Borrell: Too Many Local Newspapers Remain Stuck in Their Newsroom ‘Church’
Facebook collected $13.6 billion in local ad spending in the U.S. in 2016, according to the report — more than all local media put together — $12 billion. The report says Facebook, Google and other global pureplays will continue to dominate digital ad revenue that comes from merchants and other businesses at the community level.
After Fits and Starts, Collaborative News Is Finally Making Headlines
For years, there’s been a lot of earnest talk about digital news sites collaborating to produce editorial content that had more value for users — and to help the collaborators make their often-precarious operations sustainable. But the talk produced as many fits as starts. That’s changing, and for the better.
Comcast Rolling Out a New Local Ad Service
For local businesses looking for advertising, there’ll be a new kid in town to help this summer. Better still, ad buyers will get the help for free. The service, called Stratasphere, is a new offering from Comcast-owned Strata, which already has three decades in the business of connecting ad sellers with ad buyers.
Macaroni Kid Pushes Stroller Into Big and Site-Packed Local Parent Space
One of the earliest hyperlocal networks for parents is Macaroni Kid, which was founded by “recovering lawyer” Joyce Shulman and her husband, marketing entrepreneur Eric Cohen, in their community on Long Island in 2009. In this Q&A, Cohen talks about the company’s recent acquisition of also-well-established Stroller Traffic.
With Metro D.C. Cool to Community News, One Publisher Pulls Back to Profitable Niches
Local News Now seemed to be on an expansion trajectory earlier in the decade with two sites in Northern Virginia and two in the District of Columbia. But today the company has just two — and while they’re both profitable, founder Scott Brodbeck isn’t thinking of launching more sites anytime soon.
Google’s AMP Pages Speed Mobile, But Publisher Control Remains a Big Issue
Mobile page-loading issues are so pervasive that 59% of users click off content that takes more than three seconds to load, costing news publishers numerous opportunities to lengthen pageviews into sessions and monetize their articles and videos. Google’s AMP addresses the problem, but at what cost?
Local News Is Struggling — But Handouts From Digital Giants Aren’t the Answer
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
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 […]
How 30A’s Multiple Revenue Streams Elevate the Local Site to New Heights
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.
What We Talk About When We Talk About ‘Fake News’
“Fake news” is actually about stories written to win clicks (and potentially do harm). Losing the focus on this accurate definition to spin and political jockeying creates a challenge for the business of marketers, advertisers, and publishers.