Reflections of a Newsosaur
What's happening Around the Web
One of our functions here at the Center is to be "surrogate readers" for Texas community journalists. Keeping up with the fast-changing world of community journalism has never been harder, and community journalism is now the "hot" area in mass communications.
But you have a paper to put out, and a Website to maintain. A few of you may even have a life.
So we'll help you keep up with what folk around the nation are saying about our field — about community journalism specifically and the wider world of newspapers and news Websites in general.
November 23, 2009
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Will readers pay for news? Polls disagree
The good news is that there has been a lot of research on whether or not people would pay for news online. The bad news is that the polls disagree. One says 53 percent would pay; another says only 20 percent would pay. And how much? Almost $5, according to one poll, only $3, according to another. No matter what price readers say they are willing to pay, the $3 to $5 subscription is a lot less than most publishers want to charge.
September 17, 2009
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Before charging for online content, know your true online readership
Alan Mutter explains how just looking at unique visitors or page views for your Web content isn't enough. It might be enough, he says, to show your advertisers how many views their ads are getting, but it's not enough if you're trying to figure out how much money you might make selling your content.
June 9, 2009
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Unlike the auto industry, newspapers can make a comeback
Alan Mutter (the same person who's pitching an industry-owned ad venture) has an interesting analysis of newspapers' cost structure on his blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur, and points out that changing that cost structure could be the key to the industry's comeback. Mutter is advocating a hybrid printed product that involves targeted, niche products combined with innovative online products. His plan is certainly easier to implement for small, community newspapers.
