Tag: journalism

Media Companies: Go Mobile or Become Social Media Serfs

Posted on by Blaise Lucey in For Writers, Virtual Philosophy

Media companies have to go mobile or they risk becoming serfs in Facebook's kingdom.Media companies are having a hard time trying to get people to pay for digital news. When there are so many sites that just provide headlines and a few paragraphs of sensational context (which is what most people want, anyway), it’s difficult to convince readers that “news” is a product that’s worth any money.

That’s why media companies have come to rely on advertising so heavily. Right now, 69% of all domestic news revenue is tied to advertising. And how do media companies ensure that they get the most potential exposure for advertisers? They bring in traffic. Lots and lots of traffic.

Facebook is responsible for a huge amount of that traffic, so it should be no surprise that the social media giant is enticing publishers with promises of lots of traffic and engagement in exchange for a deal in which, according to The New York Times, “media companies would essentially be serfs in a kingdom that Facebook owns.”

Continue reading “Media Companies: Go Mobile or Become Social Media Serfs” →

Don’t Like Native Advertising? Start Paying for News.

Posted on by Blaise Lucey in Virtual Philosophy

633408166_51157f74acLately, there’s been a lot of discussion about one of the newest advertising tactics in the journalism world: native advertising.

You might have seen it yourself, if you’ve felt the need to click one of BuzzFeed’s “10 Reasons Why You Should…” list articles.

You’ll have a series of copyright-infringing GIFs, generally stolen in some capacity from other websites, and, at the top of the article, you’ll see that it’s sponsored by Jack Daniels. Or JetBlue. Or whatever.

The idea is that people reading the article will start thinking BuzzFeed isn’t the only company that can put together some fun GIFs to help people avoid reading anything meaningful. That association will, in turn, benefit the brand.

The BuzzFeed / brand relationship is a dubious one at best, but investors are convinced – that’s part of the reason that BuzzFeed just got another $50 million in funding. The real issue for people, though, is that other publications – like The New York Times – are publishing “native advertising” content, too.

This is turning out to be a huge revenue generator for news publications and a great way to build brand awareness for the company. But when branded content starts flowering in every crevice of a news outlet’s website, it becomes more difficult to decide which is good to eat and which is a poisonous, subjective berry.

Continue reading “Don’t Like Native Advertising? Start Paying for News.” →

How eBooks Can Save Journalism

Posted on by Blaise Lucey in Culture, For Writers, Politics, Rantography, Rants, Technology

paynewspaper

At the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), Michelle Bachmann said a lot of things that weren’t true. She said she got the information from a self-published book, Presidential Perks Gone Royal. It’s written by a Republican lobbyist.

Bachmann trusted a book’s facts. Nothing wrong with that. However, with the filters for publication down, lies and truth are indiscernible. Promotional muscle is all one needs to propagate self-published propaganda.

Journalism used to show us the truth. That happened in this case. But for how much longer? How long are people going to keep paying for something as boring as facts?

Continue reading “How eBooks Can Save Journalism” →

The Internet Has Made Us All Entitled Content Thieves

Posted on by Blaise Lucey in For Bands, For Visual Artists, For Writers, Rants, Technology

paycontentThis week, the New York Times closed another loophole that got around its notorious paywall.

You know… the paywall.

The thing ensuring that one of the last bastions of what Americans call journalism (even if it’s owned by someone with a dubious background at best) doesn’t have to depend on advertising revenue that directly influences its content.

All to avoid paying $4 a week for news?

Hey, are you listening to music right now? Maybe you just read a great article on a news site. Or are you thinking about what kind of movie you’re going to watch on your computer tonight?

I bet you’re not going to pay for it.

Continue reading “The Internet Has Made Us All Entitled Content Thieves” →

What We Can Learn From France and Google’s War Over Free Content

Posted on by Blaise Lucey in For Writers, Marketing

There’s a territorial dispute afoot, have you heard about it?

French newspaper publishers have accused Google of deterring would-be readers by displaying the first sentences of an article in “Google News.”

The working theory is that, rather than clicking into the website for the full article, readers graze and move on, like information-hungry cows wandering a pasture.

In an undeniably Napoleonic flourish, the publishers argue that Google should pay to show those appetizing sentences in Google News.

Let battle be joined.

Continue reading “What We Can Learn From France and Google’s War Over Free Content” →