New Business Models for News

New business models for news

Jeff JarvisCUNY Graduate School of Journalism

October 2008

New worldviews...

...new models

Content v. link economy

Content economy•Own/control content

•Syndicate/sell

•Many copies

•Monetized at the edge

•Value created with content

Link economy•One copy, many links

•Made open (searchable, linkable)

•Monetized at the center

•Links bring efficiencies: (Do what you do best, link to the rest)

•Value created with links

Product process

v.

News as product•Dictated by production & distribution

•Owned and controlled (and monopolized)

•Centralized

•Once-a-day

•One-way

•One-size-fits-all

•Perfection as a standard

News as process•Never starts, never ends

•Opens up news: transparent

•Input & collaboration at all stages(Here’s what we know & what we don’t know—what do you know?)

•Enabled by links

•Enables networks

Article v. topic flow

Wiki snapshot

Blog process

Links

Discussion

Article

Past the article•Blog = news as process (v. product)

•Wiki = Snapshot of current knowledge

•Links = Curation, aggregation (Do best/link rest)

•Discussion = Input, correction, addition(What do you know?)

Centralized distributed

v.

Centralized•The world comes to us

•We market for audience

•We hold onto audience as long as possible

•We claim large audiences

•We charge(d) for total audience

•Brand as magnet

Distributed•We go to the world

•‘If the news is important, it will find me.’

•Brand as descriptor (quality, credibility, voice, perspective)

•Audience is distributor

•Need to monetize distribution

Newsroom efficiencies

Newsroom

v.

MoJoPhotos: WAN, Washington Post

Newsroom v. network•Centralized v. distributed

•Open to many relationships

•Newsroom as classroom

•Physical v. virtual

•Staff plus relationships

Network model

Network model•Collaborative

•Not all owned

•Enabling others to build

•Extracts minimal value to grow to maximum size (T. Evslin)

•Critical mass faster, cheaper

•Curation, vetting, education as key skills

Owned v. outsourced

Edit Ad

Mfg Dist

Edit Ad

Mfg Dist

News company structure•Why own exclusive use of

manufacturing, distribution, sales?

•Spinoff or outsource?

•Enables new, networked relationships

•Planning post-paper

Public support?

Public support?•Charitable money?

•Public money?

•Public work and support?

•What could be supported?

•How much does it cost now?

•Local v. national (NPR, ProPublica)?

•Spot.us ... Zivity ... other models

Revenue models

Revenue models•New open ad networks & marketplaces

•New industry networks

•Hyperlocal networks

•New ad models (relationships, new targeting...)

•New measurements

•New side-door revenue (data, service...)

•Google?

•Think distributed•Do what you do best, link to the rest•Join a network•Be a platform•Collaborate•Small is the new big•‘Elegant organization’ —Mark Zuckerberg

•‘Get out of the way’ —Craig Newmark

WWGD?

•Free is a business model —Chris Anderson

•Beware the cash cow in the coal mine•Encourage, enable, and protect

innovation (where’s our 20% rule?)•Life is a beta•Decide what business you’re in

WWGD?

Content

Community

Content

Advertising

Who are we?

Who are we?

Charge: Networks•How can networks protect/expand

journalism?

•What kinds of networks: ad, content...

•Local v. national v. international

•Define network models that would work today: Who is in them, what kind of relationship, what value and benefit for each party, how they are supported...

Charge: Newsrooms•Find new efficiencies

•What is the value of the newsroom in the future?

•What is the core of the newsroom in the future?

•Is there still a room?

• Model the new newsroom: size, functions, jobs, relationships, costs

Charge: News orgs•What are new corporate and operational

structures for newsrooms?

•React to the Roussel/Morgan models

•Where is the value?

•What services are needed?

•Model a reorganized company

•Model a from-scratch company

Charge: Revenue models•Where is the value?

•Where are the opportunities?

•New ad models? New measurements?

•Network sales? Outsourced sales?

•Anything other than ads?

•Define best prospects to pursue as companies, networks, or the industry and what is needed to do that

Charge: Public support•What would the public support?

Investigative? Beat? Collaborative?

•How much does that cost now? How much should it cost?

•What sources are there? Local?

•Relationship of public v. private?

•Define best opportunities for public support. Be realistic.

Your reward

Photo: André Karwath