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.)
