Articles

update | Apr 11, 2019

The ‘eHarmony of Political Coverage’ and Other Local News Innovations Medill’s Research on Digital Subscriptions Empowers Newsrooms

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Here’s a neat trick that other newsrooms might want to steal. During Chicago’s recent election, the Tribune ran a quiz headlined, “Which Chicago mayoral candidate do you align most closely with?” The Tribune got candidates to answer a set of 14 questions, and then readers were invited to answer the same questions and learn which politician they were most in synch with. The feature served multiple purposes: educating readers on the candidates, helping readers focus their...

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data | Apr 1, 2019

USC’s Crosstown Project Turns Big Data into Local News

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

Gabriel Kahn says his data project, Crosstown, delivers “the kind of information that allows citizens to be the squeaky wheel.” Kahn, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism, and his team are developing Crosstown to analyze and publish data on “core quality-of-life issues” such as traffic, crime and air quality. The goal: to make large data sets useful on a local and even hyperlocal level. “Part of it comes from my...

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Design | Mar 19, 2019

Can Local News Websites Shift From Annoying Their Readers to Serving Them? Getting Readers to Pay Will Require More Attention to User Experience

by Jeannette Hinkle | Jenny_Hinkle

The frustrations of local journalists over the presentation of their work on news websites was summed up recently in a tweet by British writer Katie Taylor: Local newspaper journos: Why are we losing so much money? Why don't people read local news?Local newspaper website devs: *adds four pop-ups* *increases page load time to 64 hours* *enables video auto-play* *includes gif adverts in masthead* *changes font to wingdings*— katie (@Shinybiscuit) January 8, 2019 Indeed, too many local news...

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interview | Mar 11, 2019

Local Media Must ‘Re-learn’ How to Engage With Readers, Online News Consultants Say

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

As online news organizations try to pivot to reader revenue models to achieve financial sustainability, a New York-based firm called Piano is among those offering expertise. The Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications interviewed two Piano executives about the shifting media landscape. Michael Silberman, Piano’s Senior Vice President for Strategy, helped launch Vulture.com and TheCut.com and was a founding editor at MSNBC.com. Patrick Appel, Director of...

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update | Feb 27, 2019

Can News ‘Snacking’ Save Local Journalism from Starvation?

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

The old-fashioned image of the loyal newspaper reader was someone who went through each edition methodically, reading deeply from front to back. Today’s loyal online news reader may be quite different. Perhaps she catches a look at a local news homepage while waiting for the train. Or she might read an emailed newsletter with story links, scanning a dozen headlines on different stories. If she finds something interesting and has the time, she reads the...

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Research | Feb 5, 2019

Medill Study Identifies ‘Paradigm Shift’ in How Local News Serves Readers Building Habit—Not Page Views—Matters Most For Keeping Subscribers, Data Analysis Finds

by Mark Jacob | LocalNewsIni

As online advertising lags, many local news organizations are shifting their strategy to focus on reader-based revenue models, especially digital subscriptions, as a path to financial sustainability and greater community service. That pivot is redefining the goals for many news outlets. Rather than chasing viral “clicks” to boost ad revenue, they are trying to establish their value to subscribers. New strategies require new insights into local digital audiences. That’s why a major new Northwestern University...

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Research | Feb 5, 2019

Medill’s Subscriber Data Analysis: How We Reached Conclusions

The Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern University analyzed 13 terabytes of data from the Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle and Indianapolis Star for its study, which was conducted in the fall of 2018 as part of the Medill Local News Initiative. Data scientists at Spiegel integrated audience data and subscriber information from each of the three news organizations. This allowed researchers to trace anonymized, individual behaviors of people who kept and cancelled digital subscriptions. This cross-platform data integration...

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Research | Feb 5, 2019

3 Takeaways on Medill’s Subscriber Data Analysis

As local news outlets find their advertising model faltering, earning revenue from readers has emerged as a more promising path to sustainability. That’s why a Northwestern University study takes a new approach: Instead of focusing on the page-view metrics common in an ad-based model, this research tracks what keeps subscribers paying. The study, part of the Medill Local News Initiative at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, has crunched 13 terabytes of...

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