Technologies, techniques and strategies for hyper-local news coverage

1. Technologies, techniques and strategies for hyper-local news coverage Knight Digital Media Center April 18, 2008

2. The changing face of Bakersfield • Huge oil, ag, prison & military economies • Amid massive population growth still has “small-town” feel • Growing diversity • Lots of newcomers, many with zero ties to the community • Democrats held majority 20 years ago; today, it’s GOP

3. Embracing the niches In about a decade, The Californian has evolved from a single daily newspaper to include: • Tehachapi News (weekly newspaper) • Northwest Voice and Southwest Voice, two biweekly “web-first” neighborhood newspapers • Bakotopia, a biweekly “alternative” magazine • Bakersfield Life, a monthly lifestyle magazine • Mas, a weekly Hispanic magazine • Kern Business, a monthly magazine • Five phone books serving outlying communities • 9 local websites • … and more to come

4. So, why the dramatic change? We knew we needed to diversify our company’s mission quickly because: • We have a tough market for a traditional paper; our daily reach was eroding (BUT “no time to read” is a BS excuse from customers!) • The digital revolution has changed the rules • Classifieds and other advertising is threatened by nimble competitors

5. Building marketshare Our mission today is not focused on propping up the daily “core” newspaper but on increasing our marketshare through a wide variety of products: • We see a future in products that reach niche audiences AND smaller advertisers who need affordable advertising options • In some cases, our products compete against one another • In some ways, our future is in what Chris Anderson calls “The Long Tail.”

6. At the core of that mission … ... is a belief that we must open up our products to our readers, and share our tools and platforms and audiences. If we’re to succeed against existing competition and nimble newcomers, we need our customers to feel like our products are their products. This is where contributed content enters the picture in a big way.

7. Adopting a new mindset In order to improve our local coverage and truly serve our market, we had to acknowledge: • Our readers are as smart as we are • Our readers are well-connected • Our coverage often was … boring and stale • We should listen to our readers, not lecture • We shouldn’t be chained to tradition • We should be more transparent in our decisions • We must share our publishing tools and space

8. The benefits of hyperlocal • Stickiness -- community content is the fastest-growing part of our sites • Diverse, often lively stories about real people by real people • Community contributions often fill holes in staff coverage • Viral marketing of content • Goodwill, sense of ownership in your products • Diversity of revenue and profits

9. So is it working? Survey says: • Our niche products are now read by 40% of our local market. • The Californian’s market reach has fallen to 71% • But when you do the math the total market reach of our products (Californian plus niche products minus overlap) = 78 percent.

10. Building community and hyperlocal content

11. How we started transforming • Consistent message from top executives • Companywide business literacy • Readers kept telling us they loved this “new stuff” • Launched satellite products separate from the newsroom so we weren’t chained to tradition • Devote at least 1 percent of our revenue to new product development. • Created our own social-networking and publishing platform

12. The Voices Northwest Voice and Southwest Voice: • Serve fast-growing areas filled with “time-starved” readers • Narrowly focused neighborhood news • One editor at each; 95 percent of content is reader generated • Nearly everything is published online; the best is reprinted in the print version\ • Free, with a mix of mail, home and rack delivery • Ad base is small businesses

13. Californian newsroom reaction • Northwest Voice was created outside “the core” because there was a fear that if we did it, the result would be traditional, lifeless and hampered with traditional workflows • Our newsroom was skeptical -- until it got scooped on a major story. Then we created a NW beat • Even today, our products compete against one another, although there’s little competition for enterprise or investigative reporting • We’re more comfortable with contributed content, but buy-in isn’t universal

14. Newroom buy-in • Getting scooped countered some initial skepticism • We learned that “CJ” could fill voids in our coverage that we didn’t feel warranted a FT beat • We hired a “contributions editor” to coordinate outreach, manage submissions • Readers responded warmly to reader submissions, particularly in coordinated packages • Reporters no longer fear they’re going to be replaced by “citizen journalists” • We haven’t had issues with major errors, ethical lapses, libel, etc.

15. Community content in the mainsheet • Stuff that works well: local history, travel, first person pieces • Contributed stories, including top of A1 (Where’s George Lynch?) • More topical special packages built around contributed content • Daily reader column on editorial pages • Expanded letters to the editor • Blog “scrapes” on hot topics; gives coverage added dimension Publishing community content in print = confirmation of quality and commitment to readers

16. Home-grown publishing platform Bakomatic allows us to create niche sites that are marketed to different audiences, but are all on the same database. • Social networking and interactivity are at the core of product development • Scalable (now runs all or part of 10 local sites) • Ongoing development, steady schedule of new features • Licensing to other sites (Arizona Republic, Sacramento Bee, Pioneer Newspapers)

17. The lessons of Bakotopia.com • Bakotopia was created several years ago to compete against Craigslist • Readers turned it into something else – and we’re OK with it • Blogs, profiles, photo galleries, unique stories, streaming local music • A print biweekly just celebrated its first anniversary; contains the “best of the web” • Web version didn’t draw advertising but the print version did

18. Más • Concept: Más, a free weekly magazine in English focused on Latino style, culture and community. • Replaced a “traditional” bilingual weekly newspaper • Mas launched in September 2005 as an independent brand, with 20,000 copies home delivered and 5,000 in racks.

19. Bakomatic now powers … • Bakotopia • Northwest Voice • Southwest Voice • Tehachapi News • Mas • New to Bakersfield • Bakersfield Life • CIE Bakersfield • The Californian intranet • and part of bakersfield.com

20. Embracing interactivity When readers can share in the ownership of content, they’re building a powerful psychological tether to your product.

21. Blogging • More than 1,100 community blogs • More than 50 staff blogs (not just news) • Most news is broken in our beat blogs • Topical blogs (barbecuing, living “green” lifestyles) • Bakosphere: spotlight on competing media • Some content “scraped” for print

22. Social networking through Bakomatic • Fastest growing source of traffic on our sites • More than 22,000 unique personal profiles across our network of 10 sites • Each profile features a guestbook, favorite links, personal interests • Friend lists • Staff and community blogs • Contributors “tag” content with keywords (more than 3,259 different interests) • Photo galleries

23. Interactive Business Directory • Reader reviews and ratings, all tied into social networking • “Trusted” reviewers • Reviews reprinted in newspaper • Platform allows businesses to interact with readers, advertise at low cost • “Long Tail” of advertising, with base of 15,000 local businesses

24. Layering in interactivity • We asked readers to plot potholes • Added ability to ping local government • Voila! Some got fixed.

25. Some maps have legs

26. Mapping • Great way to get hyperlocal • More than 50 standing maps on a wide variety of topics • More and more are interactive and tap into people’s passions • We’ve used three vendors (ZeeMaps, QuikMaps, Atlas) • Started slow, then layered in some complexity

27. Have some fun! • Weird stuff has wide appeal • Earning a smile is priceless “stickiness”

28. Tools for community art

29. Snap! • Community photos of “real people” • Focus is on “happy” events • Freelance photographers hand out cards directing people to see Snap! galleries on bakersfield.com

30. What’s next?

31. “Raising Bakersfield” • Web site will target young parents • Site centered around building an online community • Quarterly print magazine • Strong events marketing tied to product brand • Inexpensive but targeted and value-added advertising

32. Content “interest groups” Interest Groups will take hyperlocal to a new depth and power: • Tagging and category structure will pull content throughout our Bakomatic network to into specific topic categories • We’re creating the high-level taxonomy but readers will dictate the subcategories • As they tag their content with keywords, they’ll be contributing to dynamically created verticals built around topics of interest • Will allow us to deliver personalized advertising

33. What’s next? • “Personalization engine” • Facebook-style tools • Greater integration of community feedback into daily coverage • Lots of mobile photos • Contributed video • Expanded geotagging

34. What we learned • Check your egos at the door; develop a thick skin • Don’t overthink everything. Just try something • Don’t be afraid to go low-fi at first (in an era of YouTube, sophistication isn’t always required) • Celebrate failure, particularly when you have to pull the plug on a product. • Redefine what’s “news”; respect the media that’s being produced in your backyard • Link to your new competition – especially if they scoop you

35. What we learned • Building a strong community costs money. Invest in staff and treat the investment as you would the price of a top-notch journalist. • Tell new hires you’re hiring journalists -- not specialists chained to one beat -- and that their jobs will constantly evolve. • Embrace the early adopters, give them room to roam. • Recognize that “stubborness to change” often is anxiousness about change. Most people want to do the right thing.

36. What we learned Don’t underestimate your market’s tolerance to push the envelope. Case in point: Our 2006 print redesign disturbed some staffers and offended design purists worldwide. Our readers? 3 months after the new design, they told us, “Don’t you dare go back to that boring old design.”

37. Don’t let workflows strangle you You must understand your company’s process flows and “legacy” systems if you expect to get anywhere in a 24-7 digital age where the target moves daily

38. Unanswered questions • Large-scale revenue models are uncertain • Advertising is still too expensive for many businesses; how can we lower the cost of sale? • Should we pay for reader contributions? If so, what’s the model? • Just how many community contributors are there? • Delivery has been challenging • How many new products can we handle?

39. Thank you! Logan Molen Vice president / Interactive Media The Bakersfield Californian lmolen@bakersfield.com