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News, publishers, print and digital: an update
A couple of weeks ago I had a little rant about the three things I think publishers need to do if they want to thrive in a beyond-print era. The survival of news media is a big issue right now, and so it should be — the quality reportage of news is critical to the health of our society.
In the time since posting my argument, I’ve spotted a few new developments I think are worth sharing. Unsurprisingly, they all have a lot to do with content and the contradiction of digital content: expensive to produce (or at least, the good stuff often is) but more often than not, free to consume. Highly valuable, then, but cursed with a changeable value.
Revisioning an economy around forces like these isn’t going to be easy, but I believe it can be done. Here’s what’s happening, and why I think it matters.
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125 banners, not so much clicking
I’ve read too many blog posts recently about pay walls and the future (or lack thereof) of journalism. With the debate raging and being nowhere close to resolution, I needed to remind myself of just how much online advertising sucks.This chart is based on my browser history from yesterday (Monday 7 June). Over the course of my working day, 125 banners were displayed in my browser, some more than once.I can’t say that I saw them, because my eyes filtered out every single one of them – if it weren’t for creating this chart I wouldn’t have a memory of a single one of them. Needless to say I didn’t click on any of the banners either.I sometimes think it’s a miracle that online advertising even exists.I’ve read too many blog posts recently about pay walls and the future (or lack thereof) of journalism. With the debate raging and being nowhere close to resolution, I needed to remind myself of just how much online advertising sucks.
This chart is based on my browser history from yesterday (Monday 7 June). Over the course of my working day, 125 banners were displayed in my browser, some more than once.
I can’t say that I saw them, because my eyes filtered out every single one of them (and if it weren’t for creating this poster I wouldn’t be able to remember any of them either).
Needless to say, but I didn’t click on any of the banners.
I can’t help but think it’s a miracle that online advertising even exists.
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Somewhere over the paywall: 3 predictions for news media
Two weeks ago, some colleagues and I attended a Frontline Club talk on apps, paywalls and the future of journalism (for a recap, see William Owen’s excellent post). I found the experience very interesting but also very frustrating. I should say up front that this post is deliberately provocative: I am heartsick at the state of the news industry (one I respect and value to no end) and I want to do something about it — or at least start a discussion that does.
Publishers are erecting paywalls all over the place — The Times last week, The New York Times next year — but to what end? By throwing their content behind paywalls, publishers are indulging themselves in a knee-jerk reaction that — I think — will decimate their market share and brand value, ultimately to fatal consequences.
Publishers should be rethinking digital as a universe of potential profit. They should be embracing change and changing with it, but instead they’re freaking out and locking up the content. This just won’t work.
The internet has irrevocably — and nearly globally — democratised information. Content as content is free, and content producers cannot ask consumers to change their behaviour or expectations to meet a bottom line. That’s just not how it works. There is so much good content out there, people will simply decline to pay and move on to a free content source — and there are many.
In order to survive, publishers must change the way they approach the business of content, newspapers, and digital news platforms. Here are my three predictions for the industry.
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Content design with cojones
Or so I tweeted whilst watching the recent Apple keynote. A month later and I don’t think I could have been more wrong.Immediately after the iPad’s reveal, the interweb rippled with an argument between two tribes, those that want a computer that allows them to tinker under the hood, and those that don’t care about getting their hands dirty – they just want to email, surf, watch and listen. For me, this isn’t the interesting debate. It’s how the speed, screen size and controlled environment of the iPad now means that content design on screen can finally come of age and grow some balls. Big ones.
Or so I tweeted whilst watching the recent Apple keynote. A month later and I don’t think I could have been more wrong.
Or so I tweeted whilst watching the recent Apple keynote. A month later and I don’t think I could have been more wrong.
Immediately after the iPad’s reveal, the interweb rippled with an argument between two tribes, those that want a computer that allows them to tinker under the hood, and those that don’t care about getting their hands dirty – they just want to email, surf, watch and listen. For me, this isn’t the interesting debate. It’s how the speed, screen size and controlled environment of the iPad now means that content design on screen can finally come of age and grow some balls. Big ones.
Your content isn’t the same as my content
There are some sites that people check two or three times a day. BBC News is one of them for me. However, out of the 50 or so articles on their home page in the morning, I’ll probably only read around ten stories. As I check back during the day, there’s a law of diminishing returns, in fact every time I visit I usually end up reading half as many stories as I did the previous time.
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Pictory – A beautiful example of online editorial design
I’ve talked before about exploring different ways of navigating and consuming content online.
I first came across Pictory a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. But as it starts to fill with stories and topics I feel provides some beautiful and elegant ways to gorge yourself on content and is really forging a path into new areas of content layout and navigation online.
Their line ‘Your best photo stories’ explains what it is nicely.
Let’s look at the evidence.
Lovely, big images. Navigation via a keyboard which allows me to skip from piece to piece simply by pressing the left/right arrow keys. A balanced mix of captioned images and short stories pulled together to create a rich textured viewing / reading experience. Real-life stories which often cause an emotional stir in the reader. And the designer in me loves the use of Typekit fonts.
I think it’s an example of crowdsourcing at it’s absolute best. A nice tightly worded brief but open enough for interpretation by the viewer. (Aren’t all the best briefs like this?)
Being ultra picky. A full-screen view would be nice.
Anyway, I think it’s best if you go there now and lose the next hour of your day.
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King banner
Like so many, I completely tune out ad banners when I’m viewing the web. It doesn’t matter what format or size they are, whether it’s an animated spectacular or basic text links, I simply don’t pay any attention to banners any more.
This worries me, as when you start ignoring something it’s a short step to holding it in contempt. Something that’s all too easy when sites resort to obtrusive overlays: having to fiddle around with a flash banner covering up your content wasn’t the reason I came to your site (regardless of how you need to fund it).
Which is why seeing some of the new formats that sites like Slate and the New York Times are using is such a delight. These aren’t ads that get in the way of the content, they’re a piece of content in themselves. They’re also monumentally huge. So big that you can’t possibly ignore them. In fact they’re so big you almost can’t believe that anyone would have the balls to put an ad banner that enormous on the page.
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Looking towards more flexible web-based editorial design
Isaac and I have been discussing how users consume media and news which has raised some interesting questions around online publishing. Specifically: how we construct content templates, how that content looks when it’s in place, art direction at a micro level and how we can create richer, more engaging and, importantly, more ‘useful’ reading experiences online.
Over the last 4-5 years there has been a gradual convergence in how most newspaper sites construct their article pages. Based on a grid system, they employ a wide central column for the body copy and a number of other columns, usually on the right of the screen, for related information, links to other stories, MPUs, tools, etc. We should know, we’ve designed a number of sites for media owners, as well as countless blogs that conform to these conventions.
No matter how long the article is it is wedged into the same template. If it’s 200 words, stick it in. 800 words? No problem, paginate it and reap the ad impressions.
There’s loads of sense to this approach. The beauty of the web is its democratisation of publishing. Drop your text and image into a well crafted template and you’re away. But I think there’s room for another approach.
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