The Bivings Report Has Their Top Ten Newspaper Website list up and I can’t agree with one of them so below is my own top 5 list. I don’t discriminate on size, blog, news, paper, country, whatever. These are just ones I think hit home runs. Enjoy.
1. The Las Vegas Sun – I would say that this is THE BEST newspaper site in America however, it is not a traditional newspaper. Only a smaller version of the site is printed and distributed, as an insert, in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Still, this site kicks ass. It utilizes multimedia news reporting throughout the site, not just features. If you visit the site often, you’ll notice the front page layout changes every day, there are no rigid templates. The site uses Django and the Ellington CMS to do this as well as the genius of Rob Curley.
It has been rumored that this site will become completely cash flow positive in late 2009 / early 2010. That would make it the first general interest news site that I know of which is economically sustainable.
2. Trendalicious! – From the site: ”trendalicious is a real-time ranking of the 100 most popular web pages as reflected by del.icio.us, digg, and reddit. URLs posted to those sites are collected and ranked by their total number of votes or links”.
Look at it. Its dead nuts simple. Why not have a newspaper news site with one page like this? Wouldn’t it be a great way of introducing people to your content? Of course it would be. Newspaper execs would say, well how can I monetize a page like that? Easy, you sponsor it. It would be your biggest money maker ON DAY ONE. This site succeeds no matter who is producing content and it is a success now even with no ads supporting it. How can that be? Alternate sources of revenue.
3. Baristanet From the site: Debbie Galant and Liz George, co-owners and editors of Baristanet, run the site, assisted in great part by daily editor Annette Batson. The biggest contributors to the site are our readers — their active participation has turned Baristanet into a true online community and the destination for breaking local news, airing opinionated views, and yes, poking fun at suburbia whenever possible.
Recognized as the #1 Placeblog in America, Baristanet.com is an acknowledged leader in new media targeted at local communities. They are cash flow positive, have about 100 advertisers on the site, and 30,000 visitors per month.
4. NPR - National Public Radio’s website doesn’t use new development hacks to present users with compelling content, what they do is just provide their users with… compelling content. Sure their print stories are great, but it’s their radio and podcast offerings that really deliver. NPR is partnered with 860 independently operated, noncommercial public radio stations. NPR produces and distributes more than 130 hours of original programming each week and this multimedia format is well positioned to take advantage of the coming shift from websites to mobile devices.
While other news organizations downsized over the past several years, NPR News added reporters, international correspondents, and offices worldwide, and now gathers and produces content from some 36 locations around the world. All that content is served up not only via terrestrial and digital radio, but also on the NPR website via live program streams, hourly newscasts, and downloadable podcasts. Operating as a non-profit, all of their financial info is available on their about page. They have no paper to deal with, no newspaper infrastructure or legacy costs, no taxes to deal with, and a great distribution platform. Who needs a kindle when NPR sings on almost any mobile device?
5. WestSeattleBlog – Tracy Record, her husband, who also handles ad sales, and their son run the business. Their hard work has resulted in nearly 17,000 page views a day. August 2008 saw a traffic record with more than 524,000 page views. That is translating into revenue growth every month. “We say that we’re sustainable,” she said. “We decided on a leap of faith to live on this job last year. We had a 401k, we were living off savings for a while. We’re not drawing on that anymore.” Record is now able to pay freelancers, and she hopes to hire an additional staffer by the end of the year. -Read more at Technewsworld
Another bootstrap organization now cashflow positive. It took some time, they all do. But they made it happen and are well prepared for the economics of running such a business.
Wrap Up:
Here is why I feel the above sites are doing better than most traditional publishers.
1. Build up a community of users by filling a need.
2. Run a lean organization that rewards participation.
3. Publish on all formats except the expensive ones.
4. Report original content on a continuous basis.
5. Bootstrap or go start non-profit to minimize debt payments.
6. Interact regularly with your community.
7. Do not stifle participation with login requirements
8. Cater to local advertisers
9. Cater to local readers
10. Make the destination an experience, not just another cookie cutter news site.
11. Multiple revenue streams are a must.
RELATED:
Using Alexa and Wordle To Improve News Site Performance
Part 1, Good Media Website Examples – Newspapers
Part 2, Good Media Website Examples – News Blogs and News Aggregators
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You know, I have to tell you, I really enjoy this blog and the insight from everyone who participates. I find it to be refreshing and very informative. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyway, I felt it was about time I posted.
The top news destinations that will survive, we think, are those that can find unique ways to generate significant profit with their online properties. Many of these successful destinations are using online contests to engage both advertisers and readers.
For example, the Orange County Register offers online contests that get readers to react – cutest pet contests, fantasy football, ugliest couch contest – and have sponsors support them, i.e. very profitable opportunities to reach people locally.
As a result, UPICKEM, an online contesting product from Second Street Media, is seeing a doubling of their business. Second Street is offering a free webinar on Feb. 24 for local media looking to learn more
about how to leverage profitable online contests. They can sign up at http://www.secondstreetmedia.com.
Hey, thanks for mentioning us! I think #9 is REALLY REALLY REALLY important. We do require a forum log-in, though, but I don’t know any forum that doesn’t run that way. Not for comments, however, and people are welcome to e-mail contributions, questions, ideas, day/night … Twitter, FB, text, call us by phone, whatever. As soon as new ways of interacting arise, we’ll be there too.
Robert, This is a very interesting posting. Thank you.
I agree with you Callaway (love your name!) regarding the survival of news destinations will be those who find unique ways to generate significant profit, though I don’t know how much difference contests will make. That’s an interesting point though. Contests may attract viewers, but the key is to keep them on your site for longer periods of time then they spend on others.
To do this, and to your point, I think the key is to find what will engage the reader. To do this requires dispensing with old ways of viewing how to put news up on the web, and “publish” what is of value to the readers. Something many traditional newspapers are missing the boat on today.
On a side note . . .
Like NPR, an interesting news venture launched in San Diego, California a few years ago. The Voice of San Diego (http://www.voiceofsandiego.org), a non-profit online news site, launched to cover local news that three former newspaper journalists and entrepreneurs felt was missing from mainstream news.
The news site has unearthed political scandals the local veteran newspaper missed such as exposing the police chief’s boast about public safety when statistics showed an increase in crime; and an investigation that helped force out two leaders of the city redevelopment agencies.
The news site is small but growing. Because it doesn’t have to print newspapers, the majority of its annual budget is dedicated to investigative journalist salaries. And while it is relatively small, this may be the platform for the future of news in major metropolitan markets, statewide, nationally and worldwide.
The Las Vegas Sun is owned by the same company that operates the very profitable Vegas.com commercial website and booking engine. That may (or may not) factor into its claim to be cash flow positive. But its parent company is hardly a pure player media corporation.