|
|
Schedule set for LION gathering in Philly next weekend
LION's gathering in Philadelphia is next weekend - Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7, and the schedule is set. There's still time to register - admission is free for members and students, and only $25 for others. And note that in addition to a great lineup of speakers, presentations and panel discussions, we'll have a free beer, wine and appetizer reception on Saturday evening, and a continental breakfast and box lunches on Sunday.
If you haven't registered, you can do so in seconds on the LION website.
Here's the full schedule:
Saturday, June 6, 2:30-7 p.m.
- 2 p.m., Registration
- 2:30-3 p.m., Opening Remarks/Introductions
- 3-4 p.m., LION Lessons Learned: Share your quick tips in 60 seconds
- 4:10-4:45 p.m., Brian James Kirk, Technical.ly Philly: Stealing Ideas from Startups: How we built our journalism tech stack on the cheap
- 4:50-5:30 p.m, Jim Brady, Billy Penn: Millennials and Mobile
- 5:30-7 p.m., Reception: Beer, wine & appetizers (hosted with kind support from Broadstreet Ads)
Sunday, June 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
- 9-9:30 a.m., Opening Remarks/Introductions
- 9:30-10 a.m., Jan Schaffer, J-Lab: Legal Issues for Digital News Startups
- 10:05-10:30 a.m., Keith Hammonds, Solutions Journalism Network: Increasing Engagement by Tackling Local Issues
- 10:35-11 a.m., Brian Wheeler, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Dylan Smith, TucsonSentinel.com: Crowdfunding Local Journalism
- 11:05-11:30 a.m., Local Publisher Advantage: Kenny Katzgrau, Broadstreet Ads: The Local Publisher's Advantage
- 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Lunch & socializing (box lunch provided)
- 12:30-12:55 p.m., Jesse Holcomb, Pew Research Center: Lessons from Pew's Local Media Study
- 1:0-1:20 p.m., Jim McMillan, Temple University: Inside Philly’s Gun Crisis News project
- 1:20-1:40 p.m., Suzanne McBride, Austin Talks, and Kelly Gilfillan, Brentwood Home Page: Internship and Volunteer Programs — Potentials and Pitfalls
- 1:40-2 p.m., Jay Allred, Richland Source, and Doug Hardy, CT News Junkie: Revenue Diversity
- 2:10-2:45 p.m., LION Member Panel: Roundtable on Revenue Ideas
- 2:45-3 p.m., Break
- 3-4 p.m., Final Session: Takeaways and Open Discussion
LION member spotlight: Riverhead Local
This week's LION member Q&A features Denise Civiletti, publisher of Riverhead Local and a sister site, Southold Local, on the east end of Long Island in New York.
One sign of Riverhead Local's success in becoming the dominant local news source in its community is that the town and school district have named the site their "official online publication" for legal advertisements and public notices, a domain still dominated by print across the country.
"We are longtime residents in our community and are very dedicated to our community. The same is true of the editor we hired for SoutholdLOCAL. We care deeply about where we live. We are not just passing through and not just looking to make a buck."
The full interview is on LION's website.
And you can see all past LION member Q&As here.
The declining value of U.S. newspapers, and more trouble ahead
The past week brought a spate of mounting evidence of something long-established - the print newspaper business is in big trouble.
Here's Pew Research on the "declining value of U.S. newspapers."
And Nieman Lab on the "scary" picture painted by Mary Meeker's annual slide deck on media revenue and audience.
Meanwhile, API has a new take on the urgent need for legacy media organizations to embrace innovation. (Steve Buttry has a sense of deja vu - didn't we hear all of this years ago with "Newspaper Next?")
How did we get here? Take in this rant about the value of print from a former USA Today executive if you haven't seen it yet.
Richland Source partners with McDonald's to plug app
The Richland Source in Ohio, whose publisher, Jay Allred, is a LION member, has partnered with a local McDonald's franchise to plug the local news site's mobile app.
The promotion draws attention to the free wifi offered in McDonald's restaurants and the Richland Source app, and includes a contest in which readers can win McDonald's gift cards.
Can indie news startup succeed with hard paywall, no ads?
The Tulsa Frontier, a new local independent online news site founded by former staff of Tulsa's daily newspaper, is planning a business model based on no advertising and a hard paywall that charges subscribers $30 a month.
The Lens goes to court over New Orleans public records
Local independent news site The Lens, whose publisher, Steve Beatty, is a LION member and on its board of directors, is in court this week pressing its lawsuit against the city of New Orleans over a pattern of ignoring and failing to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests.
“The fact is that the city doesn’t comply and it’s not even a secret. A lot of people are doing things that are time-dependent and we need the information to move ahead, it is imperative that information is received quickly so that our audience can make informed decisions in looking at policy,” Beatty told the Louisiana Record.
Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue
NEWSLETTERS: Media organizations are using email newsletters as a product on their own, and with their design is no longer aimed at clicks.
FOUNDATION MONEY: The Knight Foundation looks at local foundations' interest in funding news and information organizations. ICYMI: Here's a replay of LION's free member webinar on foundation funding for local journalism.
EVENTS: How the Arizona Republic found success with storytelling events.
PAYWALLS: Have we reached peak "free Internet?" Legacy media continues to search for subscription revenue, from paywalls to micropayments. Time Inc. is trying to make paywalls work in various ways, including at Entertainment Weekly.
MOBILE: Data is showing that publishers' big weakness in mobile is slow load times. And better site optimization lifts mobile ad conversion rates.
But ... the rapid growth in mobile's share of ad interactions is slowing. And despite mobile's continued rapid audience growth, it is not killing desktop traffic.
SEARCH: Google says "searches near me" have doubled this year.
VIEWABILITY: Brands are demanding that publishers tell them how many of their digital ads are actually being seen.
BOT TRAFFIC: Not all bot traffic is trying to rip off digital advertisers.
AD BLOCKING: Publishers contemplate doomsday ad blocking technology scenarios.
Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology
BREAKING NEWS: The Guardian rethinks its breaking news experience.
HEALTH NEWS: A look at how WBEZ has approached mental health coverage. And a case that journalism can improve public health.
TWITTER: #sorry. Most Twitter hashtags are useless.
SOURCES: Technology dictates that we need a major update in how we protect sources.
EMBARGOES: It's time to kill the midnight embargo.
MATH: A free online course aimed at improving journalists' comfort with and understanding of numbers and statistics.
METRICS: How some digital publishers measure "influence."
VIRTUAL REALITY: How to make a simple virtual reality data visualization.
PARTNERSHIPS: News partnerships increase in digital age.
FREELANCE: A new website wants to disrupt how freelance writers do business.
WRITING SHORT: Tips.
EYEWITNESSES: How online and broadcast media outlets compare in handling eyewitness accounts.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Success in social media is all about speaking to the heart.
METADATA: Contextly and Chicago Public Media are helping publishers tell better stories with metadata.
HOME PAGE: Why media companies shouldn't let their traffic run out the side door.
PODCASTING: Can podcasting build community?
DATA JOURNALISM: At a Virginia newspaper, coders and journalists unite to make better sense of government data.
AP STYLE: The AP Stylebook has added or revised more than 300 entries.
Industry News
TRIBUNE: Tribune completes its purchase of the San Diego Tribune, joining it up with the L.A. Times. It promptly lays off 178 employees. And analysts say we can expect more cost cutting at Tribune newspapers.
BUZZFEED: It's planning an IPO and will be publicly traded on the stock market.
SPOTIFY: Spotify's tricky pivot to getting passive audio listeners to actively watch video.
FLIPBOARD: Twitter, Google and Yahoo are all considering a purchase of Flipboard.
PODCASTING: Radiotopia, a platform that surfaces podcasts, is expanding with support from the Knight Foundation.
FACEBOOK: Instant articles: Repelling, rewarding or required for media companies? The pilot publishers are taking varied approaches to publishing direct to Facebook. Meanwhile, Facebook is rolling out messenger payments and other new features.
YELP: Ken Doctor says newspapers should buy Yelp and make it the next core of the local news and information business. Or maybe there's a much less expensive startup in New Jersey.
CABLE TV: After a deal with Comcast fell through, Charter Communications has stepped up with a massive cable TV merger bid for Time Warner.
INDIES HIRING: Two major independent local news operations are looking for new editors - the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting and Crosscut in the Pacific Northwest.
PLAGIARISM: A college newspaper editor in Florida is plagiarized by a reporter from the local newspaper.
LEE CUTS: Lee Enterprises has closed its Montana Statehouse Bureau and laid off two veteran political reporters.
GANNETT: The boss of Gannett's new newspaper-only division is talking about local newsrooms being seen as more of a "national network."
AOL AFTERMATH: In wake of Verizon-AOL deal, content sites such as the Huffington Post face an uncertain fate.
CORAL PROJECT: The Knight Foundation-funded Coral Project, aimed at improving online story comments, is launching.
MICROPAYMENTS: A Swedish payment company thinks it can save newspapers.
APPLE TV: Apple wants local TV stations to be part of its long-planned TV service, which might be causing delays.
SHOPPERS: Is there life left in local shopper publications?
Is Your LION Publishers Membership Up for Renewal?
For many of our LION Publishers members, it's time to renew! Your membership includes participation in the LION Publishers Den on Facebook, networking and support from fellow LION publishers, our new newsletter, discounted rates on media liability and directors and officers insurance and more.
Plus, being a member gives you access to a members-only rate to the LION Summit – a savings of up to $175 compared to the non-member rate. If your membership is due for renewal, please go to www.lionpublishers.com/members/dues to submit your payment. Those who opt for multi-year membership save, and easy, secure payment options are available via credit card or through Paypal. (Not sure when your membership expires? You can look it up easily on LIONPublishers.com.)
Thanks to our current members who have already renewed! |
|
|
|
|
|