Broadcasting & Cable writes that TBD.com, the Allbritton local news site that will focus on Washington DC, is going to be a continuous news site. In short, that means publishing news in a blog-format, where the lead is whatever happened most recently. This is hard for traditional news sites to grasp – we’re used to the finished news product and deciding which story to tell the audience is the lead – but continuous news is how people consume information online. It also doesn’t hurt that the format plays very nicely with Google. I’ve seen what happens at stations that switch to this web-native format, and the results are astounding: instant jumps in pageviews and time spent on site, and by several multiples as well.
Terry Heaton (my former biz partner and mentor) puts it bluntly:
“In the Continuous News model, everything is a breaking event. There is no “lead” story, for the only thing that matters is the time. Bits of stories are sufficient and they can be tied together through search, tags and a “more coverage” button, if we believe that’s necessary. Belief that the audience can’t figure out what’s going on — what’s important — is tied to our finished product news genes, but it’s an insult to empowered consumers. Creating news for the Web that appeals to the lowest common denominator is a broadcast mindset.”
TBD’s Director of Community Engagement, Steve Butty writes:
“TBD will never be a finished product. On the web, on mobile devices and on our 24-hours cable news channel, we’ll always be in motion: constantly updating, improving and evolving; seeking more details, reaction or community conversation. We’ll be a place you visit to watch the news unfold in real time..”
Doesn’t that sound like what news should do?
(And yes, I get a mention in the B&C piece. It’s still a good and important read.)
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Continuous news site: That's what The Batavian has been for two years and what I've been pushing for four or five.
Been watching them do this in Lexington, Kentucky.
http://www.lex18.com/home/
I like this format for the sweet SEO & multiple return daily visits from users….
my clients add a 'sticky post' for key stories too.
mel taylor
So is THAT the new term? Damn, I'm going to have to add that to our tagline. “Online-only, community-collaborative, continuous-news site.” Hmm. We are not only continuous – both of us come from a broadcasting background, so it's completely natural to us – we are 24/7. Will these guys be publishing in the middle of the night too?
@WestSeattleBlog We love you guys.
@West Seattle Blog: Yes. Now that you know the term, will you be changing your entire business model?
Keep up the good work.
@thebatavian I know very well how hard you've been pushing for this model. If you'd like to write a guest column, I'd be happy to run it.
The same goes for anyone, BTW.
Yeah, that's cool – but I do like a good Top Story, a sticky post, etc. Some way to highlight really important stuff even a few hours after it got bumped off the top. I just don't believe that readers are paying continuous attention.
Marshall:
I was skepitcal, too. But I've seen the numbers of sites that have gone this route, and they don't lie. Time on site for one station jumped from one to six minutes. Pageviews triple. It does work. I agree there should be a place you can “turn on” when there is a big story but, let's face it, on any given night there are tons of choices for ledes. It's tough for us to grasp, but the audience understands non-linear. That's how we get our information from FB, Twitter, etc. Seriously – the format works.
Steve
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