Comments on: Roadmap to Victory at Washington Post http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/ Web Technology and Real Life Merge Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:16:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0-alpha By: Bill Murray http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/comment-page-1/#comment-249744 Bill Murray Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:30:43 +0000 http://technosailor.com/?p=7217#comment-249744 Aaron, Good post. I was a hard copy subscriber of The Post for many years and recently cancelled. I am probably now just as likely to read Steve Goff's excellent Soccer Insider blog (which I check a few times a day) as any other content from The Post. He is an amazing reporter, and he's built a very significant readership to his blog (it's not unusual for some posts to generate 100+ comments, and one recent survey he did had 500+ responses). In addition to covering soccer, he also covers George Mason basketball. If The Post could get a cadre of reporters who were as savvy as Steve Goff in building up a readership for their blogs, it would help them make the transition to new media much easier. I've noticed that The Post now posts many more videos and slides on its website than before. I do miss my Sunday paper though! Aaron,

Good post. I was a hard copy subscriber of The Post for many years and recently cancelled. I am probably now just as likely to read Steve Goff’s excellent Soccer Insider blog (which I check a few times a day) as any other content from The Post.

He is an amazing reporter, and he’s built a very significant readership to his blog (it’s not unusual for some posts to generate 100+ comments, and one recent survey he did had 500+ responses). In addition to covering soccer, he also covers George Mason basketball.

If The Post could get a cadre of reporters who were as savvy as Steve Goff in building up a readership for their blogs, it would help them make the transition to new media much easier.

I’ve noticed that The Post now posts many more videos and slides on its website than before.

I do miss my Sunday paper though!

]]> By: pascal bouvier http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/comment-page-1/#comment-249672 pascal bouvier Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:55:24 +0000 http://technosailor.com/?p=7217#comment-249672 great post! furthermore, i think traditional media is still stuck in a "publish or perish" model/process, thusly missing on what social medial delivers, which is converations (one to one, one to many, many to many). any strategy that continues to segregates journalists/editorialists from prosumers - producing consumers - is bound to fail. any strategy that reinforces linkages between journalists/editorialists and prosumers is the way to go. engage, listen, share, communicate, between professionals and the general public is what traditional media needs to learn. as such 4 and 6 from your list seem dead on to me. great post! furthermore, i think traditional media is still stuck in a “publish or perish” model/process, thusly missing on what social medial delivers, which is converations (one to one, one to many, many to many). any strategy that continues to segregates journalists/editorialists from prosumers – producing consumers – is bound to fail. any strategy that reinforces linkages between journalists/editorialists and prosumers is the way to go. engage, listen, share, communicate, between professionals and the general public is what traditional media needs to learn. as such 4 and 6 from your list seem dead on to me.

]]> By: Aaron Brazell http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/comment-page-1/#comment-249670 Aaron Brazell Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:46:48 +0000 http://technosailor.com/?p=7217#comment-249670 Daria: thanks. But, I think even local sports can be better covered by external content sources. For instance, the Nationals could have syndicated coverage from <a href="http://www.federalbaseball.com/">FederalBaseball.com</a>? Daria: thanks. But, I think even local sports can be better covered by external content sources. For instance, the Nationals could have syndicated coverage from FederalBaseball.com?

]]> By: Daria Steigman http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/comment-page-1/#comment-249669 Daria Steigman Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:42:58 +0000 http://technosailor.com/?p=7217#comment-249669 Hi Aaron, I stopped by to comment on your phishing post when I saw this one and got happily distracted. You have some great suggestions here. I've never understood why the Washington Post put up walls between their print and online operations. Now I'm guessing this historic lack of integration has made transitioning to a new business model more complex. I disagree about the Op-Eds, which, for major newspapers, offer much-needed thought leadership. And while I think many of the Washington Post's blogs wouldn't be missed, I believe some regional issues (and sports team) are best covered by those who cover them regularly. Though they certainly all need fresh voices. Best, Daria Hi Aaron,

I stopped by to comment on your phishing post when I saw this one and got happily distracted. You have some great suggestions here. I’ve never understood why the Washington Post put up walls between their print and online operations. Now I’m guessing this historic lack of integration has made transitioning to a new business model more complex.

I disagree about the Op-Eds, which, for major newspapers, offer much-needed thought leadership. And while I think many of the Washington Post’s blogs wouldn’t be missed, I believe some regional issues (and sports team) are best covered by those who cover them regularly. Though they certainly all need fresh voices.

Best,
Daria

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/comment-page-1/#comment-249668 Jared Goralnick Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:06:24 +0000 http://technosailor.com/?p=7217#comment-249668 Excellent suggestions, Aaron. It's going to take a long time to catch up but they have the right content, they just need to work on the distribution and focus. In time... Excellent suggestions, Aaron. It’s going to take a long time to catch up but they have the right content, they just need to work on the distribution and focus. In time…

]]> By: Rowan Price http://technosailor.com/2009/01/05/roadmap-to-victory-at-washington-post/comment-page-1/#comment-249667 Rowan Price Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:04:54 +0000 http://technosailor.com/?p=7217#comment-249667 These are great suggestions, @technosailor. Your 7th one reminds me of ESPN hiring a "real" blogger, truehoops.com's Henry Abbott, and giving him the latitude to blog in authentic, interactive way, with plenty of cross-linking to other nodes of the basketball blogosphere. The result is that ESPN has the best NBA blog out there. One problem that his blog and the newspapers like the Washington Post might have in common -- overwhelming anonymous commenting. I think the answer is not requiring the user to fork over gobs of demographic data while creating a user account, which is what both ESPN and the WP do. Instead, large media organizations should observe the simple blogging convention of allowing commenter's to enter name and URL, without signing up for an account. This allows commenters to tell the author, and more importantly the readers, who they are, what they do, what they look like, etc... What a great benefit, as a reader, to be able scan a comment thread and pick out the responses from real people; this could help make high-traffic newspaper blogs into places where valuable conversations could start to happen. Thanks for the interesting piece, - Rowan These are great suggestions, @technosailor. Your 7th one reminds me of ESPN hiring a “real” blogger, truehoops.com’s Henry Abbott, and giving him the latitude to blog in authentic, interactive way, with plenty of cross-linking to other nodes of the basketball blogosphere. The result is that ESPN has the best NBA blog out there.

One problem that his blog and the newspapers like the Washington Post might have in common — overwhelming anonymous commenting. I think the answer is not requiring the user to fork over gobs of demographic data while creating a user account, which is what both ESPN and the WP do.

Instead, large media organizations should observe the simple blogging convention of allowing commenter’s to enter name and URL, without signing up for an account. This allows commenters to tell the author, and more importantly the readers, who they are, what they do, what they look like, etc… What a great benefit, as a reader, to be able scan a comment thread and pick out the responses from real people; this could help make high-traffic newspaper blogs into places where valuable conversations could start to happen.

Thanks for the interesting piece,

- Rowan

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