Several newspaper portals ranked higher than Google News in unique traffic for May 2008 according to stats released by Nielsen Online reports Editor & Publisher.
This is indeed good news for newspapers who are struggling to come to grips with declining print circulation and the massive shortfall between print and digital revenues. It should also silence those publishers who argue that Google News steals content and traffic and gives nothing back in return as this demonstrates more than anything that a symbiotic relationship does exist between Google and content producers.
Interestingly, Yahoo! News showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with as they came out tops in the current events and global news category with 35.8 million unique visitors closely followed by the MSNBC Digital Network, CNN Digital Network, AOL News, NYTimes.com, Tribune Newspapers, Gannett Newspapers, and Google News respectively.
The suprise newcomer to the current events and global news Top 30 was The Huffington Post, which grew by more than 255% since May 2007 and edged out the Associated Press (AP) coming in at #27. The HuffPost is a fantastic example of a successful online news brand that has mastered the relationship between traditional reporting and social media and I regularly use it as a case-study in my own presentations to media practitioners. Originally founded as a news aggregator and opinion blog in 2005 by Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, it has grown into an enviable superpower in just 3 years and as the Nielsen data shows, beats traditional news brands in both traffic and revenues.
It’s always great to see old instituitons adopting new media (see my earlier post about the 10 Downing Street Channel) and South African bank, FNB, has become the latest blue-chip company to create their own YouTube Channel called FNBTV, which launched on 1 June 2008.
At the moment content is quite thinly spread on FNBTV with only 3 videos uploaded at present, but it looks like it will be the place to go to find all their advertising campaigns, noteworthy interviews and media releases. I’m pretty sure that this will grow over time and the 9 000 channel views it has received since launching gives some indication of the interest it has already attracted.
“FNB is a progressive bank and we are embracing digital media in a unique way for a financial services company,” FNB Media Director, Gisele Wertheim-Aymes, recently told me.
This is not the first time FNB has been at the forefront of innovation and early adoption. They were the first bank to offer an SMS notification service in 2003 called inContact, which currently alerts more than 5 million of their subscribed customers of all banking activity on their accounts — of which I am a happy user. They also recently announced another first in SA, cellphone banking for businesses.
Let’s hope that other big companies see technology as an enabler and follow in FNB’s footsteps.
The first edition of the tabloid-size daily newspaper, The Times, went out free to Sunday Times subscribers.
Since then, the paper has hit the streets and gone from strength to strength. At the moment it is on sale through street vendors, Pick ‘n Pay, and BP Express Stores.
The transformation of the Sunday Times website into The Times Online at the same time that the paper launched on 5 June 2007 has been extremely successful and is now one of the top content destinations in South Africa. One of the things that sets it apart is the fantastic new Times Multimedia portal and there is an exciting mobile offering coming soon as well as a complete site re-design — so expect another busy year ahead.
Bizcommunity published an article on The Times first birthday which mentions the exact details and I think it’s a great article not just because I’m quoted in it ;-)
Here is an excerpt:
The Times, the morning daily newspaper from the Sunday Times stable, officially celebrates its first year today, Thursday, 5 June 2008, and according to Avusa Media, the positive public uptake the daily has exceeded its expectations. “In our first year of operation, not only have we boldly catapulted the company into a new media era but also succeeded as a new South African daily newspaper where many others have failed,” says The Times editor Ray Hartley.
Happy Birthday.
UPDATE (6/6)
Ray Hartley, Editor of The Times, takes us through some of his best front pages in this exclusive photo story.
I recently found this interesting presentation by Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International, speaking at TED about the global news crisis.
Alisa starts off by asking the question “how does news shape the way we see the world?”. A serious and particularly relevant issue in the 21st Century which is exemplified by the news map of the world according to the American media (both the U.S. & Iraq are disproportionately inflated).
Two points struck a cord:
Coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s death surpassed all major events except for Iraq.
50% of American foreign bureaus have been closed and therefore there is an increased reliance on shared wire services and less of an emphasis on primary sources and robust reporting.
It truly is a sad fact of life that celebrity news and infotainment are taking over mainstream media with an alarming frequency. Consequently, this affects public discourse and the way we see the world. Without a strong independent media I don’t believe you can have a strong democracy and what has happened to America over the past couple of decades is evidence of this. The 30 second TV commercial has become the de facto marketing channel for political candidates and media consolidation has resulted in fewer, more powerful networks. As for newspapers? Let’s not even go there.
Profits have become the order of the day for most media companies and the belief in quality journalism as a service and a vital component of a robust democracy has all but faded away. These are dangerous times that we live in.
who is youngBLOOD?
I am currently Head of Digital for the South African division of the Trader Media Group where, amongst other things, I manage a digital department and am responsible for the commercial success of several digital products and services » more
The first edition of the tabloid-size daily newspaper, The Times, went out free to Sunday Times subscribers.
Recent Comments