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| − | =Background on the Midwest newspaper association initiative= | + | =Midwest press associations seek for-profit collaborative to monetize Internet content= |
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| − | <big>This is a copy of a memo sent by email to executives of state newspaper trade associations throughout the United States. It predates the Nov. 16, 2009 meeting held in Kansas City. See [http://groups.google.com/group/infovalet/browse_thread/thread/1b46f525a8ec5f94 Doug Crew's report on the Nov. 16 meeting.]</big> | + | <big>Background on the Midwest newspaper association initiative= |
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| − | To: Newspaper Association Managers<br>
| + | <i>(Wrapup for this page by [http://newshare.typepad.com/about.html Bill Densmore</i> |
| − | From: Bill Monroe (Iowa Press Assn.), Doug Crews (Missouri Press Assn.), and Doug Anstaett (Kansas Press Assn.)<br>
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| − | Re: Task Force meeting invitation<br>
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| − | ===Background===
| + | Three Midwest newspaper associations -- Kansas, Missouri and Iowa -- are talking about forming a coordinated effort to manage piracy of their content on the web and have asked the retiring executive director of the Iowa Press Association, Bill Monroe, to look into the idea. A key part of the idea -- a for-profit corporation which would be owned by the nation's newspapers to coordinate the effort. |
| − | As you may know, the three of us have come to the conclusion that it is imperative that we begin to discuss the possibilities of a multi-state project to help newspapers protect their content (which is now being covertly mined by numerous web operations) while developing the following capabilities for newspapers and/or our respective associations:
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| − | *The ability to upload public notices to statewide public notice websites within days rather than weeks to protect the future of these notices in newspapers;
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| − | *The ability of press association ad services to obtain electronic tear sheets within a few days of publication to make our ad services more viable and speed payment to newspapers;
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| − | *The ability of newspapers to create low-cost, word-searchable morgues and archives;
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| − | *The ability of newspapers to electronically mine the news stories of other newspapers on any given topic.
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| − | *The ability of newspapers to inexpensively create websites.
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| − | *The creation of a central collection point for the receipt of royalties derived from reused content.
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| − | We believe that by creating new state press association member services, newspapers can leverage their collective power to create a substantial competitive advantage in the information marketplace.
| + | Also attending a meeting of 35 people on Monday at the Kansas City Star to talk about the idea were representatives from press associations in Pennsylvania and South Dakota. The three organizing state associations have formed a 10-member task force to begin looking at the question,a ccording to both Douglas Crews, director of the Missouri Press Association, and Doug Monroe, a retiring executive of the Iowa Press Association. At Monday's meeting, Monroe was put in charge of coordinating the initial efforts. |
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| | + | Those attending from Missouri, Crews said, included (with affiliations): Mark Maassen, The Kansas City Star; Brad Gentry, Houston Herald; Andy Waters, Columbia Daily Tribune; Jack Whitaker, Hannibal Courier-Post, representing GateHouse Media; Richard Gard, St. Louis Daily Record, representing American Court and Commercial Newspapers; Brad Buchanan, Scott Buchanan and Ian Buchanan, GeoTel, Columbia; Brian Steffens, National Newspaper Association, Columbia; and Doug Crews, Missouri Press Association, Columbia. Maassen, Gentry and Waters are Task Force members, representing MPA. |
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| | + | "For several months, a Multi-State Digital Task Force made up of publishers from Missouri, Kansas and Iowa have been discussing this idea," Crews [http://groups.google.com/group/infovalet/browse_thread/thread/1b46f525a8ec5f94 wrote in an email.] "The Nov. 20 Task Force meeting was a facilitated discussion where other newspaper organizations were invited to attend, observe and weigh in with their thoughts." |
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| − | We recognize that people are increasingly moving their lives on-line, and the newspaper industry is still searching for a viable model to monetize the distribution of their content in an electronic world. Demand is not the problem – people want news. The problem is capturing sufficient value from that demand, in an environment where people increasingly feel news should be free.
| + | <hr><h4> |
| | + | LINK: [http://www.newshare.com/wiki/index.php?title=Jta-associations-background More background on the goals, objectives and form of the proposed initiave] |
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| − | By collectivizing content through state press associations, controlled by the newspapers we serve, our members can regain control of the distribution, resale and reuse of newspaper information, while deriving additional value from the problem areas of advertising, classifieds, and the costs associated with producing a physical newspaper. The industry as a whole will have market leverage beyond what would be possible for a single newspaper, or even a conglomerate. We think the state press associations are the logical organizations to move this effort forward. Integration of content through state press associations could lead to substantial benefits for all involved parties.
| + | </h4> |
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| − | ==Action so far==
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| − | On May 27, we convened a brainstorming session of a multi-state task force for the purpose of developing a sustainable, profitable strategy for newspapers to collectively protect their local franchises, while developing new revenue streams. The Task Force includes several board members from each of our three states. We also asked the folks at Newz Group to serve as our consultants in this process. Each of our states has long, mutually-beneficial business relationships with NewzGroup and we respect their perspective on the future of newspapers as well as their technical expertise. At that meeting, the Task Force asked us to develop a blueprint for creation of a business plan. The following blueprint was presented to the Task Force at a July 28 Task Force meeting:
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| − | ==Business Model for Digitization of Newspapers==
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| − | <b>Goal: To create a for-profit corporation that collects, stores and markets newspaper content.</b>
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| − | <b>Mission Statement: The mission of this corporation is to provide newspapers with a means to digitize and archive their content for research, historical and commercial purposes. </b>
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| − | The corporation would consist of stock owned by newspapers, associations and individuals who have an interest in helping our industry to solve the problem of content control. While the internet has created huge business opportunities it has also destroyed a portion of the traditional monetary underpinnings newspapers have depended upon to fund the gathering of information. Digital files created and owned by a newspaper can be placed so rapidly into the public domain that the ability to derive full value from the product is directly diminished. Products and services are created daily which seek to take that content for their own commercial purposes, paying the source newspaper pennies, if at all.
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| − | The critical criteria and drivers of this corporation would include:
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| − | *Respect for copyright laws and aggressive pursuit of violators
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| − | *Mutually beneficial royalties and profit sharing
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| − | *Historic preservation
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| − | *Efficient and effective newspaper participation
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| − | *Easy user access
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| − | *Scalability
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| − | The market for the information would consist of --
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| − | 1. Newspapers-In a day of smaller news staffs and a push to localize all information, an archive of both weekly and daily newspapers would be valuable. The archive should also contain past issues, giving any reporter the ability to quickly research any subject. <br>
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| − | 2. Clipping services<br>
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| − | 3. Advertising tear sheets<br>
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| − | 4. Individual stories by subject<br>
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| − | 5. Genealogist and research historians<br>
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| − | 6. On-line news aggregators<br>
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| − | ==The next step==
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| − | The Task Force voted to hold a facilitated meeting in Kansas City on November 20 to discuss the attached agenda designed by the Task Force to initiate the process of building the business plan. The meeting will be hosted by the Kansas City Star.
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| − | The Task Force would like to invite any NAM’er interested in learning more about the project to attend the meeting. We want to be as transparent as possible as we move forward and we would value your input about how the new company should be structured. We would also invite you to consider being involved in the project after you’ve learned more about it on Nov. 20.
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| − | Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can make sure we have sufficient space and food available for the meeting.
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Midwest press associations seek for-profit collaborative to monetize Internet content
Background on the Midwest newspaper association initiative=
(Wrapup for this page by [http://newshare.typepad.com/about.html Bill Densmore
Three Midwest newspaper associations -- Kansas, Missouri and Iowa -- are talking about forming a coordinated effort to manage piracy of their content on the web and have asked the retiring executive director of the Iowa Press Association, Bill Monroe, to look into the idea. A key part of the idea -- a for-profit corporation which would be owned by the nation's newspapers to coordinate the effort.
Also attending a meeting of 35 people on Monday at the Kansas City Star to talk about the idea were representatives from press associations in Pennsylvania and South Dakota. The three organizing state associations have formed a 10-member task force to begin looking at the question,a ccording to both Douglas Crews, director of the Missouri Press Association, and Doug Monroe, a retiring executive of the Iowa Press Association. At Monday's meeting, Monroe was put in charge of coordinating the initial efforts.
Those attending from Missouri, Crews said, included (with affiliations): Mark Maassen, The Kansas City Star; Brad Gentry, Houston Herald; Andy Waters, Columbia Daily Tribune; Jack Whitaker, Hannibal Courier-Post, representing GateHouse Media; Richard Gard, St. Louis Daily Record, representing American Court and Commercial Newspapers; Brad Buchanan, Scott Buchanan and Ian Buchanan, GeoTel, Columbia; Brian Steffens, National Newspaper Association, Columbia; and Doug Crews, Missouri Press Association, Columbia. Maassen, Gentry and Waters are Task Force members, representing MPA.
"For several months, a Multi-State Digital Task Force made up of publishers from Missouri, Kansas and Iowa have been discussing this idea," Crews wrote in an email. "The Nov. 20 Task Force meeting was a facilitated discussion where other newspaper organizations were invited to attend, observe and weigh in with their thoughts."
