Fernando Samaniego - International New Media Consulting

Newspapers's Potential in Local Database Management (and 2)

Following Rob Curley’s Trail

When offering communities results based on databases from the local market, I have always thought Rob Curley has led the way and has often been imitated by others.  The following examples, taken from newspapers where he has worked, may have not been developed by him or his team directly, but I’m sure his vision has had a strong influence.

While working in Kansas for the Lawrence Journal he developed the Kusports site and reinforced the use of statistics as content but also as a complement to regular information. He always found the right way to place unexpected data in the middle of information, be it driving tickets, weather…etc.  And the audience rewarded him with a big increase in traffic, and revenues. No local database was foreign to him: births, weddings, deaths, schedules of anything…etc.  Sports and Arts and Entertainment info was always stored as elements of an ever growing local database to be permanently reused.  Even though some years went by, the Ljworld.com site still retains some of that philosophy.

Later in Naples, Florida Rob addressed a more mature and affluent audience in the site Naplesnews by offering any info relevant to a community frequently interested in the weather and the water (Naples is on the West Florida coast): rainfall, air and water temperature, tides…etc.  Current as well as historical data were offered directly by the site or by linking to the sources.  Presented in a user friendly way, boating, golfing, fishing or just walking became a little easier. Naplesnews received an Eppy Award for Best Internet News Service in 2006.  In that same year his new vision on covering high school sports in Bonitanews received a NAA Digital Edge award for "Most Innovative Multimedia Storytelling". 

From Naples, Rob moved to a much larger organization, The Washington Post, and left two years later probably “because I wasn't the best fit with the organization”.  I am sure his vision on local matters had an influence beyond the specific projects he managed.  

The national and international roles of the Post may hide to many its local flavor.  On one hand there is the local section of the paper which includes a plethora of information and some resources such as dog parks, farmers market… as well as links to full-fledged projects like the Going Out Guide which features an Events Calendar in which all the information, including text for reviews, has been databased for easier repurposing.  
On the other hand, the Local Explorer is more than just a map. It also includes facts and figures, local news, classifieds and upcoming events that will help take the user further inside the community. In fact it’s one of those blueprint projects one should follow when dealing with local communities. A complete array of information is arranged in four categories (Places in the Area, Recent Home Sales, Schools, Crime) welcomes the users upon giving their exact location.  As a complementary new way of exploiting its arsenal of data the Post has created products like this which organize business information in many different ways (e.g. revenues by sector, largest employers, new companies…frequently mapped for easier usability).  

I guess the Post wants to take a definitive step in the local-hyperlocal direction and in spite of all the difficulties for a newspaper of its category, we may see new developments happening.  Perhaps the final result will/should include more user participation.  For comparative purposes I recommend the Cincinavigator by Cincinnati.com.  

Databases, geocoded information, all enhanced with content from the editor and from the users seems to be the four legged formula some editors are finding appropriate to address their local challenges.  I foresee that we will see more sophisticated developments within this same content architecture.

EveryBlock.com, Yelp, Google (yes, always Google)

“In dense, bustling cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco, the number of daily media reports, government proceedings and local Internet conversations is staggering. Every day, a wealth of local information is created — officials inspect restaurants, journalists cover fires and Web users post photographs — but who has time to sort through all of that?”  This is the spirit of local database management, and that sentence doesn’t belong to me but to EveryBlock, that aims at solving that problem.  “We aim to collect all of the news and civic goings-on that have happened recently in your city, and make it simple for you to keep track of news in particular areas. We’re a geographic filter — a 'news feed' for your neighborhood, or, yes, even your block”.

I should add that they are only a team of six people working from Chicago led by Adrian Holovaty, a journalist and Web developer who worked previously as editor of editorial innovations at the Post and developed chicagocrime.org.  Given the small size of the team and the tremendous task of covering 15 cities, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the info is a little “dry” or lacks the relevancy that a newspaper could add.  But it’s a matter of time before the project gets sufficient funds (MSNBC has bought EveryBlock and additional funding and resources will be provided). Lastly, I find useful their definition of local data: “Civic information — building permits, crimes, restaurant inspections and more; News articles and blog entries — major newspapers, community weeklies, TV and radio news stations, local specialty publications and local blogs; Fun from across the Web — local photos posted to the Flickr photo-sharing site, user reviews of local businesses on Yelp, lost and found postings from Craigslist and more”.

The more a database is complemented and enhanced by users the better it is.  In the case of Yelp (a contraction of Yellow Pages) the extensive database has been supposedly fully created by the users, which makes it a different animal to the former examples.  What is relevant, though, is that that a business supported exclusively by local advertising was recently the acquisition object of Google at a price north of half a billion dollars.  The local editors can breathe at ease because Yelp has rejected the offer, but the sole idea of giant Google having access to the local markets with a local platform like Yelp seems scary to me. By the way, The Weekly Yelp is available in 28 cities with the latest business openings & other happenings and constitutes a first (minor) step to creating a media on local events.

As a summary, in their alternatives for growth the most advanced local editors are learning to use databases to uncover local stories, to enhance news, to relate to their users, to attract new audiences and, not least, to have access to new sources of revenues.

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego.

Newspapers’ Potential in Local Database Management (Part 1)

This post highlights the importance that managing data has for newspapers, and local broadcasters, as they struggle to extend their roots in the community.  As local media need to maintain digital growth they will have to go beyond news delivery into satisfying further needs of the markets they serve if they want to reach new sources of traffic and revenues. In an environment more story-oriented and not so comfortable with computers, company execs need to plan on mastering the skills to extract useful content from information hidden in local databases.

Importance of managing data among top internet players

While newspaper editors and televisions rely basically on developing or acquiring good content, the Top Ten websites in the world have reached their position mostly by organizing data, i.e. other people’s work.  Google, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger.com are websites which organize extremely well third parties’ content.  Yahoo! (which appears twice in the list with its Japanese URL) receives big traffic from its search, both from email and from the many services it offers (news aggregator, maps, video sharing, social media web sites).  Wikipedia is somehow the exception since it relies on contributions written expressly for the site by its users.  

Two players, Baidu and MSN deserve special attention from the TV/papers viewpoint.  The Chinese Baidu.com started in 2000 as a generic search engine and now is possibly the most comprehensive website in the world.  It includes specialized search capabilities for government sources, postal codes, educational, legal, patent, country statistics, as well as services such as antivirus and safety, maps, dictionary, translation, online community…etc. It also provides links to news sources, a music service with links to top songs for easy downloading, an encyclopedia, an entertainment channel, a finance website in collaboration…etc.  Finally, it even offers online shopping for businesses to sell their products and a TV/movies site to watch and download content. 

Microsoft and its recently redesigned msn.com relies on plenty of links and content from other sources: MSNBC, of course, as well as Hearst, Fox sports, Hulu, PC World…etc, and is learning to open up to social connectivity giants like Twitter or Facebook.  Msn.com does a remarkable job at aggregating content from different sources while pushing its own corporate interests, be it its operating system software, Bing, MSNBC, Xbox360…etc.

One could think that these players are following the steps of the likes of AOL, Terra, Lycos and other horizontal portals but the truth is that these giants (Google, Facebook, Yahoo…) want to retain users longer by offering more services while concentrating less on creating content and more on managing third parties’ content.  My point is that local papers and broadcasters will be forced to master those same skills to extend their local influence.  The sooner they do it and the more holistic their approach, the better.  

Database editors

First they have to fight the widespread belief that because of Google, the researcher is no longer necessary.  In reality, the opposite is true. Because of Google, researchers— a data base editor—will be of critical importance. Randy Covington, Head of IFRA-Newsplex, was talking to me the other day about Hyde Post, the editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website who argues that a successful media website should be built on four pillars: -Speed , -Community, -Visual energy, -Utility.  Utility is an obvious next step for media organizations in their web strategy and refers to a site that wants to be helpful and practical for its audience.  Very often users look for sites in order to obtain information they need on some aspect of their lives,-- for example, how do test scores of their children’s school compare with those elsewhere—and a newspaper or broadcast website would be a logical place to find out.  

As search engines have promised to organize the vast content on the internet, communities need to organize and make sense of the increasing sources of local information, and newspapers are well positioned to do that.  They have local content, local businesses with local advertisers, local journalists and contributors, a local sales force, some local database information…and are in a privileged position to reap the benefits of that local connection. Managing local database content lies in the no man’s land between very large organizations and the small local agents such as bloggers and smaller websites.  One may be unable to have access to many of the databases and/or extract their usefulness while the latter lacks the financial resources, at least for a certain time.  It is easier for newspapers well rooted in their communities and with well connected organizations to have access to official and private databases.  

The Chief Editor and his/her direct team may have to get involved in the first efforts to gain access to that information while the organization learns to do it. To facilitate this first step, the IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors, trains journalists, even beyond the US, in “using spreadsheets and/or databases for better watchdog stories, obtaining data and public records and making sense of them, storyboarding, planning, and managing investigative stories and projects, building an effective intranet of public records to strengthen your newsroom’s reporting on deadline…etc”.  It’s important to have examples to learn the tricks of the new activity.

In a newsroom environment rather experienced at building linear stories and which at the same time is not very computer savvy, getting the skills needed to use data content has to be a planned effort from top execs.  Ideally a couple of journalists with that expertise could be brought on board. Alternatively a programmer can be hired and trained to search database content that could enhance regular newsroom output and be used as a new source of content. Some journals have done it and if the person has an open mind, the result can be enlightening. Diversity is hard to manage but very rewarding.

Examples of database usage

Chicagocrime was one of the best and earliest examples of data gathering and presentation (now it's contained in everyblock, recently acquired by MSNBC). Anybody interested in renting or buying a house, starting a business, choosing a school or just visiting the city, as well as the security officers and local politicians became instant users.  There are many other examples the local  newspaper can provide to answer the questions and needs of its audience.  What new businesses have been started in the city, what new permits have been granted to build houses or buildings in general, what are the latest real estate deals, official house valuations, or general property values, home foreclosures, open houses…are clearly types of content that could attract attention immediately, especially if arranged by neighborhood.  Later, if the newspaper allows free access to the information, local talent will come up with ideas to complement  that information.  By studying the trends, links, deviations from national or international patterns,we may shed light on our community in a unique and exclusive way.  

Let me use a non local example on presenting a piece of news in a different way, starting from pure data.  I refer to the article published by The New York Times on “Jackson’s Billboard Rankings Over Time”, which is just a series of interactive graphs which prove how the King of Pop had really died 20 years ago.

Other cases could attract more consumer attention, but databases are often accessible from the internet but hidden under non intuitive names, or it is hard to make sense out of them, or they are not conceived to be user friendly…etc.  Rankings of hospitals and schools, student examination public records, education levels, driving tickets, air and noise pollution, police activity, accidents, fires, traffic incidences…etc, they all are useful. Lastly, there is the need for databases which do not currently exist but which audiences would appreciate if their newspaper put together.  A map of gas prices in the region (see screen shot from gaspricewatch.com) or a ranking of supermarket prices based on a small basket of products may facilitate the lives of families on a tight budget who undoubtedly will appreciate the help of “their” newspaper (there may be local projects offering that content, often ready to establish an alliance). In these cases the information gathering may be in the form of a wiki, something the younger audience may appreciate. In any case, those price-maps have to be open to permanent inputs from users.

In all the above cases it’s important that the information is geolocated as precisely as possible if it is to unveil relevant information as well as trends and correlations between apparently unrelated series of data.  The community will literally see how their neighborhood follows or deviates from national patterns, or how the official version fits their reality.  Those trends and patterns may be discovered by the newsroom and/or by the users themselves.  (End of Part 1)

You are free to use this article in your publication as long as you credit the author Fernando Samaniego.