Comments on: All the Blog That’s Fit to Print: Reader-driven Newspaper Content http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/07/reader-driven-newspaper-content Transpromo, Short-Run Book Publishing, Inkjet and other Printing Industry Issues Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:41:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: John Wilpers http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/07/reader-driven-newspaper-content/comment-page-1#comment-21 John Wilpers Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:22:12 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=24#comment-21 Hi, Bryan, The demise of BostonNOW was indeed a shame as we were on our way to proving that involving the community in the newspaper's website AND in the pages of the print product as well served to increase both readership AND ad revenue. Why? Because we were appealing to the demographic that had either never had a newspaper reading habit or had dropped it. But if you expand your newspaper's reach and relevance by incorporating community bloggers with their wide-ranging interests, you pull in people who suddenly find the paper compelling. Then you start building community around verticals of shared interest and the future of the industry is suddenly looking a lot brighter! But most newspapers don't even recognize local bloggers exist. I have my list of <a href="http://johnwilpers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow">"The Top Ten Blind Pews" of U.S. newspapers</a> on my blog. It's so frustrating. One of the answers to declining circulation is right under editors' noses, but their pride and institutional arrogance prevents them from inviting these folks into the tent. Great post! — John Hi, Bryan,

The demise of BostonNOW was indeed a shame as we were on our way to proving that involving the community in the newspaper’s website AND in the pages of the print product as well served to increase both readership AND ad revenue.

Why? Because we were appealing to the demographic that had either never had a newspaper reading habit or had dropped it. But if you expand your newspaper’s reach and relevance by incorporating community bloggers with their wide-ranging interests, you pull in people who suddenly find the paper compelling. Then you start building community around verticals of shared interest and the future of the industry is suddenly looking a lot brighter!

But most newspapers don’t even recognize local bloggers exist. I have my list of “The Top Ten Blind Pews” of U.S. newspapers on my blog.

It’s so frustrating. One of the answers to declining circulation is right under editors’ noses, but their pride and institutional arrogance prevents them from inviting these folks into the tent.

Great post!

— John

]]> By: Duncan Newton http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/07/reader-driven-newspaper-content/comment-page-1#comment-20 Duncan Newton Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:33:58 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=24#comment-20 Hello, Tim Thanks for your comments about oil and freight. But remember these are only two of the many factors that are driving the interest in the digital production of newspapers. As pointed out by Bryan Yeager the notions of micro-zoning and highly individuated local editions are of even higher interest. These will help re-capture their sagging ad revenues and bring readers back to the daily broadsheet by localizing the content and making it more relevant. Clearly, those of us who are providers of high-speed digital printing equipment find ourselves in an interesting position. I think of it as sitting the eye of the perfect storm. For us the ability to produce individualized documents is an old story - you can't get much more personalized than a phone bill or a credit card statement. We at Océ have been doing that kind of work for over 20 years. In fact we out sell ALL of our competitors combined, so we must be doing something right. This kind of on-demand printing was first applied to newspapers in 2001 when we created the Digital Newspaper Network. The DNN provides foreign newspapers with same-day access to their ex-pat audiences all over the world. American readers living in London actually read the New York Times and the Toronto Globe & Mail before it is even on the newsstands in North America. Outbound Quantas passengers from LAX get todays Sydney Morning Herald as they board the plane. When we combine our years of experience in personalized printing and our experience with newspapers it just makes sense that we should be seen as one of the thought leaders when it comes to creating micro-zoned distribution models for newspapers. We have the skills they need to succeed. Whether their model is monochrome of full color we have systems to make this happen for them. But even more importantly we have the expertise to help newspapers take the next step with confidence that we can help them with that one and all of the steps after that. There is much more to leading the way into the next phase of newspaper development than just simply putting marks on paper. It has to make sense financially or it is a non-starter. We are talking about "reader driven" content in this blog. Speaking to the World Newspaper Congress in Sweden, William Dean Singleton, the CEO of the MediaNews Group said, "We’re going to have to quit writing and editing for each other and write and edit for that consumer out there.” I think that is right on target. Hello, Tim
Thanks for your comments about oil and freight. But remember these are only two of the many factors that are driving the interest in the digital production of newspapers. As pointed out by Bryan Yeager the notions of micro-zoning and highly individuated local editions are of even higher interest. These will help re-capture their sagging ad revenues and bring readers back to the daily broadsheet by localizing the content and making it more relevant.
Clearly, those of us who are providers of high-speed digital printing equipment find ourselves in an interesting position. I think of it as sitting the eye of the perfect storm. For us the ability to produce individualized documents is an old story – you can’t get much more personalized than a phone bill or a credit card statement. We at Océ have been doing that kind of work for over 20 years. In fact we out sell ALL of our competitors combined, so we must be doing something right.
This kind of on-demand printing was first applied to newspapers in 2001 when we created the Digital Newspaper Network. The DNN provides foreign newspapers with same-day access to their ex-pat audiences all over the world. American readers living in London actually read the New York Times and the Toronto Globe & Mail before it is even on the newsstands in North America. Outbound Quantas passengers from LAX get todays Sydney Morning Herald as they board the plane.
When we combine our years of experience in personalized printing and our experience with newspapers it just makes sense that we should be seen as one of the thought leaders when it comes to creating micro-zoned distribution models for newspapers. We have the skills they need to succeed. Whether their model is monochrome of full color we have systems to make this happen for them. But even more importantly we have the expertise to help newspapers take the next step with confidence that we can help them with that one and all of the steps after that.
There is much more to leading the way into the next phase of newspaper development than just simply putting marks on paper. It has to make sense financially or it is a non-starter.
We are talking about “reader driven” content in this blog. Speaking to the World Newspaper Congress in Sweden, William Dean Singleton, the CEO of the MediaNews Group said, “We’re going to have to quit writing and editing for each other and write and edit for that consumer out there.”
I think that is right on target.

]]> By: Tim Taylor http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2008/07/reader-driven-newspaper-content/comment-page-1#comment-19 Tim Taylor Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:46:17 +0000 http://thedigitalnirvana.com/?p=24#comment-19 Dear Bryan, as you mention, various vendors exhibited digital newspaper production at drupa but the only company to print different live newspapers every hour of every day was Dainippon Screen on its Truepress Jet520. We have showed this machine to most of the world's major publishers and because of the colour quality and text reproduction they are all excited by the possibilities that it offers. At the show we printed USA Today, Le Monde, El Pais, Asahi Shimbun, The Daily Mail, The Evening Standard, A Bola and Handlesblatt - as well as one-off publications that were brought to the show by prospective customers to test the machine. With the rising cost of oil for air freighting and the need to combat lost sales to electronic alternatives, the time is now right for digital newspaper production. Over the coming months we hope to help publishers add value to their publications by ensure that 'Day A' availability becomes a reality wherever you are in the world. Dear Bryan, as you mention, various vendors exhibited digital newspaper production at drupa but the only company to print different live newspapers every hour of every day was Dainippon Screen on its Truepress Jet520.

We have showed this machine to most of the world’s major publishers and because of the colour quality and text reproduction they are all excited by the possibilities that it offers. At the show we printed USA Today, Le Monde, El Pais, Asahi Shimbun, The Daily Mail, The Evening Standard, A Bola and Handlesblatt – as well as one-off publications that were brought to the show by prospective customers to test the machine.

With the rising cost of oil for air freighting and the need to combat lost sales to electronic alternatives, the time is now right for digital newspaper production. Over the coming months we hope to help publishers add value to their publications by ensure that ‘Day A’ availability becomes a reality wherever you are in the world.

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