Cultures … ours isn’t the only one …

Well, I had a ‘moment’ recently. Jeremy Pepper responded to my post about Lee Gaither’s visit.

The comment led me to an interview/article with Jeremy, PR Fuel: Don’t Ignore The Melting Pot - By Ben Silverman .

This observation by Silverman struck a nerve:

Thinking about this topic has caused me to take a look at my own media list. The entire list is comprised of reporters at mainstream media outlets. There’s no one at any Spanish-language publications and no one at media outlets that target African-Americans. No wonder I haven’t gotten any ink in months.

Well, I immediately realized that I have let you all down. I have only a few links to blogs authored by people of other cultural backgrounds. It was one humbling realization.

I’m just starting to remedy that, but it will take quite awhile. Look in the blogroll for ‘Market Segments - Culture’ to see just a sampling of blogs/sites that will help us read about PR/Marketing and other disciplines/issues as they relate to minority groups. A discussion in class is on the way. A further search is underway, too. Any suggestions of sites/blogs will be appreciated.

Future of Online Advertising

From IT Conversations: Online Advertising panel from Gnomedex 4.0
[runtime: 01:47:11, 49.1 mb, recorded 2004-10-02]

A good listen … check it out.

How to make money from blogs and more from a panel of experts: Dave McClure, Jeff Barr, Henry Copeland, Bill Flitter, Gokul Rajaram, Mark Pincus

This presentation is one of many from the IT Conversations archives of Gnomedex 4.0 held in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada, October 1-2, 2004. Read more

are some people making money from their blogs?

Well, I’ve never suggested to you that blogging can be a financial boon, but I do feel it has significant possibilities for future PR and Marketing (MARCOM) activities.

That being said, I bet many of you would like to know if anyone ‘is’ pulling down significant revenue from their blogging activities.

They are the ‘A-list’ bloggers … the people you would expect to have ample audience (consistently visiting and staying for a significant amount of time) reading their blogs.

I do not know if the following revenue streams are accurate, but I wouldn’t be surprised that these blogs could generate significant income (provided that the ad stream is steady). And, all that revenue does not come without problems.

The ‘good thing’ about “assuring your blog ad customers of your blog’s circulation size” is: verifying traffic is relatively easy (see BBClone and many other ‘counters’). Also, even more compelling, there are the ’server logs’ themselves. This makes circulation scandals unlikely in the blog world. Or does it?

At any rate, it is an interesting topic. So, check out this discussion from Simon World: Read more

Two emerging ‘online business’ concerns: online classifieds and Paypal Grinds To A Halt

Two separate stories, but related online business issues, that have broken into news coverage/blog buzz over the past week (from Poynter Online and Slashdot):

Yikes!

Slashdot | Paypal Grinds To A Halt
(See this Google News Search for ‘Paypal’.)
The Internet
Posted by timothy on Monday October 11, @10:05PM
from the get-your-pal-to-pay dept.
BillBrasky writes “After a ‘Monthly Software Update’, it appears that PayPal started having problems. There were reports all weekend of troubles, and as of Monday night here, I can’t access it at all (connection time out). One user even reported that his PayPal Debit card was getting refused!” A message on the site now says the site is expected to be back at 8:10 PM PDT, not long from now.

and, remember our recent discussion of Craiglist and how online classifieds are scaring the old-world print newspapers? Well, here’s further proof of that and how eBay has crept into the mix, too.

Poynter Online - E-Media Tidbits
The Gathering Merchandise Classifieds Threat
Fellow E-Media Tidbits contributor Peter M. Zollman’s Classified Intelligence Report has just released an interesting report that concludes that eBay and Craigslist “have had a significant impact on merchandise classified advertising in newspapers across the United States,” and are forcing some newspapers to cut their rates.
(Also see this Google News search for Craigslist eBay and Classifieds.)

Another site that has had an impact upon print classifieds? Freecycle.org. Yes, there is even a ‘Freecycle Auburn‘ group providing a service that competes (at no cost) with the O-A News, for example. Now, if these online competitors to print are already having an impact in cities with fewer than 100,000 people, is this significant?

Update: New York Times > New Google Service May Strain Old Ties in Bookselling

Update on a previous post re: Google Book Search. Two thoughts: (1) this will be big! (did Google’s stock price rise?) and (2) it will have far reaching impact in the book publishing industry. Yeah, those are probably ‘duh’ predictions.

As for my ‘dreams’ of ‘book searching’? Long have I prayed for a truly ‘digital library’ (ok, one that is inexpensive, even free). Now, I know that is a long way off (if ever). But, how marvelous it would be!

The New York Times > Technology > New Google Service May Strain Old Ties in Bookselling
By EDWARD WYATT

Published: October 8, 2004

FRANKFURT, Oct. 7 - Google Print, the new search engine that allows consumers to search the content of books online, could help touch off an important shift in the balance of power between companies that produce books and those that sell them, publishing executives said here on Thursday.

Google announced the introduction of the service at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the industry’s most important annual meeting, where publishers, authors and their agents convene to buy and sell the rights to publish books in countries worldwide.

Read more

Podcasting and Audioblogs - IT Conversations: The Gillmor Gang - October 2, 2004

PODcasting

Great audio content. Download “Stream (Windows) | Stream (MP3)” … download it and put it on your MP3 player. I do!

IT Conversations: The Gillmor Gang - October 2, 2004
Recorded live at Gnomedex 4.0, the Gang digs into audioblogging and podcasting. What’s it all about? Is it a fad, a future trend, or here today and to stay? And what about the state of RSS? Is there too much content, a glut of information? Today’s Gillmor Gang includes:

Steve Gillmor, ZDNet
Dan Gillmor, San Jose, Mercury News
Chris Pirillo, Lockergnome
Jason Calacanis, weblogsinc.com
Robert Scoble, Microsoft
Nick Bradbury, FeedDemon

Also see, Dan Gillmor’s eJournal. Gillmor says iPodding (pod casting) will “be a big deal, sooner than you think.”

And see, this Technorati search for ‘podcasting’ to see how it is being discussed in the ‘blogosphere’.

Anniston Star takes a stand (Poynter.org)

Always regarded as a very respectable paper, the Anniston Star once again proves that principle is on their side! (History of the Anniston Star.) The controversy is over ‘Doonesbury’ … I know, it is another newspaper related post, but the lessons here are as good as the one in the Arizona Republic post below.

This is a freedom of speech issue. Newspapers, at least in the past, did not shy away from carrying a wide diversity of opinions in many forms. Have ‘market forces’ changed the way newpaper publishers view editorial content? the principle of a ‘free press’? Yes, those were rhetorical questions. So, let us consider how and why this change has come about. What are your thoughts?

In it’s own way, Doonesbury is to comics what Joshua Micah Marshall and Glenn Reynolds are to blogs and what Maureen Dowd and Robert Novak are to newspapers. Although, for the life of me, I cannot think of one ’successful’ conservative cartoon strip - today. Help me out. Is there one that launched in - say - the last 20 or 30 years?

The best part of this story? The historical reference to “Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks” as the social commentary vehicles they were. Check it out!

From Poynter.org:

Anniston Star protests “Doonesbury” censorship

Anniston Star protests “Doonesbury” censorship
7/20/2004 12:57:51 PM

From CHRIS WADDLE, VP/News, Consolidated Publishing Co., publishers of The Anniston Star: Continental Features, a publishers consortium that prints Sunday comics for 38 clients, has killed the cartoon strip Doonesbury. The publisher and editors of The Anniston Star, one of the newspapers, object to the action they interpret as censorship.

What follows are copies of email messages from Van Wilkerson of Contiental, from H. Brandt Ayers, Chairman of Consolidated Publishing Co., publishers of The Anniston Star, and Star Editorial Page Editor Bob Davis, writing to members of the National Conference of Editorial Writers.

Read more

The answer is “black and white”. But, why (today, or ever) is inter-racial marriage even a question, Publisher Clark-Johnson?

From Poynter Online - Forums, we find an ‘forum post’ that you have to scroll ‘way’ down the page for [or, click (more…) at the end of this post]:

Black journos group on Arizona Republic photo move
9/9/2004 11:43:54 AM

It features a letter written to the Arizona Republic Publisher dated August 25, 2004. Here is an excerpt:

On June 11, The Arizona Republic ran an A1 story about how more weddings are being held on weekdays. It lead with a young couple who was about to become man and wife. The cover photo showed the young African-American woman in her dress with her godmother in the background. The story jumps to A2 where another photo is found, however, this one is even more compelling. It shows the young bride in her husband’s arms as they both stand under her veil looking to the sky.

We understand that the second picture was scheduled to run on A1, which it should have since it is a great photo. Unfortunately, the photo was moved to A2 because certain top-level editors were allegedly concerned about how readers would view it. You see, the young woman’s new husband is White.

Considering the multicultural image of Gannett, we are confused and disappointed by this decision. Especially in the 21st century.

OK, folks, what are the issues here? If this did occur, what would you have told the editors to do ‘re: the photo placement’? Should editors concern themselves with reader ’sensitivities’? If yes, is this a ’sensitivity’ editors should concern themselves with, at all? What has this done to the paper’s image? What can be done to vindicate the paper? What are the chances that the publisher will make a public apology? Should she make a public apology?
Read more

Poynter Online - Fifty Writing Tools

From PoynterOnline:

Poynter Online - Fifty Writing Tools
Fifty Writing Tools
The workbench of Roy Peter Clark.
Senior Scholar, Poynter Institute

At times, it helps to think of writing as carpentry. That way, writers and editors can work from a plan and use tools stored on their workbench. You can borrow a writing tool at any time. And here’s a secret: Unlike hammers, chisels, and rakes, writing tools never have to be returned. They can be cleaned, sharpened, and passed on.

and, also check out all articles by Roy Peter Clark … great resources!

Daily Kos :: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

A very interesting article, regardless of your political leanings - especially considering our ‘blogging adventure’. Please check out Daily Kos :: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

Blogging sells out? Well, a blog that makes money could be a good thing, sure. But, is their value in blogging beyond a ‘revenue stream’? Is there blogging value for a company beyond increased revenues? What do you think? Blog about it.

Markos Moulitsas Zúniga - One of the handful of ‘A-list’ bloggers.

Billmon: Blogging sells out
by kos
Mon Sep 27th, 2004 at 08:40:47 GMT

It was February of 2003, and I was in Sacrameto covering the California Democratic Party convention. I had credentials, and was sort of an oddity for the assembled political press corps. I got some needling until I proved that I was just as informed, if not more so, than most of the journalists assembled. But I didn’t get anything approaching respect until this exchange:

A reporter asked, “So, uh, blogging … what’s your revenue stream?”

I responded, “I don’t blog because I have to, I blog because I want to. It’s the essence of writing — doing it for the joy of it.” Perhaps I imagined it all, but I sensed a grudging respect from them, a few nods of the head. Things are obviously different now, at least in the “revenue stream” department.

The Noah Institute

Dave from designshanty kindly posted about our blogging efforts. Check it out.

He has another site, too. If you’re like me, you’ll love this one, too.

The naming of this site, alone, is such a beautiful job. I mean, honestly, can you read that site’s name and tagline and ‘not’ come away with a complete understanding of what it’s focus is? I think not.

Then, the design is very nice, too. And, the content is not too much different from what we’re trying to do here. The site is encouraging the church to examine the use of blogs (CMS) and incorporate it as, yet another, channel for sharing the message.

Please see The Noah Institute

(blogging makes it possible) … to publish your thoughts on bonsai or to let people know that you saw John Edwards name on the Kerry’s plane.

Wait, what? Jon Edwards? For the 2004 presidential campaign, there was a lot of hoopla about who would be John Kerry’s running mate. 2 days BEFORE the big news syndicates were talking about it, a technician reported that he saw Senator John Edwards name on the plane that would whisk Kerry all around the country as he made is bid for the presidency. A lone guy got the news out 2 days before the big boys and he avoided the whole press and public relations game.

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