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Online newspapers will change again with
national-advertising thrust
The Web has enabled newspapers to add many useful
functions-constant updating of stories, video, instant reader
feedback, and e-mail contact with reporters, to name a few.
Now it's making possible another capability that never was
achievable among print newspapers. The Wall Street
Journal reports that America's three largest newspaper
publishers are working together to sell advertising jointly on
the Web sites of their publications. Gannett, McClatchy and
Tribune companies (known as "GMT") will provide one-stop
shopping for advertisers to publish display ads on their
newspapers' Web sites.
The Journal calls this program "a big new bid to win
back advertisers that are defecting in droves to the Web." The
report notes that, in the past, newspapers have had a hard
time trying to combine their efforts to sell national ads
because local papers didn't want to standardize ad sizes or
relinquish their relationships with advertisers. The dire
situation surrounding print editions of newspapers, however,
has changed a lot of minds. Ad revenues from print editions
fell four percent in the first nine months of 2006, while ad
revenues of all types on the Internet jumped 35 percent.
Individual newspapers have not been able to grow their online
ads fast enough to counteract the loss of print-ad revenue.
The new GMT effort is competing against the "Seven Amigos,"
a combo of seven other newspaper publishers with more than 100
newspapers, led by Hearst and MediaNews. They are partnering
with Yahoo and, according to the Journal, are
finalizing plans for their own national ad-sales network.
"Despite the wall that exists in publishing circles between
advertising and editorial teams, the emerging online
advertising wars promise some appealing implications for PR
practitioners," observed Eric Kushner, Airfoil vice president.
"While more display ads on newspaper sites may pull attention
from the editorial coverage, the more important consideration
is that the additional revenue should lead to healthier
newspapers and newsrooms and hopefully, a reversal, or at
least a halt, to the downsizing avalanche we currently are
seeing on the print side. More reporters equates to more
opportunity for professional communicators."
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More
blogging, fewer blogs
The number of people visiting the blog pages of the top-10
online newspapers soared 210 percent last year, but hundreds
of millions of individuals who create content in the
blogosphere have quit writing their blogs.
Nielsen//NetRatings reported that the unique audience for
the leading online papers rose in December 2006 to nearly 3.8
million, compared with just 1.2 million in December 2005. For
newspapers as a whole, the number of unique visitors rose 9
percent, and blog pages accounted for 13 percent of all unique
traffic for newspapers last December, compared with 4 percent
a year earlier.
More papers are offering more blogs, which may account for
the increase, in part. Whatever the reason, men appear to be
the big blog readers on news sites, with the visitors to the
blog pages of the top-10 papers skewing 66 percent male.
All that said, Gartner Inc. is asserting that a large
proportion of the world's bloggers have just given up on their
blog sites. In their "Top Predictions for IT Organizations
and
Users, 2007 and Beyond," Gartner analysts anticipate that
the number of bloggers will peak early this year. They note
that while there were more than 56 million active blogs in
October 2006, their average life span was three months and is
falling. Gartner says more than 200 million people have given
up writing their blogs, and the peak number of bloggers will
settle at around 100 million.
As with any suddenly popular medium, from jogging to
scrapbooking, millions may be attracted to try blogging; but
it likely will be the serious, influential and
landscape-changing bloggers who continue and thrive.
Newspapers and broadcast outlets are using blogs as the
extended voice of their top reporters and as a vehicle for a
look behind the news story and newsgathering. The attraction
of knowledgeable opinions and the "inside scoop" are sure to
keep newspaper blogs growing.
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Live news in your
pocket
While mass media promotions for 42-inch HDTV screens seem
to verify the conventional impression of America's demand for
ever-larger media rooms, a much quieter media revolution is
underway in our pockets.
With some fancy phones and PDAs, mobile users have been
able to watch clips from newscasts and network shows while on
the go. Now Fox News has launched a service that enables any
cell-phone user to listen to a live audio feed of the Fox News
cable channel. The feed is available through Cingular for a
monthly fee and marks an advancement of sort for instant
access to news.
Now we don't need to be in front of a TV set or even a
laptop screen to hear news as it's happening. We can eavesdrop
on all that fair and balanced Fox coverage on our cell phones.
Other news networks-which almost all offer some sort of canned
video or audio mobile news update-are likely to look at ways
to bring news to ever-more-impatient listeners and viewers in
ever-more-convenient streams.
For newsmakers, all this means that the time between their
interview and publication has finally been slashed to zero.
Long gone are the days when this morning's interview would
first appear in tomorrow's newspaper. More recent are the
times when our comments were placed on the Web by reporters in
a matter of hours. Just a little while ago, bloggers began
spreading our words beyond a single news outlet's site to
hundreds or thousands of Web locations. Now, news junkies
don't even need to wait until they get to the office or their
home to boot up a browser. They can tune into our interviews
as we speak, and as Bill O'Reilly opines, wherever they happen
to be at the moment-stranded on the Interstate or sipping a
Starbucks.
"Our world is becoming more like The Truman Show every
week," suggests Janet Tyler, Airfoil president. "When we make
news, we're on now and we're on everywhere, so
we should always be armed with the right messages for today's
objectives and with the right techniques to rouse all those
listeners to action."
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Airfoil expands West Coast
client roster
Three technology-oriented firms
have joined the roster of Airfoil's California
office:
Real Branding, one of America's most acclaimed digital
marketing agencies, has selected Airfoil as agency of record
to raise the San Francisco-based company's profile as it
expands its service offerings to focus on hi-demand Web 2.0
marketing and branding services, including analytics, digital
content and digital video. Real Branding's 33 clients
represent 17 of the world's top 100 brands in such arenas as
consumer packaged goods, financial services, technology,
entertainment, and hospitality.
Airfoil California also is helping DTT Surveillance gain
mindshare among franchise decision-makers and restaurant
media. DTT, in Los Angeles, is a full-service provider of
surveillance software and systems for businesses in the
hospitality, dining, hotel and retail sectors. DTT solutions
protect more than $1.5 trillion in assets for more than 18,000
clients.
In Santa Clara County, Alpha Business Performance CEO Alan
Huang, a franchise license holder for Action Coach, the
world's largest business-coaching and mentoring program
franchiser, has selected Airfoil to provide strategic counsel,
develop his brand and promote his presence in the Silicon
Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.
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New Airfoil
Web site offers insights, case studies and
news
Airfoil has redesigned and expanded the content of
its Web site at www.airfoilpr.com to
provide visitors with easier and more interactive access to
information they can use. Nearly twenty Airfoil case studies
illustrate successful approaches to such areas as media
relations, analyst relations, corporate communications,
editorial services, research, marketing communications and
other disciplines. Our online newsroom gives journalists the
ability to download images, background information and recent
news relating to Airfoil. Airfoil's expanded blog offers
insights into communications trends and practices, while our
Tips section offers a wide range of advice, from factors to
consider when selecting a PR firm to methods of preparing for
a presentation and planning a research project. The site also
provides full access to Airfoil white papers on current
communications trends, information on each of our practice
groups, bios of our leadership team, background on careers
with Airfoil and links to other online resources that provide
valuable content for communicators in the business arena. As
you browse Airfoilpr.com, we invite your feedback.
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