Via the comments in Melissa Worden's multimedia blog, don't miss one of the best points Rob Curley ever made:
Why are online journalists treated so differently at most newspapers than the print journalists are? I mean, if a print editor was planning a huge enterprise project that was going to be really special for the newspaper (and would take some resources to do successfully), would people ask that print editor how he or she was going to monetize it? Never.
With that said, a lot of the pressure to make money online is well-deserved. Our responsibility, like it or not, must be increasing Web revenues at least as fast as print revenues fall. These pressures shouldn't become so irrational, though, that good journalism is considered a frivolous expense.
Comments (2)
I agree with Rob's point in that journalists shouldn't be tasked with advertising or marketing duties (or anything else but good journalism). But I do think newspapers could improve their work flow for online staffs so "online journalists" don't have to post ad code, or figure out how to play marketing-driven promotions.
I put quotes around online journalists because I think we're nearing the day when journalists are journalists regardless of the medium. Once that happens, the Web designers and developers newspaper have hired -- yes, they are very necessary for this business -- will manage the code, which journalists should never need to touch.
Posted by Patrick B | February 13, 2007 9:45 AM
Posted on February 13, 2007 09:45
I totally agree with you, Patrick. Ideally Web journos wouldn't be so involved in driving revenue and marketing.
The advertising burden is even greater for people at small sites that have one Web staff for everything.
The larger the site gets, the less involved the journos are in this sort of thing. That's a good sign for everyone. It means that as we grow, what you're talking about becomes the norm.
Posted by Lucas | February 14, 2007 9:27 PM
Posted on February 14, 2007 21:27