Apr 5, 2010

Back on the grid

It only took ten days to move into my new hyperlocal digs, but alas, it’s done. For nearly two weeks, I lived on pizza and cheese sandwiches, burst digital bubbles on my signal-less cell phone, and wrestled an aerial antenna for a better reception of “Jerry Springer.”

For hard-core techies, that scene signals the end of civilization. But my temporary disconnect from online reality gave me a greater appreciation for real reality, the one that exists (and it does) beyond the internet.

It also allowed me to consider how hyperlocalists can better serve the underserved — and by underserved, I’m not just talking about plugged-in communities without a local newspaper or news website. I’m talking about communities that don’t even appear on the grid: lower-income neighborhoods without broadband, communities in which English is not the primary language, even sparsely populated rural communities.

The net might not penetrate those areas, but hyperlocalists can still serve them using different, even “primitive” technologies. Expect the next few blog posts to look into this idea.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Spikenzie.

Mar 23, 2010

When social media becomes free marketing

Yesterday, I bitched about businesses that were always on the lookout for free advertising from the local media. Now I’m telling fellow hyperlocalists this: When an opportunity comes up to promote your news outlet for free or cheap, jump all over it. Just remember that nothing’s ever really free.

One of the best ways for online hyperlocal organizations to market their stuff on the cheap is via social networking. (I don’t know if print-only outlets find it as useful.) However, an online analyst wrote last week that the type of information consumed depends on the social network being used. Facebookers tend to link to broadcast media for whatever reason, while Tweeters link to other social networks and photo- and video-sharing sites.

Either way, these social networks should be used as more than just RSS feeds. Instead, they should be extensions of a media outlet’s brand. And that’s where the “free isn’t really free” comes into play. Successful marketing via social media requires lots of work, but it can also pay off in a big way.

For example, the Twitter feed to my former hyperlocal news site offered followers more than just links to newly minted articles. I linked to other outlets’ stories, forwarded funny photos from the neighborhood, and most importantly, gave readers a peek into how my publication’s articles were researched and written.

Admittedly, some tweets were mundane. But some really shared the stupid, lonely and fun hyperlocalist experience, and I credit this personal interaction for a 40-percent jump in readership in 2009:

“Citizens advisory board is voting on whether or not to vote.”

“Going for coffee. Who wants?”

“Researching new donut shop on Fenton Street.”

Likewise, the outlet’s Facebook fan page and Tumblr page offered readers previously unpublished photos and videos, entertaining stories from other local publications, and announcements to special events. I don’t think Facebook did much to boost readership, but it did offer some demographic information on who my readers were. The Tumblr page did even less, but the project was a fun extension of my website’s brand.

Personally, I don’t pay any mind to Facebook’s “contextual” ads, and more power to Twitter if it can tap into that revenue stream. Their power as marketing tools are worth a quick glimpse at an advertisement — even a small fee for business users — and the sweat off my brow.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user zyphichore.

Jan 28, 2010

Only you can save journalism. Only you.

There’s a Zen saying that goes like this: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood carry water. It’s tricky to explain, but a little editing (read: complete rewrite) makes it clearer to the contemporary journalist: Before iPad, verify, verify, verify and don’t drink the Kool Aid. After iPad, verify, verify, verify and don’t drink the Kool Aid.

Technology is not the game changer that marketing experts want journalists and consumers to believe it is. Sure, news distribution and patterns of consumption have changed (or not, depending on how one interprets data from the Pew Research Center), but journalists must still hold themselves to the standards of their profession.

Take a look at technology’s impact on the way physicians practice medicine. Back in the day, doctors diagnosed disease with a quick look and immediately prescribed leeches as a remedy. Now they use CAT scans and MRIs and an alphabet soup of imaging techniques to diagnose the problem, and treatment usually consists of some sanitary pill or sterile injectable.

Yet most of today’s physicians have the same priority as their eye-balling, leech-loving predecessors, and that is to do no harm. Technology altered the ways in which they practice medicine, but their ultimate goal — to preserve life — has persisted over the centuries.

That goal-oriented zeal should be the same among journalists, but sometimes it’s not. There’s panic at the thought of online and mobile news distribution rewriting the rules and triggering further job instability or content dilution. But don’t blame technology for the journalist’s woes — blame the publisher.

It’s always been the publisher’s job to ensure a news outlet’s solvency, but too many of them ignored or even shunned innovative distribution routes and the possible revenue streams they posed. For years, they hung onto the advertising model and passed on online subscriptions. (Shout out to the Wall Street Journal, which has had its head on straight since day one.) Now publishers must depend on the likes of Apple’s iBooks or (even worse) Amazon’s content-distribution system for a pittance of the online and mobile market.

Technology did not cause this financial pallor in the newsroom. Don’t expect technology to cure it, either. Instead, technology should be seen as another tool in the craft of journalism. It can do good. It can do bad. But it all depends on if and how one uses it.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user tizzie.

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