Ftc-business-models - Revision history

96.233.178.129: /* FTC workshop: Afternoon panel: Emerging Business Models for Journalism */

2010-01-05T15:21:03Z

FTC workshop: Afternoon panel: Emerging Business Models for Journalism

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	=FTC workshop: Afternoon panel: Emerging Business Models for Journalism=		=FTC workshop: Afternoon panel: Emerging Business Models for Journalism=
			*[http://www.journalismtrust.org The InfoValet: Remarks by Bill Densmore] / and [http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/news/docs/densmore.pdf Densmore slides] and [http://www.newshare.com/ftc/ftc-questions.pdf FTC questions answered (PDF)]
	<hr>		<hr>
	This is page for rough, contemporaneous notes of today's U.S. Federal Trade Commission workshop: "From Town Crier to Blogggers: How Will journalism Survive the Internet Age," held Dec. 1-2, 2009, in Washington, D.C., at the FTC's 601 New Jersey Avenue offices. Your scribe is Bill Densmore, a fellow at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. Of course we've tried to provide accurate quotes and summaries. But the FTC has stenographers recording all of the testimony and that should be your definitive source. The home page for this coverage is http://www.newshare.com/wiki/index.php/ftc		This is page for rough, contemporaneous notes of today's U.S. Federal Trade Commission workshop: "From Town Crier to Blogggers: How Will journalism Survive the Internet Age," held Dec. 1-2, 2009, in Washington, D.C., at the FTC's 601 New Jersey Avenue offices. Your scribe is Bill Densmore, a fellow at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. Of course we've tried to provide accurate quotes and summaries. But the FTC has stenographers recording all of the testimony and that should be your definitive source. The home page for this coverage is http://www.newshare.com/wiki/index.php/ftc

Bill Densmore: /* The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting */

2009-12-05T15:44:24Z

The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting

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	===The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting===		===The AP's three problems and an exchange about "ethics" of rewriting and linking===

	DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.		DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.

Bill Densmore: /* The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting */

2009-12-05T15:43:34Z

The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting

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	The FTC's Susan DiSanti asks Kasi: How can you can charge for content that is more general by its nature?		The FTC's Susan DiSanti asks Kasi: How can you can charge for content that is more general by its nature?

	"We've got a particular problem in that we are not a retailer, we are a wholesaler that has a retail base that is all over the map. So a story that is free in one place has basically eliminated the possibility of paid elsewhere. We were not imaginative I think in the 90's, we thought of content as on homogenous product when in fact there were a variety of things we could have done to value add and do different things in putting the content out."		KASI: "We've got a particular problem in that we are not a retailer, we are a wholesaler that has a retail base that is all over the map. So a story that is free in one place has basically eliminated the possibility of paid elsewhere. We were not imaginative I think in the 90's, we thought of content as on homogenous product when in fact there were a variety of things we could have done to value add and do different things in putting the content out."

	Second problem: What do we mean by link economy. "We talk in terms of link economy: Headlines are OK, excerpts are not so OK. What do we mean by these things? If someone rewrote a story in their own words and then linked to the (original) story, and the traffic doesn't come, what do you do? Real challenges here."		Second problem: What do we mean by link economy. "We talk in terms of link economy: Headlines are OK, excerpts are not so OK. What do we mean by these things? If someone rewrote a story in their own words and then linked to the (original) story, and the traffic doesn't come, what do you do? Real challenges here."

Bill Densmore: /* We pay tips to waiters, why not to reporters? */

2009-12-04T05:55:35Z

We pay tips to waiters, why not to reporters?

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	Fine: "Because newspaper are lousy at marketing." She thinks the wall between news and advertising didn't allow them to work together to be successful. The unwillingness to stoop so low as to market their own product. She has always been amazed at this. It might be too late.		Fine: "Because newspaper are lousy at marketing." She thinks the wall between news and advertising didn't allow them to work together to be successful. The unwillingness to stoop so low as to market their own product. She has always been amazed at this. It might be too late.

			====Jarvis: What should we be talking about?====

			Wrapping up, Jarvis offers what he thinks people should be talking about. There has been too much talk about replicating old revenue lines in the new world. There needs to be talk about costs, and about the waste and duplication in the news industry. There needs to be talk about advertising and about a lack of innovation. "Google created a new model in which it shared the risk with the advertisers. We're still selling scarcity."

			Queried by Robert Thomson, Jarvis said he has earned $13,300 a year on his website from advertising and he made $17,000 last year, outside of his CUNY teaching salary. Of the $13,300, Google AdSense was about $4,000 of that last year.

Bill Densmore: /* The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting */

2009-12-04T05:46:15Z

The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting

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	===The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting===		===The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting===

			DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.

	The FTC's Susan DiSanti asks Kasi: How can you can charge for content that is more general by its nature?		The FTC's Susan DiSanti asks Kasi: How can you can charge for content that is more general by its nature?

Bill Densmore: /* What is the Ap thinking about? */

2009-12-04T05:45:46Z

What is the Ap thinking about?

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	Jarvis: They have said they will. But it is all a matter of how do you land in search results. If you are paid, you will drop in the search results.		Jarvis: They have said they will. But it is all a matter of how do you land in search results. If you are paid, you will drop in the search results.

	~~====What is the Ap thinking about?====~~

	DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.

	===The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting===		===The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting===

Bill Densmore: /* QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS */

2009-12-04T05:45:19Z

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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	"Whatever the outcome, if there isn't more value or distinctly ascribe to content ... whatever you do is going to be very difficult ... and the cost to society of not having specialist journalists is going to be profound."		"Whatever the outcome, if there isn't more value or distinctly ascribe to content ... whatever you do is going to be very difficult ... and the cost to society of not having specialist journalists is going to be profound."

	Ahearn (Reuters): It has never been either or, it is a question of "and." The challenge for publishers is to find those niches for what ~~they~~ offer and find ways to monetize that audience with dual revenue streams. "The way cable has found dual revenue streams, which is why cable now is a far better investment than broadcast."		Ahearn (Reuters): It has never been either or, it is a question of "and." The challenge for publishers is to find those niches for what the offer and find ways to monetize that audience with dual revenue streams. "The way cable has found dual revenue streams, which is why cable now is a far better investment than broadcast."

	Sullivan: You can go paid and still have Google search you. "There are so many options you have if you would just play around with them more. It is not a light switch."		Sullivan: You can go paid and still have Google search you. "There are so many options you have if you would just play around with them more. It is not a light switch."
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	Jarvis: They have said they will. But it is all a matter of how do you land in search results. If you are paid, you will drop in the search results.		Jarvis: They have said they will. But it is all a matter of how do you land in search results. If you are paid, you will drop in the search results.

			====What is the Ap thinking about?====

	DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.		DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.

	Kasi: "We ~~have~~ a particular problem is we are not retailer~~. We~~ are a wholesaler that has ~~content~~ all over the place . . . so ~~that is one difficulty~~ we ~~have~~ to ~~navigate through~~."		===The AP's three problems and an exchange about ethics of rewriting===

			The FTC's Susan DiSanti asks Kasi: How can you can charge for content that is more general by its nature?

			"We've got a particular problem in that we are not a retailer, we are a wholesaler that has a retail base that is all over the map. So a story that is free in one place has basically eliminated the possibility of paid elsewhere. We were not imaginative I think in the 90's, we thought of content as on homogenous product when in fact there were a variety of things we could have done to value add and do different things in putting the content out."

			Second problem: What do we mean by link economy. "We talk in terms of link economy: Headlines are OK, excerpts are not so OK. What do we mean by these things? If someone rewrote a story in their own words and then linked to the (original) story, and the traffic doesn't come, what do you do? Real challenges here."

	~~Second~~ problem: ~~(Missed this)~~		Third problem: Search id described as almost an independent, and I mean independent in the sense neutral, unbiased activity. But I'm with Robert in that when you go investigate systematically run some searches what you'll find is that with pretty much all of the engines, their own news aggregation results will be the top results. So what you have is a difficulty of the power of aggregation trumping your own independent content."

	~~Third problem: Seach is described as almost an independent as in neutral, non-biased activity.~~ "~~BUt I am with Robert is when you investigate . . . their own news aggregation results will be the top results." He says these~~ are problems the cooperative has seen before ~~and has~~ come up with ~~solutions~~.		"These are problems the cooperative has seen before. We have come up with models to deal with these issues and so we want to be part of the link economy ... the question is how do we make that work so that we can support not only our journalistic endeavors, but also allow our publishers, who pay for our content, to get traffic."

	~~Jarvis~~: "In the link economy, the ethical moral thing to do is to link to ~~the original story~~, not to rewrite it."		JARVIS: "The Associated Press does cut those links. Because its history was to rewrite and commodify news, which is what was of value for a long time. In the link economy, the ethical, moral thing to do is to link to journalism at its source and indeed, not to rewrite it. Not turn it into a commodity . . . I sympathize with The Associated Press, believe it or not I do greatly, because you are stuck, unable to have a brand and monetize that."

	~~Kasi~~: "~~The~~ idea that we simply rewrite is ~~just~~ not true,~~" Kasi responds~~. ~~AP may continue~~ to ~~tell stories when~~ the news cycle ~~has faded~~.		KASI: "I just want to correct one notion the idea that we simply rewrite is simply not true. The Associated Press has a governance structure where the members actually contribute content and that actually goes to start up this new narrative, if you will. We then follow up with our own journalism. So the idea is, it's a construct that goes back essentially to how can you break news faster. Well, if you have a pool to which people subscribe, you can start up the breaking news cycle faster . . . ."

	~~Jarvis~~: "I wish you'd link to original sources more."		JARVIS: "I wish you would link to original sources more, though."

	~~Kasi~~: "You ~~will~~ see that ~~start~~ to happen."		KASI: "I can tell you it's partly also a technological limitation. You'll start to see a lot of that beginning to happen. If you follow our AP mobile product, which is off on one of the newer platforms, you'll see a very different offering than on the web."

	Chris Ahearn (~~Reuters~~): On the ~~question of rewriting: "~~You will be seeing changes, from all ~~sources~~."		Chris Ahearn (REuters Media president): Just in fairness to the AP on this. You come at me on that one too Jeff. It is a technical issue as to how wire houses were architected, to get everything out quickly and in a flat format as opposed to a rich markup format. So you will be seeing changes, from all players."

	Josh Marshall: ~~He knows~~ lots of examples that ~~they~~ broke ~~(Talking Points Memo), which end~~ up being AP stories -- without ~~them getting~~ any mention. "You ~~would~~ think the ~~byline~~ person came up with it on their own."		Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo: "Can I add one quick point here. In a lot of these discussions, I find myself in some ways more on the side of traditional content producers. But on this question of AP all being original work -- that's just not true. And that doesn't mean it's not valuable. It's hugely valuable. But believe me, I like every other publisher, know lots of examples of stories that we broke that ended up being AP stories. Frequently without any mention. Maybe because the reporter saw it athe third generation or something like that. But I do think there is more of an ethic online of linking to the story, not which is necessarily the aggregated story, although that is sometimes the case. It's the story that got the reporter on the track and then added some original reporting or added some commentary or something. And it is certainly the case that stories that exist, and this isn't picking on the AP, it is across the board and everybody does this and I don't think there is anything wronge with this. There are very few stories that are birthed virgin out of someone's head. You get leads in other places. So I do think some of the appearance of aggregation is inflated on the web, not to say there aren't a lot of real problems and even abusive practices, but is inflated, because in the more traditional formats you just don't see where it came from and you think the bylined person came up with it on their own. Which is often not the case. Not that it is not of value. But very few things are truely de novo.

			====We pay tips to waiters, why not to reporters?====

	DiSanti: question for Lauren Rich Fine from the audience.		DiSanti: question for Lauren Rich Fine from the audience.

Bill Densmore: /* Sri Kasi, The Associated Press */

2009-12-04T05:11:24Z

Sri Kasi, The Associated Press

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	== Sri Kasi, The Associated Press ==		== Sri Kasi, The Associated Press ==

	Srinandan Kasi quotes Ken Doctor's research that over 50% of people who read news snippets on aggregators or a home page don't click through.		Srinandan Kasi quotes Ken Doctor's research that over 50% of people who read news snippets on aggregators or a home page don't click through. He says there are three reasons why the impact of the web has been severe on the news industry because of three "truths:"
			*News is the industry's product. "If you have described the details of a news story, you have told the news story," Kasi says.
			*News content has limited shelf life. So there is a brief window to attract audience.
			*Commercial value of individual works of news is only realized in the context of aggregations of many works of news.

	~~"If you have described the details of~~ a news ~~story~~, ~~you have told~~ the ~~news story," Kasi says~~. The original news gather has the cost of creating the works, "but only a fast shrinking opportunity" to monetize. ~~He says for~~ the sake of society, that cannot be allowed to ~~continue~~.		Once a publisher puts news on the web, it gets redistricted and aggregated at no cost to the people passing it along. The original news gather has the cost of creating the works, "but only a fast shrinking opportunity" to monetize. "For the sake of so much that this society holds dear, that cannot be allowed to happen. Preventing it is primarily the obligation of news publishers, who must find news ways to connect with their audience and prevent the unauthorized exploration of their content."

	What is the AP doing to help?		What is the AP doing to help?

	*Helping news organizations find more effective ways to monetize		AP governance has always had conflicts about how successive waves of technology have changed the way content is distributed. The path to survival begins with three steps.
	*While consumer choice may be at the disaggregated story level, the story and publisher have ~~to be part of a larger marketplace~~
	*"Those who want the ~~benefit~~ content ~~have~~ to ~~share in the cost~~."

			*Helping news organizations find new more effective ways to monetize in the small time window while news has value.
			*While consumer choice may be at the disaggregated story level, the story and publisher have to be part of a larger marketplace of aggregated content and audience.
			*Creator of original news works have to be compensated for exploitation of their content. "Those who want the benefit of the news content must help with covering the cost."

	== Mark Bide, Automated Content Access Protocol==		== Mark Bide, Automated Content Access Protocol==

Bill Densmore: /* Jeff Jarvis: The link economy */

2009-12-04T04:52:51Z

Jeff Jarvis: The link economy

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	At the City University of New York, he is developing a set of business model ideas for the new news ecology. The first thing he's studying is the hyperlocal blogger -- the local online news community. Some of them are bad business people, but they can be taught to sell ads better and do other things so they can have a sustainable business model.		At the City University of New York, he is developing a set of business model ideas for the new news ecology. The first thing he's studying is the hyperlocal blogger -- the local online news community. Some of them are bad business people, but they can be taught to sell ads better and do other things so they can have a sustainable business model.
			<hr>
			*[http://seekingalpha.com/article/176222-news-and-the-internet-let-the-market-work-itself-out Jeff Jarvis' column about his appearance]
			<hr>
	The problem with the hyperlocal business model -- there has to be a network, by a few towns or by interests to aggregate the audience. "We believe there is still a new news organization, it is much, much smaller." He thinks it will still do investigative and metro-wide reporting. Because of the link economy it can work with other players in the news ecosystem.		The problem with the hyperlocal business model -- there has to be a network, by a few towns or by interests to aggregate the audience. "We believe there is still a new news organization, it is much, much smaller." He thinks it will still do investigative and metro-wide reporting. Because of the link economy it can work with other players in the news ecosystem.

Bill Densmore at 20:37, 1 December 2009

2009-12-01T20:37:23Z

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	==QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS==		==QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS==

			DiSanti: Asks WSJ's Robert Thompson for his reactions.

			Thompson: He thinks the presentation by Google's Cohen was fine. The word search engine doesn't capture what Google does. Talking about Google is one thing -- it is a quantitative rather than qualitative measure. Google has devalued advertising in a way that it purchases it horizontally and you are getting quantititative measurements of qualitative audiences. "And one way to differentiate yourself qualitatively is to charge."

			DiSanti: Asks about the B-to-B business model. She says that is implicit in ACAP. Where are publishers on the idea of a business-to-business issue and dealing with the aggregators?

			Thompson: When Dow Jones was purchased by News Corp. there was a debate about whether to go free. "If we had gone free, there would be 280 or 290 fewer journalists at the Wall Street Journal now."

			"Whatever the outcome, if there isn't more value or distinctly ascribe to content ... whatever you do is going to be very difficult ... and the cost to society of not having specialist journalists is going to be profound."

			Ahearn (Reuters): It has never been either or, it is a question of "and." The challenge for publishers is to find those niches for what they offer and find ways to monetize that audience with dual revenue streams. "The way cable has found dual revenue streams, which is why cable now is a far better investment than broadcast."

			Sullivan: You can go paid and still have Google search you. "There are so many options you have if you would just play around with them more. It is not a light switch."

			Thompson: Goolge historically hasn't searched paid content.

			Jarvis: They have said they will. But it is all a matter of how do you land in search results. If you are paid, you will drop in the search results.

			DiSanti: Specialized professional news, people will pay for. Lauren Rich Fine said people will pay for the WSJ. The question is, how can you charge for content that is more general by it's nature. She asks Sri what they are thinking about at the AP.

			Kasi: "We have a particular problem is we are not retailer. We are a wholesaler that has content all over the place . . . so that is one difficulty we have to navigate through."

			Second problem: (Missed this)

			Third problem: Seach is described as almost an independent as in neutral, non-biased activity. "BUt I am with Robert is when you investigate . . . their own news aggregation results will be the top results." He says these are problems the cooperative has seen before and has come up with solutions.

			Jarvis: "In the link economy, the ethical moral thing to do is to link to the original story, not to rewrite it."

			Kasi: "The idea that we simply rewrite is just not true," Kasi responds. AP may continue to tell stories when the news cycle has faded.

			Jarvis: "I wish you'd link to original sources more."

			Kasi: "You will see that start to happen."

			Chris Ahearn (Reuters): On the question of rewriting: "You will be seeing changes, from all sources."

			Josh Marshall: He knows lots of examples that they broke (Talking Points Memo), which end up being AP stories -- without them getting any mention. "You would think the byline person came up with it on their own."

			DiSanti: question for Lauren Rich Fine from the audience.

			Society has trained us to pay waiters $40b or $50b a year in tips. Why can't the news industry learn how to ask for that?

			Fine: "Because newspaper are lousy at marketing." She thinks the wall between news and advertising didn't allow them to work together to be successful. The unwillingness to stoop so low as to market their own product. She has always been amazed at this. It might be too late.