Doc Searls on staking out beachheads for TV

Doc Searls makes several great observations about where television’s going, especially in light of Al Jazeera’s online streaming (free of goofy cable restrictions) and complete ownership of news coming out of the Middle East for the past month and more.

Most compelling are his reference to Terry Heaton’s beachheads, each of which set a goal for capturing an aspect of online viewership without necessarily obsessing over “where the money is.” Heaton likens it to Wayne Gretsky’s “skating to where the puck is going to be”:

This strategy is to get us ahead of that and let the revenue grow into it. None of these will break the bank, and they’ll position us to move quickly regardless of which direction things move or how fast.

We all know how well the strategy worked for Gretzky.

Friday link roundup

Aussie working the herd

Aussie working the herd. Round em up, pup!

Rescuing The Reporters, shirky.com
This is a great post. Clay Shirky breaks down the hometown paper and asks hard questions of what’s locally produced and puts some of the “newspapers should do x to survive” into context.

The Audacity of Free, chrisbrogan.com
Hey, I like free stuff as much as the next guy. I like getting paid, too.This post makes a great case for charging something for stuff. But the tricky question is how to boost value of the something enough that someone will part with sheckles for it.

NPR lands $3M grant for hyperlocal initiative, lostremote.com
Look out. Take a look at this report about how National Public Radio’s growth has tracked over the past few years, most importantly in how they’re working to create bonds with audiences.

With msnbc’s purchase of everyblock and local tv stations poised to launch local blogs, local is going to get pretty crowded. NPR will be a force to be reckoned with.

Google unveils new local search for mobile, lostremote.com
This is great: star stuff while searching and get an interactive list on your phone. But it skews toward chain stores in my quick tests. Will have to experiment to see if local joints can be preferred.

Is the revolution over?, collegemediainnovation.org
Is it safe to say that the rehash of micropayment proposals or bitching about comments signals a completed technology distribution curve. Game over.

I’m not so sure. In fact, I’m afraid there’s much more pain as advertisers really get a handle on (and more savvy than ever about) what they really want for their dollars spent.

I do think, though, that the pace of change in types of new tools will slow. That means microblogging as a concept will stick around, but self-hosted solutions or outright competitors to twitter, for example, are likely. Mobile as a viable platform is established, but how people interact with it is sure to change. Etc.

That circular talk, though, will continue as long as the old guard is still waking up to the discussion and cycles through the phases of how to “save journalism.”

Someone ought to make a primer! “So you think you can save journalism: A primer on what’s already been talked about so wired journalists at the bar don’t roll their eyes when you walk away.”

Happier, getrichslowly.org
There’s a whole blog post wrapped into the concepts that come to mind with this post. Until then, chew on this:

The shift from being a rat racer to pursuing happiness is not about working less or with less fervor but about working as hard or harder at the right activities — those that are a source of both present and future benefit.

Friday link roundup

 Returning at the end of the afternoons work; Gathering the Herd | Howard W. Marshall, via americaslibrary.gov

" Returning at the end of the afternoon's work; Gathering the Herd" | Howard W. Marshall, via americaslibrary.gov

I’m really liking the link management feature from Publish2. I can collect links all week long with notes and then share my take on them in one post.

Hope you enjoy. Let me know your take in the comments.

Story structure for the Web | NewsLab

Jacqui Banaszynski suggests a “totem pole” structure to Web writing, giving each element a label, summary and link. Don’t like it? Not “storytelling” enough for you? Change your criteria, she says:

All good writing has to honor the purpose for which you are doing that writing.

Google developing a micropayment platform and pitching newspapers: “‘Open’ need not mean free”

Google, the savior of newspapers? Nah. But it couldn’t hurt either party to team up at the hub.

Of course, Google is in a prime place to serve up content and charge a fee for processing payment, delivering content, etc.It’ll be interesting to see if newspapers will get greedy. They might try if they still think they’re the big dogs in distribution. And they might.

And will Google extend this service to bloggers, too?

Yahoo Local debuts ‘Neighbors’: Yahoo drills down…

Meh. Perhaps combining local search with conversation on the Yahoo platform has promise, but I get the itchy feeling that it’s all just another social time-suck with limited practical application.

But I could be wrong.

Growthspur: Help for revenue-challenged journalists?

Interesting idea here to set up an ad selling and serving on behalf of journalists working out on their own.

It will be worth watching to see what the revenue share is, and I’m sure there’s an academic argument about whether this is enabling journalists to avoid dealing with the money problem, but it might offer more journalists (pro and am) the chance to grow those niche audiences and make a few bucks in the process.

Friday link roundup

Fall Roundup by Dolor Ipsum, via Flickr

Fall Roundup by Dolor Ipsum, via Flickr

Plenty of great thought-provoking stuff on the Web this week, from competing publications within one news org to what I think will shape up to be a big fight between journalism and college sports:

Divide and conquer

Jason Kristufek’s well-researched discussion of a pretty innovative idea: making print and online separate and even competitive arms of the same company. Jason’s in a good position to do this (because his company is being proactive and forward-thinking) but this is going to be a hard-sell in a more entrenched newsroom that won’t even spring for a freelance Web developer.

Journalism’s biggest problems are not online: They’re inside

This really points out a tough truth, especially the hard looks at journalism shortcuts like taking the easy route on tough stories, reporting on politics instead of governance and lazy “he-said, she-said reporting.”

Think finding a new revenue model is difficult? These problems are systemic and institutional.

15 Unconventional Uses of WordPress in Action

Now we’re talking. WordPress rocks. I can think of more than a few ways to use these tools.

Startup news site rocking the boat in Portland

Nice. This project will be one to watch for sure.

Fewer Newspapers Fight to Open Court Proceedings

This kind of glaring omission on the part of news organizations only hastens their irrelevance in the minds of citizens. Moving forward, journalism foundations and professional organizations should start filling the gap on behalf of “journalism” rather than in the name of individual newspapers.

On the plus side:

Journalism Organizations Protest Big Ten Restrictions on Game Coverage

I’ve heard that the Gazette in Cedar Rapids was successful in pushing back at Iowa, who was giving them flak about liveblogging games, etc. Note that the SEC has Big Brother tendencies as well. I think this is going to be a full-on fight with the NCAA, with plenty of repercussions for small organizations who are kind of flying under the radar right now (and probably buckling under individual school pressures, I might add).

And speaking of college football:

The old college try: Seeing all 120 teams possible

OK, so I’m a little biased because this story gives Boise State props for using weeknight college games to gain relevance among college football fans. But it’s a pretty innovative strategy, no? And how else would everyone be talking about LeGarrette Blount this morning?