From Business Insider:
Here's A New, Inventive Way Jeff Bezos Plans To Make Money From The Washington Post
Eugene Kim, Dec. 29, 2014, 3:52 PM
When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013, many saw it as a move to inject new life into the century-old news organization.
It seems like we’re getting a better picture of how exactly he’s going to do it.
According to the Financial Times, The Post plans to sell its back-end content-management system (CMS) to local and regional newspapers.
The report says The Post was approached by some of its partner newspapers, which already have content-sharing deals with The Post, about licensing the software that’s used for The Post's website. The Post has content-sharing deals with the Dallas Morning News and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, while some colleges like Columbia, Yale, and the University of Maryland already use the software on a trial basis.
If the deal goes through, it could open up a whole new revenue channel for The Post. Traditional print newspapers and magazines, like The Post, saw their businesses decline in recent years as they've struggled to keep up with digital. But with a new CMS-licensing business, The Post can broaden its footprint and find new growth from the technology side of its business.
The Post clearly sees potential here as it added 20 engineers this year for a total of 225. It has opened a design and development office in New York, while another one is expected to open in Virginia next year, the report said.
In fact, the move is in line with what Bezos said during Business Insider’s Ignition conference. Here's what he said when he was asked why he bought The Post:
The internet has radically disrupted traditional newspapers, so there’s a lot of invention and experimentation to be done ... even though I didn’t know anything about the newspaper business, I did know something about the internet and companies reacting to the internet. That, combined with the financial runway that I can provide, is the reason why I bought the company.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/washington-post-cms-license-2014-12#ixzz3NOQI8PtQ
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
What Defines a Healthy Newsroom Culture?
From Poynter.org:
What defines a healthy newsroom culture?
by Roy Peter Clark Published Dec. 26, 2014 4:00 am Updated Dec. 26, 2014 4:07 am
Earlier this month, I had the honor of conducting a writing workshop in Washington, D.C., for the writers and editors of National Geographic. It was a kick for me to work with a publication that I had read as a boy, one that, in 1963, had published a photo of my father, a U.S. Customs officer, pasting a sticker on the wooden crate that contained the Mona Lisa as she made her way on a tour of America.
The folks at NatGeo asked some great questions, and I want to answer one of them in this essay.
“You keep talking and asking questions about the ‘culture’ of this place,” asked one young man. “What do you mean by ‘culture’?”
As is my habit, I was going to begin my answer with a dictionary definition of culture, but even the shortest one I could find was so complicated and multi-faceted that it would not provide much direction.
So I have decided to try a definition of my own in the context of a newsroom:
“The norms, practices, habits and routines of a workplace that create the conditions for excellent or sub-standard work.”
It is often easier to recognize fault lines in a culture from the outside although this must be done with caution. In the television series “Mad Men,” for example, the Madison Avenue advertising company of the early 1960s is portrayed as a male dominated, hierarchical, harshly sexist, overly competitive culture, fueled by nicotine, hard liquor, and casual sex. That such a culture might also be creative is a tension played out in episode after episode.
Is there such a thing as an “ideal” culture for a magazine or newsroom? I cannot answer. The only questions I am qualified to answer are these: “What is the best culture for me? What kind of place keeps me happy and productive?”
Where craft is tied to mission and purpose. I am much more likely to perfect my craft in a place with a clear and high-minded sense of mission. Maximizing profit is not enough. Helping democracy is too broad. People in a news organization must be able to point to specific work that contributes to the public interest.
Where workers are learning all the time. When people call to tell me they are looking for a new job, it is almost never money that is the key issue. “I’ve stopped learning here,” is the most common complaint. A learning culture is one where reflective practitioners solve problems and then share with each other how those problems were solved.
Where doors are opened rather than closed. I thrive in a culture where there is status, of course, but where it is never an impediment. An open concept means there is an escape from silos, that folks can work across disciplines, that anyone might be called upon at any time to help someone else.
Where risk is rewarded. The great writing teacher Donald Murray used to say that he wanted to work in a place with a tolerance for interesting failures. I’m not as brave. I want to walk the tightrope, but with a safety net. I do hope that failure, when it occurs, is not incentive for retreat, but for a new determination to make it work next time.
Where coaching people is more important than fixing stories. I need a place where bosses and workers share control, where editors assume responsibility for the development of the writer over time. A culture that depends upon the constant fixing of broken work breeds negativity and resentment.
Where there is talk, talk, talk. When I enter a newsroom, I judge the culture by the dialect of the tribe. Are people talking at all, and, if so, what are they talking about? If the talk is just complaints about other workers, if it is unrelated to the work, or unrelentingly cynical, I get suspicious. I want to talk about the best work being accomplished, how it gets accomplished, and how I can accomplish it.
Where informal authority complements formal authority. At what is now the Tampa Bay Times a group of young journalists, with the leadership of Ben Montgomery, created a website known as gangrey.com. These writers were commitment to excellence in reporting and the power of telling stories. Their website is committed to the promotion of such excellent work. No one gave them permission to do this. The newspaper benefited, not just from their regular work, but from the informal leadership they exerted, not just in their own shop, but in newsrooms across the country.
Think of your company or newsroom and answer these questions as True or False:
I know what the mission of my workplace is, and I can recite it to others.
I can tell you something specific I learned about my craft during the last week
I feel I can talk to any person in any department about our mission and work.
I can try something unconventional and even if it is not completely successful, I will get support for trying again.
There is some person assigned to helping me grow as a journalist over the long haul.
Almost every day I am engaged in conversation designed to improve the quality of the work.
I am not afraid of trying to contribute to the culture of my workplace, even if I lack the authority to do so.
If you answered “True” to all seven questions, you are lucky to be working in a productive and supportive culture. If you said “False” to more than three, it may be time to roll up your sleeves and exercise your informal influence for the good
What defines a healthy newsroom culture?
by Roy Peter Clark Published Dec. 26, 2014 4:00 am Updated Dec. 26, 2014 4:07 am
Earlier this month, I had the honor of conducting a writing workshop in Washington, D.C., for the writers and editors of National Geographic. It was a kick for me to work with a publication that I had read as a boy, one that, in 1963, had published a photo of my father, a U.S. Customs officer, pasting a sticker on the wooden crate that contained the Mona Lisa as she made her way on a tour of America.
The folks at NatGeo asked some great questions, and I want to answer one of them in this essay.
“You keep talking and asking questions about the ‘culture’ of this place,” asked one young man. “What do you mean by ‘culture’?”
As is my habit, I was going to begin my answer with a dictionary definition of culture, but even the shortest one I could find was so complicated and multi-faceted that it would not provide much direction.
So I have decided to try a definition of my own in the context of a newsroom:
“The norms, practices, habits and routines of a workplace that create the conditions for excellent or sub-standard work.”
It is often easier to recognize fault lines in a culture from the outside although this must be done with caution. In the television series “Mad Men,” for example, the Madison Avenue advertising company of the early 1960s is portrayed as a male dominated, hierarchical, harshly sexist, overly competitive culture, fueled by nicotine, hard liquor, and casual sex. That such a culture might also be creative is a tension played out in episode after episode.
Is there such a thing as an “ideal” culture for a magazine or newsroom? I cannot answer. The only questions I am qualified to answer are these: “What is the best culture for me? What kind of place keeps me happy and productive?”
Where craft is tied to mission and purpose. I am much more likely to perfect my craft in a place with a clear and high-minded sense of mission. Maximizing profit is not enough. Helping democracy is too broad. People in a news organization must be able to point to specific work that contributes to the public interest.
Where workers are learning all the time. When people call to tell me they are looking for a new job, it is almost never money that is the key issue. “I’ve stopped learning here,” is the most common complaint. A learning culture is one where reflective practitioners solve problems and then share with each other how those problems were solved.
Where doors are opened rather than closed. I thrive in a culture where there is status, of course, but where it is never an impediment. An open concept means there is an escape from silos, that folks can work across disciplines, that anyone might be called upon at any time to help someone else.
Where risk is rewarded. The great writing teacher Donald Murray used to say that he wanted to work in a place with a tolerance for interesting failures. I’m not as brave. I want to walk the tightrope, but with a safety net. I do hope that failure, when it occurs, is not incentive for retreat, but for a new determination to make it work next time.
Where coaching people is more important than fixing stories. I need a place where bosses and workers share control, where editors assume responsibility for the development of the writer over time. A culture that depends upon the constant fixing of broken work breeds negativity and resentment.
Where there is talk, talk, talk. When I enter a newsroom, I judge the culture by the dialect of the tribe. Are people talking at all, and, if so, what are they talking about? If the talk is just complaints about other workers, if it is unrelated to the work, or unrelentingly cynical, I get suspicious. I want to talk about the best work being accomplished, how it gets accomplished, and how I can accomplish it.
Where informal authority complements formal authority. At what is now the Tampa Bay Times a group of young journalists, with the leadership of Ben Montgomery, created a website known as gangrey.com. These writers were commitment to excellence in reporting and the power of telling stories. Their website is committed to the promotion of such excellent work. No one gave them permission to do this. The newspaper benefited, not just from their regular work, but from the informal leadership they exerted, not just in their own shop, but in newsrooms across the country.
Think of your company or newsroom and answer these questions as True or False:
I know what the mission of my workplace is, and I can recite it to others.
I can tell you something specific I learned about my craft during the last week
I feel I can talk to any person in any department about our mission and work.
I can try something unconventional and even if it is not completely successful, I will get support for trying again.
There is some person assigned to helping me grow as a journalist over the long haul.
Almost every day I am engaged in conversation designed to improve the quality of the work.
I am not afraid of trying to contribute to the culture of my workplace, even if I lack the authority to do so.
If you answered “True” to all seven questions, you are lucky to be working in a productive and supportive culture. If you said “False” to more than three, it may be time to roll up your sleeves and exercise your informal influence for the good
Sunday, December 21, 2014
800 Magazines Launch This Year
Technology has made an impact on the magazine industry in more than one way. Digital media, of course, if often looked to as a huge detriment to the industry, particularly when trying to sell print ads. Yet advances in technology and digital media have made it possible for magazines to print smaller runs and niche titles and find an enthusiastic and highly targeted audience.
“Magazines, it seems, are far from fossilized. They’re still alive and kicking, and then some,” notes Sally Herships in Marketplace.
She quotes Samir Husni (aka Mr. Magazine) as saying that more than 800 new titles have launched in the past 12 months. Many, Husni notes, are annuals, book-a-zines or highly specialized titles rather than mass market. And that’s okay.
“Magazines aren’t dead, they’re just different,” explains Husni. “New technology allows for smaller runs and more specialized titles…”
Admittedly, it is a challenging time for magazines, both in terms of securing advertising dollars and in leveraging digital media to a publisher’s best advantage.
“While magazine audiences are growing online and on other digital platforms, the loss of advertising dollars that were once a mainstay of print has been hard to make up,” Herships says, quoting Sid Holt of the American Society of Magazine Editors.
“Those digital dimes haven’t replaced those print dollars yet,” Holt said. But at the same time, he notes, magazines are adapting.
“In order for a magazine now to be successful it has to carry its shared passion between reader and publisher — be it guinea pigs or eyelashes — across platforms,” Herships continues.
As we all continue to seek that multi-platform balance, one thing remains clear, according to Andrea Marker-Kick of Media Associates: Print remains a prominent platform for luxury goods and services.
“After all, it’s very hard to smell a sample fragrance strip through the screen of your iPhone,” she notes.
The continuing appeal of print and the struggles that advertisers are facing in making their digital ads worth the cost leave the field open for innovative publishers and the titles they are creating. It’s about finding your passion, telling your story, and connecting with your tribe in print. Clearly, with this many new titles being launched, the passion and the product are evolving in positive ways.
“Magazines, it seems, are far from fossilized. They’re still alive and kicking, and then some,” notes Sally Herships in Marketplace.
She quotes Samir Husni (aka Mr. Magazine) as saying that more than 800 new titles have launched in the past 12 months. Many, Husni notes, are annuals, book-a-zines or highly specialized titles rather than mass market. And that’s okay.
“Magazines aren’t dead, they’re just different,” explains Husni. “New technology allows for smaller runs and more specialized titles…”
Admittedly, it is a challenging time for magazines, both in terms of securing advertising dollars and in leveraging digital media to a publisher’s best advantage.
“While magazine audiences are growing online and on other digital platforms, the loss of advertising dollars that were once a mainstay of print has been hard to make up,” Herships says, quoting Sid Holt of the American Society of Magazine Editors.
“Those digital dimes haven’t replaced those print dollars yet,” Holt said. But at the same time, he notes, magazines are adapting.
“In order for a magazine now to be successful it has to carry its shared passion between reader and publisher — be it guinea pigs or eyelashes — across platforms,” Herships continues.
As we all continue to seek that multi-platform balance, one thing remains clear, according to Andrea Marker-Kick of Media Associates: Print remains a prominent platform for luxury goods and services.
“After all, it’s very hard to smell a sample fragrance strip through the screen of your iPhone,” she notes.
The continuing appeal of print and the struggles that advertisers are facing in making their digital ads worth the cost leave the field open for innovative publishers and the titles they are creating. It’s about finding your passion, telling your story, and connecting with your tribe in print. Clearly, with this many new titles being launched, the passion and the product are evolving in positive ways.
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