Tag Archives: business thinking

The Business of Digital Journalism

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The Columbia Journalism Review published a report yesterday which was summarized in the NY Times.  It caught my eye for some reasons I’ll explain and I think if you have any interest in digital media you’ll find it a good read.  You can download the entire report (all 146 pages!) at this link but the story in the Times is far briefer and gives you the gist of the findings.  In a few words, newspapers need to embrace digital media and that journalists “gain a fuller appreciation for how advertisers now reach their customers via social media, new-media ads and search engine optimization,” and that larger news organizations should consider creating or re-creating separate digital staffs, “particularly on the business side.”  Right on! Continue reading

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The Pros From Dover

I was flipping around the dial last evening when I came across a program called “Talking Funny” on HBO.  It was Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Louis CK and Ricky Gervais talking about comedy and having, as the promo says “an unscripted conversation about what it means to be a comedian.”  It was pretty funny stuff and, more importantly for our purposes in this space, it got me thinking about some broader business points I’d like to share.

One of them made the point that most people can amuse themselves.  You or I can tell jokes and make ourselves and others laugh.  This was said with a touch of bemusement and amazement that despite this fact, people pay a fair amount of money to go to comedy shows.  And that’s the business point. Continue reading

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Flogton

Sad news came this weekend with the passing of Seve Ballesteros.  He was an inspiration to many golfers, including to me in a small way.  Seve was renowned for hitting the ball into all kinds of horrible trouble and fearlessly trying to recover.  Usually, he did just that and he won numerous titles playing from places many golfers didn’t even know were part of the golf course.  That’s the inspiration to me although my success rate in recovering is a tiny fraction of what Seve’s was.

Seve showed a few things about golf to the world: that it builds character, that it’s really REALLY hard even for the best in the world, and that the greatest triumphs come after the greatest adversity.  Which is why I find this morning’s report about Flogton in the Times so frustrating – and there’s a business point in there as well. Continue reading

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