brokering. You use … Continued

Consortium idea leads RJI iPad/E-reader symposium discussion on final day

U.S., Korean and Japanese news-industry strategists wrapup up today three days in Missouri to assess the impact of the soon-to-be-launched Apple iPad on the news business — and on the fast-changing “E-reader” marketplace. On Monday, they considered the possibility of forming a news-industry consortium, and that idea is on the agenda today. It’s been the spring meeting … Continued

INSIGHT: From Paul Gillin — Curation’s growing value

http://gillin.com/blog/2010/03/curations-growing-value/ *Paul Gillin’s Social Media Report**March 4, 2010* EXCERPT: “Curation is an increasingly important part of the information value chain . . . Trusted curators who point us to the most valuable sources of information for our interests will become the new power brokers. Matt Drudge figured this out many years ago . . . … Continued

From Chicago: A snapshot of online news experiments

I interviewed operators of three Chicago online news sites — Gapers Block, Windy Citizen, and Chicago Talks — recently and found the mix of content and revenue ideas worth following. I’m adding several Chicago sites to my list of promising online news sites. Gapers Block Led by Andrew Huff, this site is aggregates and offers … Continued

Discussion finds pros and cons to new ownership forms

Putting journalism under non-profit ownership is no panacea for financing it, a six-person panel found during an 80-minute discussion at the New England Newspaper & Press Association annual meeting in Boston moderated by 2008-2009 Reynolds Fellow Bill Densmore. There are challenges to obtaining foundation funding. Local-news operations in New Haven, Conn., and Brattleboro, Vt., are … Continued

CityCamp Chicago: An exciting mashup of geeks and wonks

CityCamp in Chicago this past weekend brought together a fascinating mix of techies and local government officials who are part of the Gov 2.0 movement that seeks to use new digital tools to engage and empower citizens while making government more effective and transparent. Many of the government folks were newsbies trying to find out … Continued

My criteria for promising online news sites

As a fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute this year, I am working on a list of promising sites. The idea is to identify and work with the best – to learn from them and to figure out ways RJI might help them. Here are my criteria: Content: The site is devoted primarily to original … Continued

With the tidal

The first time I watched Wall Street with my son was on DVD and he loved it. He was totally captivated by the world of high stakes finance and arbitrage practiced by Michael Douglas playing Gordon Gekko. Then the movie comes to one particular scene where Gekko is walking at sunrise on the beach before … Continued