Collect and curate
It’s time for media organizations to evolve from producers and distributors to collectors and curators, we have an immense asset in passionate and knowledgible individuals who are focused on serving a specific audience. Yet, journalists need to get over the fact that there is just as much value in collecting and pointing to content as in producing it.
There is so much information available to consumers being able to digest and discover relevant content is becoming increasingly difficult. One of the common uses for twitter and real-time social networking is pointing to quality “crowd sourced” content. These tools are increasingly clouded by spammers and “social marketers.” We have the unique position of being able to use journalistic integrity to bring the best and most useful content to our readers.
Denver-based MediaNews Group, publisher of such major dailies as the Denver Post and Oakland Tribune, has announced plans to test a “customized news delivery service called ‘I-News’ or ‘Individuated News” this summer with the LA Daily News. This service would allow subscribers to choose from different categories, including news from other parts of the country. Blending the offerings of regional newspapers into a separate platform may help more of them survive.
The Daily Telegram is now curating links of local interest from around the Web on their homepage using Publish2.
One of the most common problems in people’s lives is lack of time. We have the competitive advantage of knowing more about the community than any other organization. Offering premium Subscribers exclusive access to a quick-read snapshot of the most important information that pertains to their lives could be a great value.
This may be in the form of a monthly or weekly newsletter that highlights everything you need to know in a certain area of interest. This may include business, sports and entertainment. Having this access gives readers a way to stay in the know without fishing through the piles of information in each of these areas.
We already make “editorial” decisions on what is most important and do the research in each of these verticals. Taking it one step further and packaging the content into a “finished” product that gives people insight without the effort that would be required to earn that knowledge could be a great value to consumers. Making it intensely local protects our ability to keep it exclusive.
Looking beyond our own content is essential.
