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A few years ago, I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to convert TV scripts for the web. Well, times have changed. Now the best web stories are written from the ground up, and an increasing number of TV reporters are tasked with writing them. With that in mind, I’ve created a new how-to guide called, “How To Write for the Web” that’s written for broadcast journalists. Feel free to print it and distribute to your newsroom.
10 comments May 9th, 2007
CitySearch has unveiled a new set of designs across its network of city sites, and one of the new features should be of grave concern for local TV stations. In a deal with TurnHere, CitySearch will start posting video of local restaurants, spas, boutiques and other local businesses. “Video on Citysearch, coupled with our trusted information, arms users with the ability to make more informed, confident decisions about where to spend their time and money,” said Scott Morrow, EVP at Citysearch. Truthfully folks, local broadcasters should’ve already owned this space. Now we’re going to get beat. Screen grab…
Press release follows below…
Read the full post 1 comment May 9th, 2007
The citizen journalism and social news site Newsvine has unveiled a new design with functionality that smart online news sites should copy in a hurry. It has combined the drag-and-drop functionality of many news aggregators on its home page so you can import your own RSS feeds and position everything exactly how you want it. Of course, the ads are fixed, along with a couple Newsvine modules like the top story, but the rest is totally customizable. This makes complete sense in a world where the user is in control and a closed-loop website is just another RSS feed in a news aggregator. So why not open it up for all kinds of content, even your competition, if that’s what your users want? That’s how to create a destination site in the new 2.0 world. Screen grab…
That’s not the only cool user-powered functionality on the site, by the way.
5 comments May 9th, 2007
The SEC is investigating some “highly unusual” purchases of Dow Jones stock immediately before Rupert Murdoch’s aggressive bid for the company — which sent the stock price skyrocketing — and now the WSJ reports that Murdoch’s first meeting with Dow Jones was on March 29th — over two weeks before the official offer. In connecting the dots, everyone from investment bankers to lawyers to journalists knew about the pending offer before it was made public. (Paid sub. req.)
Add comment May 9th, 2007
The CBS O&O in San Francisco has found a very innovative way to use Slingbox to transmit live video to air from both fixed cameras and live shots (watch a video demo). The cameras are jacked into wirelessly-connected Slingboxes in the field, and the signals are received back at the station on a computer and then pushed into a router for broadcast. KPIX uses it for its “Commute Cam” (pictured) which shows live video from a moving vehicle, as well as fixed camera positions, among other uses — 25 cameras in all. “It lets us get a lot of live shots back for a low cost,” said Dan Rosenheim, VP News at KPIX. “This kind of technology is such an advance over what we’ve had.” You can bet that many local TV stations are going to copy this idea, quick. (Thanks Jake for the tip!)
5 comments May 9th, 2007
We posted screen grabs earlier this month, but now we’ve discovered this CNET video clip that shows Jonathan Leess, president and GM of CBS’ Digital Media Group, demonstrating the user interface for the network stations’ upcoming user-generated content initiative powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight.
1 comment May 9th, 2007
Um, this is interesting. Boston.com now has a local musician who writes original songs and produces music videos with editorials surrounding the same day’s news. It’s called Pop Ed. “Jake will find news of interest in the morning and then start writing. Later in the afternoon, you can find his song on this page. Think of it as an op-ed with a new twist,” explains the site. (Thanks Alyssa for the tip!)
4 comments May 9th, 2007
If you work in local media, you know automotive is the bread and butter of local ad sales. Borrell Associates released a report today on the incredible shift of automotive ad dollars to the internet. “For newspapers and TV stations, the days of easy automotive money are over,” reads the report. “The rush is on to meet car buyers on the internet, where they spend an average of five hours researching vehicles before they make a purchase.” While Borrell predicts that newspapers will continue to get pounded on the automotive front, there are promising opportunities for TV stations online. “The local online marketplace remains in flux. Lead-generation programs appear to be faltering. And programming that is based on listing fees and banner advertising is less attractive to dealers than campaigns that can generate excitement about products – such as online video – or can goose traffic to their web sites – like search engine marketing,” reads the report. But another threat looms: Borrell notices that people who research their next purchases are increasingly going straight to local dealers and manufacturers’ sites, skipping over third-party sites. Free executive summary is available here.
Add comment May 9th, 2007
Microsoft is buying a four percent stake in CareerBuilder, the job site that’s owned by Tribune (40.8 percent), Gannett (40.8 percent) and McClatchy (14.4 percent). CareerBuilder powers MSN Careers. “Our strategic business relationship with MSN played a major part in CareerBuilder taking over as the industry leader in 2006, helping to drive critical levels of job-search traffic,” CareerBuilder Chief Executive Matt Ferguson said in a statement. “Microsoft’s equity stake builds on this successful relationship and establishes a global alliance with one of the world’s most ubiquitous technology powerhouses.”
Add comment May 9th, 2007
Coming in June, WMUR-TV will host two presidential debates, and the station is teaming with Gather.com to hold a blogging competition to decide which bloggers will participate. To enter, New Hampshire bloggers will submit posts that will be judged by bloggers across the country. The winners — 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 5 Independents — will have a spot in the “spin room” as well as have the opportunity to submit questions to the debate. “Much as the candidates have used the web to talk to voters, so too are we using citizen journalism to give voters a chance to tell candidates what they think,” said WMUR-TV President and General Manager Jeffrey Bartlett. Screen grab…
WMUR-TV is thinking ahead on this one, as I imagine they’re getting inundated with requests from bloggers to attend the debates — most of whom don’t live in New Hampshire. This contest is a smart way to narrow the list down to 15 local bloggers who “represent” the national blogging community at large. But inevitably, I bet some of the top political blogs — who feel they’ve earned a seat by nature of their large audiences — are going to get a little testy. Press release…
Read the full post 25 comments May 9th, 2007
Called “News to Me” and hosted by actor/producer Eric Lanford, the upcoming Headline News show will feature some of the best user-generated video, photos and stories on the internet. “User-generated content enables us to integrate our audience into the newsgathering process, and Eric’s experience and engaging personality are a great fit for this new endeavor,” said Ken Jautz, EVP, CNN Worldwide. The show will use CNN.com’s I-Reports as a vehicle for some of its content. News to Me premieres Saturday, May 19th at 12:30 p.m. (Thanks DCG!) Press release with more…
Read the full post Add comment May 9th, 2007
A panel of heavyweight media execs at NCTA yielded some very interesting remarks when discussing internet companies like Google. “We’re in a world where we’re a partner with everybody and we’re fighting everybody,” said News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin. “The amount of money we get from those (internet companies) are a fraction of those we get from the cable industry. We have to be careful not to disaggregate.” Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons went one step further. “The Googles of the world, they are the Custer of the modern world. We are the Sioux nation,” he said. It’s interesting to watch how the tone of major media companies is changing from silence to openness to a little combativeness now with Google. (By the way, PaidContent has more here.)
2 comments May 9th, 2007
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