Insights, tools and research to advance journalism
Publishers are beginning to take advantage of user-experience research to figure out how to best connect with the people who are reading their content, shifting the thinking from institution to the consumers. ProPublica puts out a call on social media and uses videoconferencing to talk to users and ask questions about a product, an inexpensive […]
Earlier this week, the 37 million users of affair-themed dating website Ashley Madison learned their information had been compromised, including users’ full names and addresses, even after a user had paid to delete their account. Russell Brandom says Ashley Madison isn’t the only online company retaining too much information on its users, and it didn’t […]
To drive subscriptions, The New York Times is using a startup KeyWee, which uses natural language analysis to find keywords in articles that are likely to be relevant to potential NYT subscribers and then buying sponsored Facebook posts targeted with those keywords. Once those readers are on the site, NYT targets them with articles designed […]
You might have heard: Driven by younger generations, ad blockers are growing in popularity, and the next version of Safari will allow iPhone and iPad users to block ads as well But did you know: The common concern with the rise of ad blockers is the hit it can serve to advertising revenue, but it […]
The customer data publishers get from launching paywalls is potentially valuable to advertisers, but that’s something many publishers haven’t taken advantage of. Digital subscription data could be used to pinpoint select audiences within users, something Time Inc. is experimenting with in its new digital subscription strategy. However, The Washington Post has replaced user registration data […]
When Verizon FiOS dropped The Weather Channel from its lineup because customers use online sources for weather, Walt Hickey began researching how people actually get their weather forecasts. Their phone’s default weather app was the most popular with 23.2 percent, but local TV news came in second with 20.6 percent. The Weather Channel came in […]
APIs are a technology that allows you to grant outsiders automated access to request certain types of your data or information, commonly used by digital companies such as Airbnb and Uber. The Guardian and New York Times each offer APIs for looking up articles. Rather than keeping information internal, APIs allow third parties to build […]
As the idea of collecting and analyzing more audience data to aid in editorial or business decisions grows in popularity, best practices and solutions for soliciting helpful data from readers are needed. This report on Sweden’s Aftonbladet seeking to maximize audience, based on data, touches on the struggle. “Considerable development efforts” are necessary when designing […]
You might have heard: Metered pioneer Financial Times will switch to discounted trial model But did you know: The Financial Times tested its move to a 1-month discounted trial (to widen the potential subscriber funnel) in certain markets and calculated the percentage increase it would have in subscriber base. In this analysis of the FT’s financials […]
Opening up data and analytics tools to employees doesn’t mean they will use it. Lori Sherer writes that management can encourage doubtful or anxious employees through structured processes that teach a tool and its benefits, with lessons from gamification. For data tools specifically, leaders can design challenges that encourage teams to explore what they can […]