From DNAinfo’s Ashes, Three News Vets Are Launching Their Phoenix in Chicago
The site’s non-billionaire founders aim to succeed with a radically different revenue strategy from their DNAinfo alma mater — their plan for domination does not include advertising. In this Q & A, director of strategy Jen Sabella tells how she and her partners are mapping a new way to make local news work.
Facebook Brings Users to Local Sites — But the Rest Is Up to the Sites
The verdict is in: local news publishers do need Facebook, Google and other giant distribution platforms. But only to get the first part of the job done. Whether you’re a self-funded entrepreneurial pure-play publisher or a corporate chain of daily newspapers, you can’t, on your own, generate all the traffic that the platforms deliver to your site.
Big Political Ad Spend Set for Local in 2018, but Will News Sites Be Ready?
Political ad spending totaling $1.9 billion will pour into the digital space, most of it on the local level, Borrell Associates estimates in its 2018 forecast. But daily newspapers and local news “pure-plays” will have to fight hard for their share against Facebook, Google and the other digital platforms.
Bklyner Announces It Will Shut Down Unless It Hits Subscriber Goal by Dec. 31
The Brooklyn-based hyperlocal network has announced it will close down coverage of its 11 neighborhoods unless it can attain 3,230 digital subscribers by the end of December. In this Q & A Bklyner founder Liena Zagare, presents the stark facts about her publication’s 11-hour predicament.
How Facebook Turns ‘Likes’ Into Dollars Right Down to the Local Level
Local news publishers typically know many of their community restaurateurs on a first-name basis, and are regular diners at the establishments. But they can’t offer the precise targeting capability of Facebook, whose services are, in most cases, fully automated — greatly lowering their cost.
Borrell Sizes Up What’s Behind Local Ad Media Choices
We know from the numbers that local advertisers are increasingly choosing social media to place their messages. But they’re also turning out to be cautious businesspeople who like to maintain a balance in their placements among multiple media, according to a new study from Borrell Associates.
Hyperlocal Pioneer Howard Owens Sees New Mobile App as Key to Scaling Beyond His ‘Batavian’
Eight and a half years after launching his hyperlocal news site The Batavian, in upstate New York, Howard Owens is looking at growing his base company, Album Corp., beyond Batavia to multiple locations. His plan for expansion is driven by a homemade mobile app that he’s experimenting with for the site.
Local Media Consortium Not About to Retreat From Its Google and Facebook Ties
Questions are being raised about whether news publishers should keep expanding their relationships with Google and Facebook, and even whether they should pull out altogether. But you don’t hear that talk from the Local Media Consortium, which represents more than 70 newspaper, broadcasting and other local media companies.
JustPremium CEO Details Industry Campaign Against Ads That Users Hate
Among the most hated by both desktop and mobile users are pop-ups, auto-play videos with sound and large sticky ads. The Coalition for Better Ads, which includes many members of the ad industry, trade associations and a few news publishers, is developing new standards to give users a better experience when they encounter an ad message.
What Happens If Facebook Gets Serious About Local?
What Google is to search, Facebook is to social. Those same local business owners know that, when it comes to social marketing, a good portion of their success depends on what they and their customers do on Facebook. So if Facebook gets serious about local, could that change the local landscape? What would it look like?
Why Local Media Firms Are Banking Big on Marketing Services to Grow Revenue
In an under-the-radar move to grow their revenue substantially, local media companies are putting major resources into developing a broad suite of digital marketing services (DMS). Media companies make this pivot as B2Cs rethink their own marketing goals, aiming not just to reach potential consumers but to convert them into paying customers, closing the path to purchase.