By Charlotte Janischewski
Special to Newspapers & Technology
The printed newspaper — most media experts agree — will be with us for many years to come.
However, it is not clear how it will look in 10 or 20 years’ time. The Internet and mobile-based offerings take serious consideration of the trend towards individualization among the population — surely the newspaper will adapt. In the future, will the general newspaper be replaced by a series of newspapers aimed at target audiences, oriented towards specific areas of interest, age groups or even smaller geographical units? Will free newspapers, e-paper editions and download possibilities further hurt print circulations? Developments such as these could benefit digital printing.
Jean-Luc Renaud, technical director of Republicain Lorrain in Metz, France, checks a copy of a newspaper printed on a Kodak digital press during last year’s IfraExpo.
Where do we stand today?
“At drupa 1995, KBA, together with Scitex, showed an inkjet imprinting unit as a component of a conventional newspaper rotary press. It was thought at that time that digital non-impact printing could someday take over parts of the newspaper as an integral component of newspaper production,” said Ifra Research Director Manfred Werfel.
Clearly, that hasn’t happened. Were the expectations of digital printing too great?
Productivity versus flexibility
Although the digital process has been implemented into the newspaper production environment, it was not specifically developed for newspaper applications and is (still) not optimized for it. In newspaper printing, the top priority was to produce a consistent print product on a mass scale and within the shortest possible time; therefore the focus was put on maximum speed. In contrast, with digital, which has its origins in the office sector, the aim was to produce many different single documents as efficiently as possible. Consequently, there are very different tasks and concepts concerned here. Simply exchanging the processes for these applications inevitably leads to disappointing results on both sides.
Among the most critical issues: speed.
The speed of the digital process has increased dramatically, but it is still much slower than offset printing.
If it is only the web speeds that are compared, offset printing, with about 50 feet per second, is six times faster than the fastest inkjet digital printer (which is why digital/offset combinations are not worthy of consideration at the present time).
On top of this, it should not be forgotten that an offset press prints not just on one web (as a digital press does) and one page on each side of the web (as a digital press does), but in a 4-by-2 configuration, it can print two times four pages, multiplied by the number of webs used.
Another issue: cost.
Cost considerations
Digital printing’s so-called click-charge model drives the cost digital production.
This use-dependent charge (per 1,000 copies) covers the maintenance costs and is, in a manner of speaking, calculated into the selling price of the system.
The click charge is a thorn in the side of the publishers, as it raises the per-item production costs. Fortunately, manufacturers, including Kodak and Oce, have now indicated their openness toward different price models that are appropriate to a commercial utilization of the systems.
Absent the click-charge, production costs now depend on the price of the printers themselves — which can range from $1.7 million for an Oce VarioStream 9230 to more than $5 million for a Kodak Versamark VX5000 — the costs for consumables, especially ink or toner (the latter considerably more expensive); the length of print run/system utilization, and the maintenance contract model.
Under the most favorable conditions, the costs will be about $1.30 per copy. With offset, production costs are estimated at 20 to 25 cents (depending on wage costs).
Today, three main business models are used:
•Decentralized production of small print runs to be able to offer the newspaper the same day — The advantages of so-called distribute and print (first distribute, then print digitally on location) lie in the time saved and economized transport costs, which are felt mostly only with small print runs and long distances.
Digital Newspaper Network, for example, produces 15 titles with thousands of copies each day at seven locations on four continents, according to Oce, which launched DNN in 2001.
SatelliteNewspapers, meantime, plans to use Kodak Versamark systems, among others, to launch its own network.
•Financial and business news as a service for business travelers in airplanes and trains.
•Print-on-demand, where single copies produced on automatic printing systems are distributed at hotels, public areas, or on cruise ships — Hundreds of newspaper titles are offered today worldwide as print-on-demand copies via partner companies, such as NewspaperDirect and SatelliteNewspapers. (Alternatively, there is the possibility to download PDFs from the Internet, an option that is becoming increasingly popular.) Even though many hundreds of thousands of copies are sold monthly worldwide in this way, the bottom line impact at the individual newspaper is almost negligible.
Instead, the main consideration here is customer service and image promotion.
The personal newspaper
Because digital printing is a plateless process, each page can be altered, giving rise to the notion of variable printing.
But how much sense would the individual newspaper make? On the one hand, it would allow a publisher to truly fulfill the personal interests of individual readers, but it would also filter information the reader may not want.
Is that what the newspaper reader really wants: no surprises?
A second aspect concerns costs: Would the reader be willing to pay for this service? Or what would it be worth to the advertiser to be able to address his target audience directly? One-to-one marketing in the newspaper — that would indeed be highly attractive for the advertising industry and lucrative for the publishing house.
Yet the idea is sufficiently appealing to give rise to various concepts, including one called PersonalNews, backed by German software firm Syntops.
According to Gregor Dorsch, Syntops’ director, “PersonalNews enables the customer to compile his own individual newspaper from the pages and sections of international newspaper titles. The product is then digitally printed and delivered to the customer by 7 a.m. on the same day via the regular newspaper delivery channels.”
A pilot test involving about 20 newspapers is scheduled to take place this summer, he said. Among the papers expressing a desire to participate: The Washington Post and Washington Times.
Blending of feeds
Another idea, dubbed Improo, is a “synthesis between the online and offline world,” according to backer Detlef Schoder, a professor at Cologne University.
Improo text will come from a wide range of sources, including newspapers, supplemented by blogs and RSS feeds. The concept will be tested later this year.
Finally, MyObserver, a digitally printed companion to The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, is currently under development (see sidebar, page 46).
Also of interest is a new service provided by the Swiss Post Office (PostMail division), which now offers newspaper printing and distribution from a single source.
Since September, a part of the circulation of the business title L’Agefi for Tessin has been produced and distributed under the direction of PostMail. Before this development, the paper was not delivered on the day of publication in the respective region, which is thought to have motivated many readers to cancel their subscriptions.
Economic efficiency decides
In June 2005, The New York Times launched a digitally printed edition in London. According to Raymond Pearce, vice president of circulation fulfillment, this step did not represent a major venture from the strategy point of view. “It was simply cheaper and faster to print the small European circulation in London instead of flying the copies over from the United States.”
Financial Times — in addition to Borsen in Denmark, Borsenzeitung and Suddeutsche Zeitung in Germany and Neue Zurcher Zeitung in Switzerland — is one of the pioneers of newspaper digital printing.
In 2002, FT began printing several hundred digital copies for distribution in Johannesburg, South Africa.
However, in 2005, when the circulation rose to 2,500 copies, it went back to offset. “In a manner of speaking, digital printing was a victim of its own success,” said Operations Director Richard Boulton.
The experience in South Africa showed that digital printing is a viable way to enter and develop a market, and then to change to the lower-cost production process after a corresponding level of circulation has been reached.
My Observer: Charlotte’s Web
“Direct marketing on steroids,” is how Peter Vandevanter, former vice president of new ventures for The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, describes the company’s My Observer personalized newspaper project (Vandevanter recently moved to MediaNews Group in Denver, where he will serve as vice president of targeted products).
The Charlotte Observer’s My Observer digital printing test involves two dozen subscribers who receive personalized editions wrapped around their home-delivered dailies.
Essentially, The Observer is testing the waters for personalized printing, sending the personalized publication to 24 of its subscribers as part of a test. Each day, the subscribers receive a one-page (two-sided) personalized edition that’s wrapped around their home-delivered daily paper. It features topics that they have pre-selected, as well as targeted ads.
Readers visit a Web site to answer a series of questions to determine their areas of interest. For each answer, an RSS feed is assigned, or users can create their own. Once that step is completed, software sends the feeds to a pagination app, where the are paginated and formatted before a PDF is generated.
The subsequent My Observer is then printed on a Xerox 6060 digital printer, and added to the subscriber’s paper.
It is considered a “premium service,” Vandevanter said, but will be free for subscribers. And it should be profitable, he said.
“It costs us about 25 cents to print that glossy page and 25 cents to deliver it, so if we get a dollar for an ad on the front and a dollar for an ad on the back, we’re profitable.”
Still, until The Observer gets at least 1,000 people receiving the specialized paper, advertising will remain on the back burner. “You need enough to make it worth people’s while.”
The goal is to sign up 5 percent of the paper’s circulation, or about 10,000 readers. More than that would create logistical delivery problems.
Ifra correspondents Caryl Holland and Martin and Cecilia Campbell contributed to this article, as did Dean Roper and Valérie Arnould from the newspaper techniques editorial team.
This article was first published in newspaper techniques, the monthly magazine of Ifra. If you have any comments or questions about these articles, please send them to ntreader@ifra.com.
If you’re interested to learn more about the training and consulting services available to newspapers through Ifra’s joint venture with the Newspaper Association of America, please contact Technical Solutions LLC at info@technical-solutions.org.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Kodak to offer digital finishing
CHICAGO - Kodak plans to introduce a newspaper-oriented inkjet printer equipped with an inline finishing system at this year’s IfraExpo.
The vendor’s existing VX5000 printer will be meshed with an inline finishing system from Hunkeler AG, said W. Park Rayfield, director of business development at Kodak Versamark.
Rayfield said the combination printer-postpress system, to be commercially available in 2007, will be aimed at newspapers that want the capability of producing short-run, full-color variable print products.
“It will have the look and feel of ink-on-paper,” he said at Inland Press Association’s press and postpress seminar. The printer-postpress system uses continuous inkjet technology to ensure more reliable performance, and can produce up to 1,000 40-page newspapers per hour. It’s well-suited for remote production, Rayfield said.
The Hunkeler postpress system, meantime, can cut, collect and fold both tab and broadsheet products and can switch formats automatically.
The vendor’s existing VX5000 printer will be meshed with an inline finishing system from Hunkeler AG, said W. Park Rayfield, director of business development at Kodak Versamark.
Rayfield said the combination printer-postpress system, to be commercially available in 2007, will be aimed at newspapers that want the capability of producing short-run, full-color variable print products.
“It will have the look and feel of ink-on-paper,” he said at Inland Press Association’s press and postpress seminar. The printer-postpress system uses continuous inkjet technology to ensure more reliable performance, and can produce up to 1,000 40-page newspapers per hour. It’s well-suited for remote production, Rayfield said.
The Hunkeler postpress system, meantime, can cut, collect and fold both tab and broadsheet products and can switch formats automatically.
Saturday, April 1, 2006
Grassroots Web concept branching out
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
YourHub.com may be coming to a Web site near you.
More than a dozen newspapers, ranging from The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel to those operated by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, have signed up to begin offering the Web-to-print grassroots journalism platform since the Denver Newspaper Agency began syndicating the concept earlier this year.
The initiative, introduced last May, is produced by the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News and is promoted and printed by the DNA, which also publishes The Denver Post. In Denver, YourHub.com spans 42 Web sites and 15 zoned weekly print sections that cover specific communities in the Mile High City’s metropolitan area (see Newspapers & Technology, June 2005).
Jack Lail, managing editor for multimedia at The News-Sentinel, said YourHub.com has yielded positive results since the newspaper launched the service last year prior to DNA’s syndication.
“We have had 2,715 stories posted, 1,305 events posted and 112 blog entries, he said, adding that the newspaper (Monday-Friday, 115,123; Saturday, 128,441; Sunday, 150,416) has more than 1,000 registered users and averages more than 60,000 page views each month.
The News-Sentinel is printing three zoned sections for home delivery and produces 21 Web sites covering specific Knoxville neighborhoods.
The paper’s YourHub.com staff consists of one editor, four reporters and an online producer. Their job is to help supplement the Web site by covering specific YourHub.com communities.
In addition to The News-Sentinel and LANG, other papers set to launch YourHub.com include Scripps Treasure Coast Newspaper Group in Florida, Alameda Newspaper Group in northern California, the Ventura County (Calif.) Star, the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail, Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record News, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.
Spiraling interest
Fran Wills, DNA’s vice president of interactive and product development, said that the agency opted to syndicate YourHub.Com after receiving inquiries from other newspapers that were interested in the Rocky Mountain News’ initiative.
Key features in the YourHub.com syndication launch kit include content publishing and hosting software as well as strategies for marketing, editorial and sales, Wills said.
Optional features, such as converting the Web content to print format, and online classified ad posting, are also available. The software was developed by DNA in conjunction with Denver-based Indigo Group Inc. DNA charges newspapers that syndicate YourHub.com a one-time setup fee of between $2,000 and $10,000 and a recurring monthly license fee of between $250 and $5,000, depending upon market size.
Although DNA provides the software and print interfaces, each newspaper is responsible for managing its own content and marketing.
Since its Denver launch last year, YourHub.com reported an average of 309,000 page views and more than 45,000 unique visitors per month, according to John Temple, editor, publisher and president of the News.
Moreover, the site generated more than $5 million in annual revenues for DNA, with 40 percent to 50 percent of advertisers representing new business for the agency.
The print sections are produced every Thursday by the News and delivered by the DNA to both News and Post subscribers.
“We receive more than 800 stories a week from parents, grandparents, professionals, public information officers, churches, town officials, business owners and others,” said Temple, about YourHub.com’s success. More than 400 events are posted on the offering’s various Web sites each week.
“We have done extensive outreach to the community and it has paid off,” he said.
Temple said that one of the lessons he and the staff at YourHub.com learned from the concept’s launch is that it takes time for newspapers to encourage community participation.
“It is more important to have a good relationship with the community than to have ‘bells and whistles’ on your site,” he said. “It is important that the community knows you really are local and that there are faces behind the Web site.”
At the same time, Temple said he has learned that citizen journalism can be a bit messy at times and that the concept has to be continually tweaked as it goes along.
To that end, Temple said YourHub.com has added blogging, personal profiles, comments and a mechanism through which users can rate stories. A yellow pages directory has also been added.
“The community is defining YourHub.com and what it looks like today may not be what it looks like next year,” he said. “As more people begin to understand the concept, there will be a bigger demand for sites such as ours,” he said.
Temple said YourHub.com thus far has successfully avoided the pitfalls that afflicted such comparable efforts as the Los Angeles Times’ wikitorial project that was launched and subsequently pulled because of obscene postings.
“We have 26 eyes on the Web page, a profanity filter and communities who self-police the sites,” Temple said. “We have an objectionable content button that notifies staff. We haven’t had a problem with objectionable postings.”
Citizen journalism pubs rolling off the presses
It’s becoming more commonplace for newspapers to produce special sections from citizen-generated online content.
Case in point, the Daily Herald In suburban Chicago, which in February launched Beep, a Web site geared to 21-to-34-year-old readers, according to editor Kurt Gessler. A print counterpart to Beep will debut later this spring.
“To do this, we’re creating a Web-to-print product focusing on news, entertainment and features, with a special emphasis on interactive elements like blogs, polls and a message board system,” he said. “Plus, our users can directly take part in the reporting process, from eating/drinking with us for reviews to serving as sources and even reporters on stories.”
Unlike some other online-to-print entities, Gessler said that the Herald will not zone Beep into special sections.
“For our users, we want to bring the scattered burbs together, not split them,” he said. “People constantly say they are bored, many of whom don’t realize all the things available within five miles of where they live.”
Gessler said that there is no downside to actively engaging readers to produce content for the community.
“This generation (of readers) has grown up not only participating on message boards but also running sites, defining what news is, what it means,” he said. “The biggest challenge I see is if, in this era of media specialization, a publication like Beep is focused enough.”
Beep is one of a growing number of so-called citizen journalism Web/print efforts. Among them:
*Northwest Voice: A free community publication published by The Bakersfield Californian that is delivered to more than 24,000 homes in northwest Bakersfield every other Thursday.
*Neighbors: A weekly, user-created neighborhood-oriented publication distributed by The Dallas Morning News.
*Bluffton Today: A free daily newspaper in Bluffton, S.C., which sports a mix of articles from news staff and online contributors.
Associate Editor
YourHub.com may be coming to a Web site near you.
More than a dozen newspapers, ranging from The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel to those operated by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, have signed up to begin offering the Web-to-print grassroots journalism platform since the Denver Newspaper Agency began syndicating the concept earlier this year.
The initiative, introduced last May, is produced by the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News and is promoted and printed by the DNA, which also publishes The Denver Post. In Denver, YourHub.com spans 42 Web sites and 15 zoned weekly print sections that cover specific communities in the Mile High City’s metropolitan area (see Newspapers & Technology, June 2005).
Jack Lail, managing editor for multimedia at The News-Sentinel, said YourHub.com has yielded positive results since the newspaper launched the service last year prior to DNA’s syndication.
“We have had 2,715 stories posted, 1,305 events posted and 112 blog entries, he said, adding that the newspaper (Monday-Friday, 115,123; Saturday, 128,441; Sunday, 150,416) has more than 1,000 registered users and averages more than 60,000 page views each month.
The News-Sentinel is printing three zoned sections for home delivery and produces 21 Web sites covering specific Knoxville neighborhoods.
The paper’s YourHub.com staff consists of one editor, four reporters and an online producer. Their job is to help supplement the Web site by covering specific YourHub.com communities.
In addition to The News-Sentinel and LANG, other papers set to launch YourHub.com include Scripps Treasure Coast Newspaper Group in Florida, Alameda Newspaper Group in northern California, the Ventura County (Calif.) Star, the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail, Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record News, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.
Spiraling interest
Fran Wills, DNA’s vice president of interactive and product development, said that the agency opted to syndicate YourHub.Com after receiving inquiries from other newspapers that were interested in the Rocky Mountain News’ initiative.
Key features in the YourHub.com syndication launch kit include content publishing and hosting software as well as strategies for marketing, editorial and sales, Wills said.
Optional features, such as converting the Web content to print format, and online classified ad posting, are also available. The software was developed by DNA in conjunction with Denver-based Indigo Group Inc. DNA charges newspapers that syndicate YourHub.com a one-time setup fee of between $2,000 and $10,000 and a recurring monthly license fee of between $250 and $5,000, depending upon market size.
Although DNA provides the software and print interfaces, each newspaper is responsible for managing its own content and marketing.
Since its Denver launch last year, YourHub.com reported an average of 309,000 page views and more than 45,000 unique visitors per month, according to John Temple, editor, publisher and president of the News.
Moreover, the site generated more than $5 million in annual revenues for DNA, with 40 percent to 50 percent of advertisers representing new business for the agency.
The print sections are produced every Thursday by the News and delivered by the DNA to both News and Post subscribers.
“We receive more than 800 stories a week from parents, grandparents, professionals, public information officers, churches, town officials, business owners and others,” said Temple, about YourHub.com’s success. More than 400 events are posted on the offering’s various Web sites each week.
“We have done extensive outreach to the community and it has paid off,” he said.
Temple said that one of the lessons he and the staff at YourHub.com learned from the concept’s launch is that it takes time for newspapers to encourage community participation.
“It is more important to have a good relationship with the community than to have ‘bells and whistles’ on your site,” he said. “It is important that the community knows you really are local and that there are faces behind the Web site.”
At the same time, Temple said he has learned that citizen journalism can be a bit messy at times and that the concept has to be continually tweaked as it goes along.
To that end, Temple said YourHub.com has added blogging, personal profiles, comments and a mechanism through which users can rate stories. A yellow pages directory has also been added.
“The community is defining YourHub.com and what it looks like today may not be what it looks like next year,” he said. “As more people begin to understand the concept, there will be a bigger demand for sites such as ours,” he said.
Temple said YourHub.com thus far has successfully avoided the pitfalls that afflicted such comparable efforts as the Los Angeles Times’ wikitorial project that was launched and subsequently pulled because of obscene postings.
“We have 26 eyes on the Web page, a profanity filter and communities who self-police the sites,” Temple said. “We have an objectionable content button that notifies staff. We haven’t had a problem with objectionable postings.”
Citizen journalism pubs rolling off the presses
It’s becoming more commonplace for newspapers to produce special sections from citizen-generated online content.
Case in point, the Daily Herald In suburban Chicago, which in February launched Beep, a Web site geared to 21-to-34-year-old readers, according to editor Kurt Gessler. A print counterpart to Beep will debut later this spring.
“To do this, we’re creating a Web-to-print product focusing on news, entertainment and features, with a special emphasis on interactive elements like blogs, polls and a message board system,” he said. “Plus, our users can directly take part in the reporting process, from eating/drinking with us for reviews to serving as sources and even reporters on stories.”
Unlike some other online-to-print entities, Gessler said that the Herald will not zone Beep into special sections.
“For our users, we want to bring the scattered burbs together, not split them,” he said. “People constantly say they are bored, many of whom don’t realize all the things available within five miles of where they live.”
Gessler said that there is no downside to actively engaging readers to produce content for the community.
“This generation (of readers) has grown up not only participating on message boards but also running sites, defining what news is, what it means,” he said. “The biggest challenge I see is if, in this era of media specialization, a publication like Beep is focused enough.”
Beep is one of a growing number of so-called citizen journalism Web/print efforts. Among them:
*Northwest Voice: A free community publication published by The Bakersfield Californian that is delivered to more than 24,000 homes in northwest Bakersfield every other Thursday.
*Neighbors: A weekly, user-created neighborhood-oriented publication distributed by The Dallas Morning News.
*Bluffton Today: A free daily newspaper in Bluffton, S.C., which sports a mix of articles from news staff and online contributors.
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Grassroots Web site in Denver model for future?
By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor
The (Denver) Rocky Mountain News last month rolled out a wide-ranging grassroots journalism initiative that could set the stage for how newspapers compete in today’s fractured media landscape.
The scheme, dubbed YourHub.com, is both a Web site and companion weekly print edition touted by Rocky Mountain News Publisher and Editor John Temple as a “virtual town square.”
“We expect people already involved in community life, whether through sports or clubs or social organizations, schools or churches, to be especially active on YourHub.com,” he said.
The site is portioned into 40 specific home pages for each community in the seven-county Denver metro area. Access is free, and users do not have to subscribe to the News to view stories or calendar events. But users must register before they can contribute to the site.
“They can write their own stories, post as many photos as they want, share their opinions on any topic and sell things,” Temple said.
In addition, the site is peppered with myriad information features such as volunteer requests and local calendars to help keep citizens informed about events and opportunities in their own backyard.
Positive reaction
The Rocky Mountain News is also providing editorial content for the YourHub.com sites through a dedicated staff separate from the newsroom.
The Denver Newspaper Agency, which publishes the News and The Denver Post through a joint operating agreement, is handling distribution and advertising for both the online and print editions of YourHub.com, according to Fran Willis, vice president of interactive and product development.
“Advertising will include retail and classified display and liner ads in print,” she said. “Online will include online versions of all the print advertising as well as online-only banners, contextual ads and transaction-enabled classified liners where users can sell their merchandise online through an auction, negotiated or fixed price.”
Temple said the newspaper registered more than 1,400 users in the first 24 hours after it launched the sites and reported 15,000 page views over the first two days.
“Whenever I explain YourHub.com in the community, I only get positive reactions,” he said.
The weekly print editions, the first of which were distributed in late May, spotlight the best stories on each YourHub.com site, Temple said.
By August, the News plans to print 15 editions, which will be inserted in both the News and The Post.
DNA has promoted YourHub.com in both papers as well as ads on cable television and Denver movie theaters.
“We have yard signs and flyers, and there will be a whole effort to do grassroots marketing including branded cameras, water bottles, sunscreen, baseball caps and soccer balls that will be distributed at community events,” Temple said.
Many sources
Temple said the primary role of the staff working on the site is to provide links to content that readers may find valuable.
“If you want to know when the library is open, you can go to YourHub.com, but we also link to every news story we can find about every community.”
This is one of the radical aspects of YourHub.com, Temple said, since the site is not giving preference on a regular basis to stories produced by YourHub.com staff.
“Our goal is to be a hub, a place where readers can come and find out everything they need to know about their local community. So we link to everybody, including Rocky competitors, in addition to generating our own stories and content.”
Currently the Web site has 10 full-time editorial employees, with plans to add more. There are three advertising staff and DNA’s interactive team has two full-time people working on YourHub.com with one from marketing.
The News’ YourHub.com is the latest in a series of attempts made by companies to encourage public participation. One of the most successful, Korea’s OhmyNews.com, reportedly attracts more than 2 million readers a day and has more than 26,000 registered citizen journalists.
Associate Editor
The (Denver) Rocky Mountain News last month rolled out a wide-ranging grassroots journalism initiative that could set the stage for how newspapers compete in today’s fractured media landscape.
The scheme, dubbed YourHub.com, is both a Web site and companion weekly print edition touted by Rocky Mountain News Publisher and Editor John Temple as a “virtual town square.”
“We expect people already involved in community life, whether through sports or clubs or social organizations, schools or churches, to be especially active on YourHub.com,” he said.
The site is portioned into 40 specific home pages for each community in the seven-county Denver metro area. Access is free, and users do not have to subscribe to the News to view stories or calendar events. But users must register before they can contribute to the site.
“They can write their own stories, post as many photos as they want, share their opinions on any topic and sell things,” Temple said.
In addition, the site is peppered with myriad information features such as volunteer requests and local calendars to help keep citizens informed about events and opportunities in their own backyard.
Positive reaction
The Rocky Mountain News is also providing editorial content for the YourHub.com sites through a dedicated staff separate from the newsroom.
The Denver Newspaper Agency, which publishes the News and The Denver Post through a joint operating agreement, is handling distribution and advertising for both the online and print editions of YourHub.com, according to Fran Willis, vice president of interactive and product development.
“Advertising will include retail and classified display and liner ads in print,” she said. “Online will include online versions of all the print advertising as well as online-only banners, contextual ads and transaction-enabled classified liners where users can sell their merchandise online through an auction, negotiated or fixed price.”
Temple said the newspaper registered more than 1,400 users in the first 24 hours after it launched the sites and reported 15,000 page views over the first two days.
“Whenever I explain YourHub.com in the community, I only get positive reactions,” he said.
The weekly print editions, the first of which were distributed in late May, spotlight the best stories on each YourHub.com site, Temple said.
By August, the News plans to print 15 editions, which will be inserted in both the News and The Post.
DNA has promoted YourHub.com in both papers as well as ads on cable television and Denver movie theaters.
“We have yard signs and flyers, and there will be a whole effort to do grassroots marketing including branded cameras, water bottles, sunscreen, baseball caps and soccer balls that will be distributed at community events,” Temple said.
Many sources
Temple said the primary role of the staff working on the site is to provide links to content that readers may find valuable.
“If you want to know when the library is open, you can go to YourHub.com, but we also link to every news story we can find about every community.”
This is one of the radical aspects of YourHub.com, Temple said, since the site is not giving preference on a regular basis to stories produced by YourHub.com staff.
“Our goal is to be a hub, a place where readers can come and find out everything they need to know about their local community. So we link to everybody, including Rocky competitors, in addition to generating our own stories and content.”
Currently the Web site has 10 full-time editorial employees, with plans to add more. There are three advertising staff and DNA’s interactive team has two full-time people working on YourHub.com with one from marketing.
The News’ YourHub.com is the latest in a series of attempts made by companies to encourage public participation. One of the most successful, Korea’s OhmyNews.com, reportedly attracts more than 2 million readers a day and has more than 26,000 registered citizen journalists.
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