Look at the bottom, not the top, of your traffic analytics to boost your website’s readership
By Robert Niles: How can you increase your website's traffic by looking at your current website readership data?The answer to that question might seem obvious, but I warn you that too many news publishers approach this question from the wrong directi...
It’s not the medium – it’s the market
By Robert Niles: Newspapers and book publishers could learn some valuable lessons from one another. Unfortunately, it appears that the book industry's going to make the same costly mistakes as the newspaper industry did, instead.I thought again that ...
‘Think before you act’ and more rules for journalists on Twitter
By Steve Fox: A couple of weeks ago I was at a hockey game with my son. During the game, as I absentmindedly checked emails on my phone, I saw a Twitter note from an alumni of the UMass program saying "Look at what this person is saying about you!" W...
Is Apple’s iBooks Author the right eBook creation tool for journalists?
By Robert Niles: So, is Apple's new iBooks Author the solution for journalists looking for a simpler way to get into the eBooks market?Nope, not even close.Oh…kay, so is Apple's new iBooks Author at least another option for writers looking to pi...
Reimagining the journalism marketplace – finding new ways to serve information consumers
By Ying Zhang: American journalism today is in crisis because it has not adapted financially to digital media, yet I believe we could turn this crisis into an opportunity to make significant improvements in the industry. Journalists and entrepreneurs ...
Tool, or trouble? Facial recognition might be driving some sources away from the news
By Brian McDermott: At first, Brittany Cantarella had no idea the man she accidentally swiped with her Chevrolet was named Lord Jesus Christ. But within two days, the minor traffic incident had gone viral. Reporters snatched the then 20-year-old's Face...
Should journalists be truth vigilantes? Hell, yeah!
By Robert Niles: Charles Bronson stars in...Photo by Fish Cop at en.wikipediaTruth VigilanteFrom IMDB*: "A New York Times reporter becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his story is murdered by copy editors, in which he randomly goes out and k...
Wanted: human editors. Scrapers and robots need not apply
By Robert Niles: My world is awash in crap data.Several times a week, I open my snail mail box to find bulk-mail solicitations for some member of one of my websites, but sent to the site's street address. Every month or so, I'll get a series of call...
Independent online journalists should stand up to be counted by the industry
By Robert Niles: If you've started a news website, or left a newsroom to work for an online start-up, don't let the journalism industry forget about you.Keeping a high profile among your colleagues not only helps you personally, it can help drive att...
How Best Buy can teach you *not* to run your news business
By Robert Niles: When was the last time you read something that prompted you to shout "Yes! That's exactly what I've seen. I've been waiting for someone else to notice that!"?For me, it was last night, shortly after Rob Curley posted a link to Why Be...
Why we need advocacy journalism
By Robert Niles: When "objective" journalism decays into a cowardly neutrality between truth and lies, we need advocacy journalism to lift our profession - and the community leaders we cover - back to credibility.That's my response to a source quoted...
Forget doom, journalism’s future is bright
By Aaron Chimbel: Maybe the future isn't so bad for journalism, after all. There is hope, mostly because so many young journalists see a bright future for journalism.It's the end of the fall semester and as I take a breath and take stock of the past ...
