Digital DMAs

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  • Special Report: Apps

    The app genie is out of the bottle. Local news organizations have moved past the stage of merely having an app and are moving on to the tricky challenge of monetizing those apps, and to do that, they will have to build on the momentum of local mobile search, unlock the power of geolocation and push for better app metrics. Part one of a two-part series. Tomorrow: Part two of the special report will focus on content. More | Add comment

  • Digital DMA: WVBT Raises Ante In Norfolk Digital Battle

    In a market that spreads across 10 cities and has a heavy military presence, two newspapers rule the digital roost, but the area’s TV stations, which expect to see a 65% rise in online revenue by 2015, are trying out new ways to bring more visitors to their websites. Among them is LIN TV-owned WVBT, which has launched an online-only show about the local entertainment scene. More | Add comment

  • AppCheck: Cocktail Compass Pours A Round Of Revenue

    The Portland Mercury's Cocktail Compass barfinder app is not only helping users find nearby watering holes and drink specials but it's also helping the alt weekly use its extensive trove of bar listings to generate new revenue streams. More | Add comment

  • Site Specific: Classifieds, Video Help Seven Days Thrive

    Burlington, Vt.-based alt weekly Seven Days built a decent online following on the strength of its quirky, personality-driven video series "Stuck in Vermont," and has turned the site into a money maker primarily from display ads and classifieds. More | Add comment

  • Exec. Session: Alt Weeklies Tap Roots To Drive Web Rev

    Alternative newsweeklies may have gotten off to a slow start on the digital front, but according to Tim Keck, publisher of Seattle's The Stranger and Portland, Ore.'s Mercury, such newspapers can draw on their iconoclastic voice, strong local entertainment coverage and close relationships with local businesses, to take the online lead in their communities and build their online revenue. More | Comments (1)

  • Agile Alt Media Adapting to Digital Challenges

    Like all media entities, alternative newsweeklies have taken their hits over the past few years but now they are taking advantage of their flexibility and experimenting with social media, video and blogs in an effort to catch up in the digital world, and in some markets, challenge the local daily for dominance. More | Add comment

  • Online Metrics Take A Step Closer To Standardization

    Plagued by inconsistent measurement systems, the industry is seeking to standardize online audience measurements. The IAB, ANA and 4As are working on the Making Measurement Make Sense initiative that could hellp boost digital and cross-platform ad growth. More | Add comment

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Special Reports

  • Apps: The app genie is out of the bottle. Local news organizations have moved past the stage of merely having an app and are moving on to the tricky challenge of monetizing those apps, and to do that, they will have to build on the momentum of local mobile search, unlock the power of geolocation and push for better app metrics.
  • Daily Deals: Local media companies are turning to white-label platform providers so that they can build their own brand in the marketplace and potentially make more money.

Industry Calendar

February 2012
Mo
We
27-29
SNPA, Inland Press Association, Local Media Association, and Texas Press Association.
Key Executives Mega-Conference
San Antonio, TX
March 2012
Tu
Th
13-15
American Cable Association
ACA’s 19th Annual Summit
Washington, D.C., DC
April 2012
Fr
13
National Association of Broadcasters
NABShow
Las Vegas, NV

Net Essentials

Digital DMAs
WVBT Raises Ante In Norfolk Digital Battle
NetNewsCheck, Feb 16, 2012, 7:06 AM EST
In a market that spreads across 10 cities and has a heavy military presence, two newspapers rule the digital roost, but the area’s TV stations, which expect to see a 65% rise in online revenue by 2015, are trying out new ways to bring more visitors to their websites. Among them is LIN Television-owned WVBT, which has launched an online-only show about the local entertainment scene. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Charlotte Media Diverge On Social Strategy
NetNewsCheck, Feb 8, 2012, 7:38 PM EST
In Charlotte, N.C., media players are prepping for September’s Democratic National Convention and bulking up their social and mobile offerings. While The Charlotte Observer is the market’s top player, three TV sites are scrapping for prominence in a city where players differ sharply on how to use social media to drive traffic. Full Story | Comments (7)
Digital DMAs
Digital Splits Spur Creativity In San Antonio
NetNewsCheck, Feb 1, 2012, 5:04 PM EST
Break-ups in the Web partnerships of some of the Alamo City's traditional media players have produced three of San Antonio’s top digital outlets. The splits have also sparked some creative social and mobile efforts around San Antonio's music scene and beloved Spurs basketball team. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Video, Mobile Drive Roanoke's Digital Scene
NetNewsCheck, Jan 26, 2012, 6:48 AM EST
Nearly a third of Roanoke, Va., residents aren't online, but it isn't for a lack of first-rate digital offerings, including some of the slickest multimedia production to be found on any newspaper website, plus apps, blogs mobile sites and more. The Roanoke Times, WSET-TV and other local players are gearing up for a predicted 89% boost in digital revenue in this sleepy southern town.  Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Pittsburgh Media Players Catch Up in Digital
NetNewsCheck, Jan 19, 2012, 6:35 AM EST
Digital spending is slightly behind the national average in Steeler Nation, but two newspapers and a market leading ABC affiliate are making big moves to capitalize on inevitable growth, as local online spending in the Steel City is expected to grow 74% by 2016. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Social Creativity Fuels Nashville Online
NetNewsCheck, Jan 12, 2012, 7:06 AM EST
In Music City, where most media players have yet to roll out mobile apps, market leaders The Tennessean and CBS affiliate WTVF are turning to social media, digital agency services and issue-oriented sponsorships to drive community interaction and boost their bottom lines. [Updated] Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Media Try Mobile, Hyperlocal To Win In Miami
NetNewsCheck, Jan 5, 2012, 6:25 AM EST
With its glamour and Latino flair, media players in Miami, a market characterized by an audience fragmented by culture and language, rely on different strategies — from hyperlocal to mobile — to draw visitors and prosper. Market leader The Miami Herald, with English and Spanish sites, has turned to hyperlocal, offering some 45 specialized sites based on community and subject matter. And Fox affiliate WSVN has tripled its mobile traffic in the past year. Full Story | Comments (1)
DIGITAL DMAs: Indianapolis
Social Media Boosts Fortunes At WTHR
NetNewsCheck, Dec 22, 2011, 6:59 AM EST
A concerted investment in social media and a new website have helped Dispatch Broadcast Group's WTHR increase its audience and enhance its profile in the Indianapolis digital scene. Harder news reigns at the market's online leader The Indianapolis Star, where computer assisted reporting is deepening content. [Updated] Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Baltimore TVs Mobilize To Stalk Digital Lead
NetNewsCheck, Dec 15, 2011, 6:27 AM EST
In Charm City, the only daily paper, The Baltimore Sun — which went behind a paywall in October — rules the roost, but Baltimore’s TV stations are taking some bold strides on the mobile front in an effort to draw bigger audiences and change the digital media pecking order. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Gannett's AZCentral Rules In Digital Phoenix
NetNewsCheck, Dec 7, 2011, 5:10 PM EST
With a towering 3 million-plus uniques in October, Gannett's carefully nurtured online operation, which combines the efforts of its NBC affiliate KPNX and its Arizona Republic, swamps its nearest competitors, MyFoxPhoenix.com and Scripps' ABC15.com. Along with winning in audience, AZCentral now generates 20% of Gannett's total revenue in the sprawling Phoenix DMA. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
Apps, Backpacks Feed Omaha's Digital Boom
NetNewsCheck, Nov 30, 2011, 6:06 PM EST
Backpack journalists have been a boon to traffic at WOWT.com, where reporters file stories from smart phones and four TVU Technology-powered units being tested by parent company Gray Television. The station and its bigger online rival, World-Herald-owned Omaha.com, are bristling with apps to serve a population that accesses much of its digital news on mobile devices. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Palm Springs Media Prep For Mobile Ad Boom
NetNewsCheck, Nov 17, 2011, 6:43 AM EST
The modestly-sized California market is poised to experience some massive mobile advertising spend increases, and Gannett and News-Press & Gazette are getting ready for the boom with their media outlets. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Mobile Traffic Spikes in Oklahoma City
NetNewsCheck, Nov 10, 2011, 6:36 AM EST
For Oklahoma City's online media players, mobile has taken hold much sooner than anybody could anticipate. The city's main newspaper and online leader The Oklahoman saw a nearly 70% increase in mobile traffic over the past year. Full Story | Comments (3)
Digital DMA: Burlington, Vt.
Social Media Fuel Digital Scene In Vermont
NetNewsCheck, Nov 3, 2011, 6:30 AM EDT
In Vermont, a state where town hall meetings have held an honored place for 200 years, social media seems like a natural fit. After Tropical Storm Irene cut a swath of devestation through the region earlier this year, Burlington media players used Facebook and Twitter to get information out to the community. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
McClatchy's Star Leads In Digital Kansas City
NetNewsCheck, Oct 26, 2011, 6:31 PM EDT
In a market where media outlets have eschewed sensationalism in favor of serious and investigative journalism, McClatchy Newspapers' Kansas City Star not only leads in online traffic, but has created more than two dozen spin-off sites, focusing on topics such as high school sports, local pets, politics and religion. Meredith's KCTV5.com ranks second in traffic, thanks in part to the station's award-winning investigative reports. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Orlando: Digital Lab For Big Media Players
NetNewsCheck, Oct 19, 2011, 6:06 PM EDT
Fox, Tribune, Cox and Post-Newsweek all have media outlets in busy, tourist-enlivened Orlando, where the sensational Casey Anthony trial offered opportunity for a hotbed of related apps, streaming video and social media experimentation. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs: Albuquerque
Paper's Paywall Proves Boon For Competition
NetNewsCheck, Oct 12, 2011, 4:44 PM EDT
In Albuquerque, N.M., the Albuquerque Journal's paywall — erected in 2001 — has let the rest of the market's online players catch up to the top site. Now, with aggressive mobile plans, the area's TV sites are poised to break out. Full Story | Comments (2)
Digital DMAs
Spokane TV Sites Use Innovation To Win
NetNewsCheck, Oct 6, 2011, 6:44 AM EDT
In a region marked by unique online efforts, innovative approaches, such as KHQ-TV's Web-only news segments and QR code-driven online content, help local television sites stay ahead of the city's daily newspaper for the hearts and  clicks of Spokane, Wash.'s Web audience. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
In Digital Detroit, TV Stations Trump Papers
NetNewsCheck, Sep 29, 2011, 7:04 AM EDT
In the Motor City, where sites run by WDIV and WJBK outdraw those of Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, local media outlets see it as their mission to boost morale and the image of the ailing market. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Jackson Online Media Scores With Football
NetNewsCheck, Sep 22, 2011, 6:49 AM EDT
In Mississippi's capital, the city's local online media players are taking advantage of the region's love for high school and college football to drive traffic to their Web sites. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Cox Is Biggest Fish In Atlanta's Online Sea
NetNewsCheck, Sep 15, 2011, 6:36 AM EDT
In Atlanta, online media makes up 20% of a slow-growing $2.4 billion local ad pool -- a number only expected to hit $2.7 billion by 2016, according to Borrell Associates -- and it’s hometown media company Cox Enterprises that makes the biggest splash in that pool, running the market’s top newspaper and TV sites. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Sacramento Sounds Its Digital Voice
NetNewsCheck, Sep 8, 2011, 7:04 AM EDT
Surrounded by the flashier digital markets of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, digital players in California's state capital have made a splash with innovative hyperlocal and social efforts. Full Story | Comments (2)
Digital DMAs: Portland, Maine
Small Portland Has Crowded Online Scene
NetNewsCheck, Sep 1, 2011, 7:10 AM EDT
For a market with fewer than 1 million people, Portland, Maine, boasts a spate of online news outlets from newspaper and television sites to public broadcasting outlets, all guided with a sense of purpose. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
Portland Media Test Paths To Digital Future
NetNewsCheck, Aug 25, 2011, 10:54 AM EDT
From mobile apps to online-first efforts and daily deals, local online media outlets in the "Rose City" are aggressively experimenting with new ways to tap into the ever-expanding digital market. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
In Cleveland, Comments Rock The Boat
NetNewsCheck, Aug 18, 2011, 6:32 AM EDT
Cleveland's online players find themselves in the middle of the debate over anonymous comments. The city's top site, Cleveland.com was even the subject of legal action over its comment policy, but the site still sees comments as a way to boost interactivity. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
St. Louis Late To Storm Into Digtal Media
NetNewsCheck, Aug 11, 2011, 7:21 AM EDT
St. Louis is a web of individual communities with strong identities and the most effective digital news players in the market have figured out how to weave themselves into that web, one comprised of users who epitomize a humble, conservative Midwest sensibility. But it was a spring tornado that really sparked online traffic. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Register Forges Mobile Future In Orange Co.
NetNewsCheck, Aug 4, 2011, 6:57 AM EDT
In a market overshadowed by northern neighbor Los Angeles, The Orange County Register is testing the possibilities offered by nascent mobile technology. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
Denver's KUSA Leads Thriving Online Scene
NetNewsCheck, Jul 28, 2011, 6:25 AM EDT
Despite the loss of one of its primary newspapers two years ago, Denver's local digital media scene is thriving. From the online market leaders KUSA and The Denver Post to smaller outlets including an alternative weekly and several nonprofits, all are carving out a chunk of an online ad pie that is expected to grow 71% by 2015. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
Digital Buffalo Reflects A City On The Rise
NetNewsCheck, Jul 21, 2011, 6:47 AM EDT
Hyperlocal news, daily deals and an increasingly competitive online news and sports scene mirror Buffalo's emergence from its past as a rust-belt has-been. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
Community, Mobile Drive Digital Cincinnati
NetNewsCheck, Jul 14, 2011, 7:34 AM EDT
Cincinnati's neighborhood sentimentality and diversity, has made the city a proving ground for various hyperlocal efforts, including Gannett's Porkappolis location-based mobile app. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Local News Donneybrook Brews Online In LA
NetNewsCheck, Jun 23, 2011, 12:10 AM EDT
In the City of Angels, it's the usual players -- main daily the Los Angeles Times and the top TV stations -- that dominate the local online media landscape. And while AOL's Patch has made its presence felt, few other indie sites have had any impact in L.A. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Augusta's Paper Finds Paywall Success
NetNewsCheck, Jun 16, 2011, 6:43 AM EDT
Augusta, Ga., may be a small market, but its main newspaper, the Augusta Chronicle, is making big noise as one of the few sites to have found success with a metered paywall. Competition from local TV outlets is tepid. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs: New Orleans
Fierce Loyalty Fuels NOLA Digital Rivalry
NetNewsCheck, Jun 9, 2011, 7:45 AM EDT
In a city that has been through a lot in the past few years, New Orleans' online players win over the loyalty of their audiences with a dedication to local news and a little something extra -- or as they say in New Orleans, "lagniappe.” Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Little Columbia Is Big On Experimentation
NetNewsCheck, Jun 2, 2011, 6:43 AM EDT
In the small Columbia-Jefferson City, Mo., market, newspaper and television sites are taking their cue from the University of Missouri's respected journalism school and trying out new ways to present and monetize online media. Full Story | Add comment
DIGITAL DMAS
Online News Competition A Big Deal In Big D
NetNewsCheck, May 26, 2011, 6:47 AM EDT
Dallas-Fort Worth features a fragmented online news market, in which many outfits thrive in their chosen subjects, however narrow. Even those that are part of Dallas-Fort Worth’s “Big Six” — the major newspaper and TV sites — display penchants for local and niche content. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Honolulu Says Aloha To Ad-Free Experiment
NetNewsCheck, May 19, 2011, 6:59 AM EDT
Hawaii's palm trees and gentle breezes have given rise to one of the nation's boldest online news experiments. Honolulu Civil Beat, founded by eBay creator Pierre Omidyar, is vying to take its place among the city's newspaper and TV sites. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
Gannett Tests Hyperlocal Model In Tampa
NetNewsCheck, May 12, 2011, 7:07 AM EDT
In a market with fierce competition from a myriad of newspaper and television sites vying to be No. 1, Gannett chooses the sunny Tampa-St. Petersburg market as the online proving ground for its bold experiment in hyperlocal news sites. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs: Boston
Globe Paywall Could Stir Feeding Frenzy
NetNewsCheck, May 5, 2011, 6:59 AM EDT
In Boston's crowded local online arena, The Boston Globe overshadows all of its competitors. But with the Globe planning to launch a pay site later this year, other area sites smell blood in the water and are ready to move in and steal readers away from the paper. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Speedier StarTrib Rules Roost In Minneapolis
NetNewsCheck, Apr 28, 2011, 7:17 AM EDT
In Minneapolis-St. Paul -- the country's 15th-largest market -- the local online media scene has many players, from large newspapers and TV stations to local radio stations and even an innovative nonprofit news site. But it's the area's primary newspaper, the Star Tribune, which recently launched a redesign that helped speed up the site's load times, that dominates the market. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
In Austin, Upstart Battles Texas-Sized Leader
NetNewsCheck, Apr 7, 2011, 7:21 AM EDT
Though the Austin American-Statesman dominates the city's online media scene, The Texas Tribune, a tiny non-profit local news site, is taking off and generating a lot of buzz for its political coverage in the Texas capital. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
In Chicago, Trib is King, But ESPN Moving In
NetNewsCheck, Mar 31, 2011, 6:46 AM EDT
Chicago is the nation's third-largest market when it comes to local online advertising, and the Tribune Co.'s Web outlets dominate, but sports giant ESPN is muscling in and stealing some of the Trib's home court advantage with its own local play. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
In Las Vegas, Innovation Defines Online
NetNewsCheck, Mar 17, 2011, 6:51 AM EDT
The city of glitz and glamour has an online scene as vibrant as its reputation, with the dominant newspaper doggedly enforcing its copyrights, while its primary competitor is busy turning out an innovative, award-winning site. Full Story | Comments (1)
Digital DMAs
In Raleigh, Role Reversal For TV, Paper Sites
NetNewsCheck, Mar 10, 2011, 6:37 AM EST
In Raleigh-Durham, N.C., it’s the top TV station, WRAL, and not the newspaper that is the leader in a busy local online scene. And with a trio of colleges in the market, entertainment and sports are huge traffic drivers. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
Philly Locals Take On New Digital Challengers
NetNewsCheck, Feb 24, 2011, 6:39 AM EST
Though traditional media sites rule the online roost in the city that was the cradle of democracy in this country, community-driven sites are proliferating, serving a market hungry for local news and sports. Philadelphia boasts some 260 blogs and hyperlocal news sites and possibly more on the way. Full Story | Comments (2)
Digital DMAs
Video, Mobile Charge Up Des Moines Media
NetNewsCheck, Feb 17, 2011, 6:52 AM EST
Des Moines, Iowa -- the nation’s No. 73 media market -- may not have kept pace online with larger markets, but the region’s newspaper and TV sites are poised to play catch-up in 2011. Full Story | Add comment
Digital DMAs
San Diego Blazes Path To New Media Model
NetNewsCheck, Feb 10, 2011, 6:50 AM EST
San Diego’s local online scene may be dominated by its daily newspaper, The San Diego Union-Tribune, but a new breed of non-profit news sites are popping up, such as VoiceOfSanDiego.org, that may set the course for the future of online news coverage. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile
San Fran Sites Battle For Tech-Savvy Users
NetNewsCheck, Feb 3, 2011, 7:58 AM EST
The Bay area is home to Silicon Valley and the tech-savvy market was an early Internet adopter. One of the nation’s longest established newspaper sites, SFGate.com, rules the roost here, but its rivals and some hyperlocal newcomers have made San Franciso-Oakland-San Jose a competitive market. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile
Monroe/El Dorado Market Poised To Explode
NetNewsCheck, Jan 27, 2011, 8:04 AM EST
This tiny market may have been slow to embrace the Internet, but its local online ad scene has been projected to grow faster this year than any other U.S. market's. While the region’s media outlets are still adopting social media and developing mobile apps, Borrell predicts local online advertising here will more than double, rocketing 115%, to $33.8 million, by 2015. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile
In Salt Lake, Deseret Has Hold On Local Media
NetNewsCheck, Jan 20, 2011, 8:33 AM EST
In Salt Lake City, Deseret Media is the biggest show in town, operating the top newspaper and TV site, and the company has been pushing into the future with a "Web first" philosophy. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile
Albany Sites Ride Politics To Online Success
NetNewsCheck, Jan 13, 2011, 8:30 AM EST
Local online media is booming in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y., marketplace -- the region clocks in as the nation’s second-fastest growing online ad market -- with a large stable of newspaper and TV sites ready to feed the area’s politics-crazy audience. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile
Hyperlocal, Paywalls Skip Sleepy Syracuse
NetNewsCheck, Jan 6, 2011, 9:01 AM EST
The spread-out Syracuse market has hindered hyperlocal efforts and kept the region insulated from other hot online issues such as paywalls, but The Post-Standard and several local TV stations give advertisers a lot of online options. Full Story | Add comment
A Bevy Of Sites Milk Media-Rich Madison
NetNewsCheck, Dec 21, 2010, 8:55 AM EST
In the nation’s 85th largest media market, newspaper-run Madison.com battle it out with TV station sites for local online bragging rights, but competition from a host of independent and legacy media sites -- and even from the University of Wisconsin -- helps keep the big players on their game. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile: Seattle-Tacoma
Tech-Heavy Area Leads Way Into Local Space
NetNewsCheck, Dec 16, 2010, 6:30 AM EST
In a region known for tech innovation, traditional media companies -- including the first newspaper to go all-digital -- compete in an arena crowded with blogs and community news sites, all seeking innovative ways to coax revenue from the Web.   Full Story | Comments (1)
Local Market Profile: Houston
Local Online Media Soars In 'Space City'
NetNewsCheck, Dec 2, 2010, 9:19 AM EST
Houston's local digital scene is crowded, with several newspapers, television stations and Internet pureplays jostling for a slice of an advertising revenue stream that is expected to nearly double during the next four years. The Houston Chronicle's Chron.com is the market leader, but leading rivals ABC13.com, KHOU.com, Click2Houston.com and other national and local players including Google and ReachLocal, are jostling for a place at the table. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile: Fort Myers-Naples, Fla.
Old Media Companies Fuel Hot Online Engine
NetNewsCheck, Nov 23, 2010, 8:50 AM EST
The Fort Myers-Naples market is home to one of the Web's early media pioneers, and the region's new media expansion is still going strong. The area's legacy media companies are all increasing their online presence. Add to that an older, more affluent population, and you have the nation's 30th fastest-growing online media market, according to Borrell Associates. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile: Bakersfield, Calif.
Online Gets Healthy Despite Slow Economy
NetNewsCheck, Nov 18, 2010, 8:43 AM EST
Bakersfield, Calif., may be a small market, but due to its status as a less expensive alternative to Los Angeles, the region is growing. Despite the recession and high unemployment levels, the area’s local online outlook is getting healthier, with legacy media players the Bakersfield Californian and TV stations KGET, KERO and KBAK staking their claims in the market’s online future. Full Story | Add comment
Local Market Profile: Washington
WashPo Still King, But New Sites Storm Gates
NetNewsCheck, Nov 11, 2010, 8:34 AM EST
In the nation's capital local digital mediascape is dominated by The Washington Post, but several challengers are closing in. Among them is Allbritton Communications, owner of the ABC affiliate in town. It first launched Politico.com, a fast-paced political news site that's developed a national reputation, and then followed that up with TBD.com, a hyperlocal venture. Full Story | Add comment

Today's Top Stories

Classifieds

The Market

Symbol Last Change (%)
Nasdaq 2935.45 -13.12 (-0.44%)
NYSE 8102.76 -12.67 (-0.16%)
S&P 500 1358.46 -3.75 (-0.28%)
Updated 02/22 3:27 ET Quotes delayed at least 20 mins.
Source: Financial Content
Opinions
Features
Ideas
  • For Future Of News, Killer App Is Credibility

    Robert Hernandez, an assistant professor of professional practice in journalism at USC Annenberg: "With technology empowering everyone with the ability to create and to distribute, I predict — and wish — that in 2012 the new dominating factor will be Credibility. Actually, earned Credibility."

  • Layoffs, Cutbacks Lead To News Deserts

    Tom Stites: "Desertification is on the march, claiming more and more communities as newspapers continue to wither and few Web efforts manage to replace more than a fraction of the original reporting that newspapers have abandoned."

  • Moneyball: Fixing Newspaper Web Sales

    Mel Taylor: "Today's Newspaper industry is like that once great, but now struggling baseball team playing on a new, hyper-competitive field called the Internet. The veteran print team is stuck in a rut using the same, tired strategy that did serve them well for years, but no longer. Today, they get trounced by those with more money and muscle."

  • You Should Only Work This Hard If You Own The Business

    Howard Owens, digital media pioneer and author of HowardOwens.com, writes on Patch editors: "But here’s the thing about the work load for Patch editors: They’re not owners. They are expected to do all of the things they would have to do if they owned their own web sites, but merely in service of building wealth for AOL shareholders. Sure, work hard and keep your job is a nice benefit, and as a former corporate employee I think employees have an ethical obligation to help build shareholder value. That’s what they’re paid to do. ... However, if what we’re hearing is true about the Patch workload, I can only ask: Why are you doing it?"

  • The Metric For Missed Expectations

    Matthew Shanahan: "Here’s the problem: [Click-through rates don't] take into account audience engagement, not to mention the fact that other advertisers are competing for the click-through on the same page."

  • Debate Over Naming Commenters Rages On

    Eric Pfanner on real-name commenting policies: "The complications are enormous. Even self-contained Internet services like Facebook have had difficulty enforcing 'real name' systems. To achieve this on the borderless Internet would be impossible."

  • Communities Lose Out When Papers Close

    Author Ken Doctor on MediaNews Group's decision to consolidate its Bay Area newspapers: "It isn’t simply the sad loss of middle-class journalism jobs, as lamentable as that is, just as so many other good jobs that have disappeared in recent years. It’s a community loss, and points to the wider impact of news cuts on the society in which we live. That’s often forgotten as we focus too narrow on industry loss."

  • Why AOL Should Double Down On Patch

    Maxwell Wessel, member of Harvard Business School think tank Forum for Growth, on AOL's Patch: "Patch is AOL's last, best chance to build a growth engine. Investors shouldn't be calling for AOL to back off the business. They should be calling for AOL to double down ... by increasing commitment."

  • News Orgs Should Use Innovation As A Tool

    Frédéric Filloux: "News organizations ... should view innovation as their main weapon against direct competitors and emerging players such as tech startups."

  • View More Opinion & Commentary

     

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