December 9th, 2008
I do interviews (part 2).
Part 2 of my interview with the Niemal Journalism Lab at Harvard. This time, the reporter focuses on TPM’s work in video. (Last time we focused on ad development in DC).
Archive for December, 2008
December 8th, 2008
TPM is a Times Extra.
I take back all the mean things I said! I love you New York Times! Times extra is brilliant, I say, brilliant!
In all seriousness, since we seem to be on their “okayed” link list, it’ll be interesting to see how much traffic they drive when they join the link economy. (The execution still sucks though.)
December 8th, 2008
links for 2008-12-08
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I love these mini-revolutions. We've experienced things like this at TPM, amazing what happens when you give people the tools to organize themselves. They turn on you!
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An extremely depressing look at human nature. According to the attention market, we like sex, money, beer, gamling and Korea (?).
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Oy.
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Noted w/o comment.
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First they built a monument to their own arrogance and fiscal short-sightedness, now they're borrowing against it!
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Upping their print base rate, expanding their website.
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Reminds me of that old saying "if they're shooting at you, you know you're doing something right."
December 5th, 2008
links for 2008-12-05
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Tech guru Dave Winer argues that this innovation cycle (broadly called web 2.0) is over. The giants (Google and Facebook) are starting to contract and the innovators aren't even sure what problems they are solving any more. It will all start up again when a new generation starts with a new set of first principles and comes up with simpler solutions to the problems at hand.
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Very good roundup of the future in online ad space.
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This is part of why I'm still optimistic about web advertising. Even the best agencies/advertisers are still sorting out what's effective, and they've only begun to build the tools that will allow them to experiment.
December 4th, 2008
links for 2008-12-04
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NJL rounds up the reaction (including from me!).
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Really funny note from an anonymous Obama appointee hopeful pining for a job, or at least a phone call!
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TPMtv on TiVo anyone?
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This is actually relatively brilliant. The novelty will draw audience, and despite his various perversions he actually does know a ton about this, more than some random biz journalist would. A mix of low and high brow: cheers Slate!
December 4th, 2008
The NYTs goes hybrid, but still doesn’t get it.
I’ve argued in the past that going forward, newspapers are going to have to embrace aggregation (linking out to the best content in the world, not just their own) to compete with the likes of Drudge, HuffPo and TPM. They need to not just be a source for news, but a portal to find it.
Today they took a big step by beta-launching Times Extra, a widget that algorythmically generates related stories for their main headlines.
But the execution here is pretty terrible. It’s basically a plug-and-play widget with teensy links in a scroll box. An outside link could never be a headline itself, they’re ghetto-ized to the widget box. They’re auto-generated so they neither augment the core story with new information nor gel with the editorial direction of the headline itself.
Compare this package with the Times, CBS and Fox headlines all telling the same story in different, somewhat contradictory ways:
To this one that uses outside links to fill out the story and create a coherent editorial package:
There’s value to having different takes on a story, but there’s more value in having the Times’ take (with their story, or the story they think gets it best) with other important background and historical information included.
I suspect that their execution will improve as they suck it up and dip more than a toe into the link economy. But this is a good example of the ways in which old media’s failure to succeed online isn’t technical, it’s cultural and conceptual. They still want control and clear differentiation, and they still think of outside content as something that shouldn’t be handled by their editors. If they want to get the hybrid model right, they better drop that fast.
December 3rd, 2008
Awesome Jack Black cameo-impersonation flashback.
Jack Black as Jesus in “Prop 8 – The Musical” below reminded me of another wonderful Jack Black cameo as a historical figure. Namely, Jack Black as George Washington in the pilot for Awesometown!
One of my favorites from a few years back. Awesometown didn’t get picked up by Fox, but the web show’s popularity did get Andy (Sanberg, of SNL viral video fame), Jorma and Akiva hired by SNL.
December 3rd, 2008
links for 2008-12-03
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So strange to me that CNN and Politico are getting into the Wire biz. I guess folks trying to fill out their pages while cutting down staff need to syndicate, but still…
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Tina Brown, the Oscar Schindler of NY media.
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A summary of Jarvisian prognostications.
December 3rd, 2008
Prop 8 – The Musical (with Jack Black as Jesus)
And so, so much more (like Neil Patrick Harris):
December 2nd, 2008
I do interviews.
I did a long interview with the new and excellent NiemanJournalismLab at Harvard on TPM’s business model and our plans for 2009.
Check it out.