Because even journalists need to eat.

This session features:

Jeff Burkett of WashingtonPost.com: Began from a series of blog posts Burkett wrote addressing the question of how to place advertiser’s content that doesn’t fit on the paper or website of a traditional news organization with its emphasis on reporting timely news. The Blogroll program that Burkett created matches ads with content produced by bloggers who write about every niche under the sun. “The thought is - we need them because they provide quality specific content that our advertisers want and they benefit from increased exposure, so it would be a win win situation,” says Burkett.

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Introduction and Narrative: In the past year Gannett has undergone the largest transformation in the company’s 102-year history. All 86 papers across the country, except for USA Today, have changed from traditional news centers to 24-hour, local, multimedia “Information centers.” The blueprint for the change cited seven areas that each Gannett paper would be required to embrace, such as databases and “Community Conversations.” The News-Press in Fort Myers (see post on Mackenzie Warren and Kate Marymont) was one of the company’s test papers and it was while flying down there that Jennifer Carol picked up a cover story in Wired on ‘crowdsourcing’ “and we said, that’are talking about.”

Main Goal: Last October the changes were implemented across the country and as of May this year - all Gannett’s papers have fully transitioned. The shift to information centers has many layers - including the willingness and capabilities to work with members of the community on investigations. “This is not rearranging furniture - this is a shift in how we do our jobs,” says Carroll.

Notable Achievements: Carroll and Ganett have been encouraged on several fronts since the change. Using crowdsourcing along with database analysis Gannett has broken stories faster and working with communities has drawn conclusions that would have gone otherwise unnoticed, says Carroll. A new tool called “Get Published” let’s anybody upload content and many of Gannett’s papers have between 100-200 hyperlocal sites that are the result of pro-am reporting. “We provide the backbone and the tools and we welcome community involvement,” says Carroll.

The Cincinnati Enquirer recently launched The Data Center, allowing readers to search thousands of databases based on lifestyle and content information linked through home addresses. For example, readers can search records of crime in their neighborhoods, review trends and compare statistics throughout the metro area.

In another example: Florida Today received an email tip by way of the “Blow the whistle” button. It was from an appraiser who said thousands of local homeowners were getting ripped-off by insurance companies that inflate the replacement value of homes on paper and, consequently, overcharge for hurricane insurance. Insurance policies are not public record, and there would be no way to report that story authoritatively without asking as many residents as possible to share private documents. So the paper posted an item to the Brevard Watchlist asking readers to “join the investigation” by doing just that. The countywide investigation yielded a front-page Sunday newspaper story and an online report on how to estimate a home’s replacement cost.

Gannett is reporting traffic increases across the board, from visitors to time spent on sites, frequency in visits and pages viewed per visit.

A Surprising Realization: The biggest surprise is that we didn’t do this earlier, both in the company and in the industry, says Carroll. If journalism at its core is to serve the public, then it has not been taking advantage of all the new tools that can help perform this function, says Carroll. “But if we think about how to use them creatively, we can get back to the things that those of us who grew up in the business in our hearts truly believe in - that we can work with readers to inform and engage and shine light on wrongdoing,” says Carroll.

Biggest Practical Lesson/Mistake: Carroll admits that Gannett underfunded not just research but technology and infrastructure. Many of Ganett’s papers responded to the changes from headquarters not with disdain - they were behind the changes, but didn’t have the technology or infrastructure to make it happen. It requires more than just talk - but capital investment in laptops, video equipment, trios, the ability to transmit digitally, etc.

Money: The editorial changes are working in tandem with revenue teams at Gannet that are exploring new ways to monetize the product. An advance data team is not only exploring content - but also how to engage readers online with mapping software and other areas that traditionally hasn’t been explored in advertising.

“We will only move forward and build on what we have done.” Gannett is very encouraged by the possibility of becoming sustainable, says Carroll. Many of these concepts have been tested at the 12 original Gannett papers to make the shift and they have developed over the past year and Gannett is seeing strong results.

Future Goals: There is no endpoint in Ganett’s transformation. “I see us only building on the research and reaction that we’ve gotten,” says Carroll. There is still an imperative to be nimble and invest in the types of technology that is needed, from social networks and beyond, but right now Gannett is ready to pounce on what is next. “We as an industry have not been as serious as being early adapters — and now I see us positioned in the front row so we can react quickly,” says Carroll.

What do you hope to get from people attending this conference?

I am very very interested in all the experimenting that is going on across the industry — We need to do more R&D. I spend as much time as I have looking at experiments that people are involved in — That’s what I want to get out it.

Introduction and Narrative: The idea that eventually became the Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) Blogroll Ad Network formed a year ago this August. It began from a series of blog posts Burkett wrote addressing the question of how to place advertiser’s content that doesn’t fit on the paper or website of a traditional news organization with its emphasis on reporting timely news. The Blogroll program that Burkett created matches ads with content produced by bloggers who write about every niche under the sun. “The thought is - we need them because they provide quality specific content that our advertisers want and they benefit from increased exposure, so it would be a win win situation,” says Burkett. The WPNI Blogroll Ad Network was created as an experiment to play around in this territory and create a stronger connection with the blogosphere.

The WPNI Advertising Sales Department sells advertising packages for the 100+ bloggers who are part of their network. The bloggers, chosen from over 1,500 applicants, have the ability to accept or reject the ads and receive 60 percent of the money that is made from the sales. Advertising sales have been made to Luftansa , Marriott, Slingbox, etc. “It’s a way for bloggers to make some revenue — and it’s an opportunity for them to get on our homepage,” says Burkett.

Main Goal: The number one goal is to acquire content for advertisers that washingtonpost.com normally wouldn’t editorially produce. The bloggers who are part of the network have no editorial restrictions. The second goal is to experiment and build relationships within the blogosphere.

Notable Achievements: The number of applicants: The Blog Ad Network received 1,500 applicants in the first two weeks. Today it has garnered over 2,000. But it remains a side project, a test to see, across the company, if it should be something that should move beyond a side project.

A Surprising Realization: Beyond the number of people that initially applied, Burkett was surprised to find that most participants weren’t interested in the money. “It’s not about it being an advertising network, for them it’s about being associated with us and getting a little bit more traffic. So many people were willing to work with us, a traditional news company,” says Burkett.

Biggest Practical Lesson/Mistake: Burkett underestimated the amount of time it would take to get blogs up and running in the program. Reviewing the blogs for acceptance, answering questions about the agreement and getting the ad tags installed took a lot more effort than originally thought.

Money: Compared to what has been invested into it, the program has been profitable. The success of it is primarily based on The Washington Post’s brand. “It didn’t take us much to get this thing started,” says Burkett. “But I’m not running around telling everyone this is something they should definitely do.”

Now washingtonpost.com knows what it might take to get it to the next level but currently the Ad network remains an experiment to learn from.

Future Goals: The program is still up in the air. Burkett continues to advocate it and use it in his sales process and build relationships with the bloggers that are part of the network. But a lot of the future is still to be decided.

“This would all sound crazy if I was running a business unit, but our goal when we started was really just to see what we would learn and what would happen and then maybe take those learnings and do other things,” says Burkett.

What do you hope to get from people attending this conference?

“I’m on the commercial side — I’d love to hear more ideas from business people about how they are using and benefiting monetarily from citizen journalism — how they are growing audience and any crazy ad ideas they have.”

Introduction and Narrative: FireDogLake is an unabashed liberal blog that started in the wake of the 2004 election. Jane Hamsher, a movie producer, created a simple blogspot blog to collect the posts she had written on her personal Daily Kos blog. “That was all it was supposed to be,” says Hamsher. Today, however, her blog is used “as a means to organize the left.” Over time FireDogLake picked up a strong audience, specifically around its coverage of the Plame Affair, which would later involve Scooter Libby.

As the blog picked up readers Hamsher added Christy Hardin Smith, a former legal prosecutor, and the two began doing traditional reporting. This included live-blogging the Scooter Libby trial from inside the courtroom with full press credentials. Online sponsors paid for travel and rent expenses, as FireDogLake continually provided coverage of the Scooter Libby trial.

Today FireDogLake has a team of close to 20 part-time bloggers in addition to Hamsher and Smith, who continue to do on-the-scene reporting. Hamsher also published a book with Vaster Media, a company she has in partnership with Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos. The book, “The Anatomy of Defeat,” was written by Marcy Wheeler, who did the actual liveblogging of the Libby trial. Today, FireDogLake pulls in between 80,000 to 100,000 readers a day according to Hamsher.

Main Goal of FireDogLake: To combine online organizing with media criticism, activism and original reporting. “We are trying to influence the political process, promote progressive values and candidates,” says Hamsher.

Notable Achievements: FireDogLake received huge accolades for their coverage of the Libby Trial. New York Times reporter Scott Shane noted “With no audio or video feed permitted, the Firedoglake “live blog” has offered the fullest, fastest public report available.” FireDogLake also raised $550,000 last election cycle and has produced commercials that were adapted by over thirty candidates for their district. FireDogLake also has a regular “Book Salon” where the blog gets behind a specific book, often driving it to the top of Amazon in 24 hours.

A Surprising Realization: When Hamsher first got involved in blogging it was on the Daily Kos community where she regularly argued with people in the comment section. “That was fun to me,” says Hamsher.

This continued on FireDogLake, but after it received a critical mass of readers people accused Hamsher of indulging in a power imbalance. “I didn’t recognize that things had changed,” says Hamsher, but as the head of the FireDogLake community, she learned that she could not engage people in the same manner that she could when she was a regular participant in the Daily Kos community.

Biggest Practical Lesson/Mistake: “That you can’t create the news — you have to stay responsive to it,” says Hamsher.

An example Hamsher gave on the day of our interview: (August 27th): Today a small headline is that a man, Kenneth Foster, is going to be put to death in Texas. “There is no way I can get anybody to pay attention to that,” says Hamsher. So FireDogLake has to work with what is already in the news cycle, shaping it and providing alternative interpretations. “We have to ride the news.”

Blogs don’t determine the news, but stay responsive to readers, they determine what they want to focus on.

(See post script)

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