How Publishers Can Improve Their Revenue — Ezoic’s Experts Spell It Out

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Local news publishers are often able to pull together a decent share of pageviews in their communities — but many can’t wring enough revenue out of them. For practical solutions, I went to two experts at Ezoic, whose artificial-intelligence platform aims at helping its thousands of publisher clients to deliver better user experiences.

Local News Is Struggling — But Handouts From Digital Giants Aren’t the Answer

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Two very smart thinkers about the future of American journalism have called for Facebook and other hugely prosperous digital enterprises to pay reparations for what their success is allegedly costing journalism and democracy. I’ve worked in journalism all my life, but I don’t buy these arguments.

Zuckerberg Raises the Right Questions – Local News Should Answer Them

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Mark Zuckerberg posted a remarkable manifesto on Feb. 16 about our fractured communities and how to heal them. But why was Facebook’s founder and CEO saying this first? Why aren’t America’s news publishers, especially local ones, defining the crisis and offering their blueprints for solving it? Zuckerberg’s manifesto was 5,735 words long, but its core was these 138 […]

Investment Firms Come to the Forefront Among Owners of Local Newspapers

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Today seven investment entities control 349 daily newspapers, well ahead of either the 196 belonging to long-established private publishers that include companies like Hearst and Advance Publications or the 161 public publishers that include legacy chains like Gannett and McClatchy.

How 30A’s Multiple Revenue Streams Elevate the Local Site to New Heights

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Founder and CEO Mike Ragsdale explains why diversification is such an important element of 30A’s fast growth into what is now a multimillion-dollar operation. He also explains how community news sites that don’t have a tropical beachfront to boast about can create their own unique, revenue-generating brands.

Newspapers Have High Level of Trust, but Will They Capitalize on It?

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The key will be not how Facebook shares its revenues or tinkers with its news-feed algorithm. How successful newspapers are in achieving sustainability will depend on the richness of the connections they build with their audiences.

With $200k Boost, LION Aims to Take ‘Indie’ News to Next Level

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The new funds will help the organization bring more professional services to its members, and will further its mission to promote sustainable local news. To get a read on LION ‘s new plans, Street Fight caught up recently with interim Executive Director Matt DeRienzo.

Should Local News Open Its Heart to Emojis?

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Six billion emojis are shared every day, but few of them appear on local news sites. Dana Loberg, founder and CEO of MojiLaLa, thinks emojis could help local news sites not only make better connections with their present users but also attract new and younger audiences.

TAPinto’s 60 Franchises Launch Mobile App to Reach Young Users More Directly

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Hyperlocal news network TAPinto has launched a mobile app to give users a platform that’s free of Facebook’s filters and is the preferred choice of younger readers. While many local newspapers and TV broadcasters offer apps, few independent news “pure-plays” like TAPinto have done so.

Local Media Consortium Signing 6 Revenue Partners, Adding More TV Stations

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The organization is making major strategic changes – and more are on the way — as it seeks to strengthen the revenue power of its members, who represent a big chunk of the embattled digital local news industry.

SeeClickFix Grows Its Base to Over One Million Problem-Flagging Citizens

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SeeClickFix has used 21st-century technology to fix 2,666,448 issues (and still counting) in municipalities and other jurisdictions around the country. In this Q & A, CEO Ben Berkowitz talks about how the company he founded eight years ago has forged partnerships with 300 governments and other entities.

Who Should Rate Communities: Experts, the Public — or Both?

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One emerging group that might be able to help publishers answers tough questions is the nonprofit group STAR Communities, which “works to evaluate, improve, and certify sustainable communities.” The company helps cities and counties “achieve a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well being for their residents.”

Jersey’s New Brunswick Today Punches Its Way to a New Model for Local News

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Does Central New Jersey’s New Brunswick Today represent the future of local news? The local site has made inroads in its community, supporting itself with a “three-legged stool” combining reader memberships, foundation support and site advertising.

Inform Your Multichannel Customer Experience Strategy

Can Chat Apps Help Local Papers ‘Talk’ Their Way Out of Distress?

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Messaging apps would be the ideal medium for U.S. dailies to capture committed readers in the emerging era of the “New Localism.” The big advantage of chat apps is that publishers can send questions and other “push” notifications to subscribers that promote high levels of engagement.

Despite Stumble in Raleigh, Will The Agenda Be Part of ‘New Localism’?

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“I’m learning that the success we have in Charlotte isn’t scaleable to other distinct geographies,” said founder Ted Williams. “I’ve become convinced that the key to financial success for an organization like ours is providing a high degree of advertiser customization and customer service. “

Hearst Papers Tested to Perfect the Vital ‘User Experience’

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Revenue SVP Esfand Pourmand wants the group’s 17 dailies and 57 weeklies to maximize their revenue potential. To do that he knows they also have to enrich “user experiences” across multiple platforms.

TownNews Founder: News Sites Will ‘Perish’ Without Latest AdTech

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In 1989, Marc Wilson’s Montana news bulletin board put editorial content into the hands of other local-news publishers more quickly, abundantly, and cheaply. Today, Wilson’s TownNews.com serves 1,600 newspapers — big and small, daily and weekly — as well as pure-plays and other digital publications

Broadstreet CEO: ‘Value’ in Local Publishing Is More Than Scale

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Kenny Katzgrau talks with us about what he calls the “growing divide” between publishers, like local newspaper groups, who pitch advertisers with the scale of big numbers of pageviews, and independents, who emphasize value.

Moms and Dads Do the Crowdsourcing at New Hyperlocal Network ParentNation

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In September, Renee Levine and her husband Josh launched their hyperlocal parent-recommendations site in the New York City suburbs of Westchester County, N.Y., Fairfield County in Connecticut and North Jersey. Here, Levine talks about the birth of ParentNation and why the company is building their content strategy around crowdsourcing.

Will the New Political Landscape Reinvigorate Local News?

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My look at some local coverage of the election offers encouraging clues to how good journalism can have a positive impact on the business models for local news. It also implies that the coming Trump era is very likely to accelerate the industry’s transformation.