Tag Archives: Web Sites
Huffington Post looking for two for its biz desk
by Chris Roush
The Huffington Post is looking for a news and social associate editor to work with our business, small business and money sections.
This person will copy-edit stories and help manage the sites’ social accounts, crafting engaging status updates and Tweets and building the online conversation about economics, finance and business.
The ideal candidate will have 3+ years online editorial experience, with heavy experience in social media. To apply for the job, go here.
The Post is also looking for an an experienced finance reporter to cover Wall Street. The ideal candidate should have at least five years experience covering breaking news for a major publication, a passion for news, a familiarity with the breakneck pace of online journalism and a way with words.
The ideal candidate should also have a high level of experience working with finance, economics and business content; a good level of online experience, including content management systems and site platforms; expert knowledge of news content and audience needs; live and breathe business news and finance; excellent writing and editing skills; and strong network of relevant industry contacts.
To apply for the job, go here.
Reuters plans new products in 2013
by Chris Roush
Reuters plans to launch new mobile and Internet offerings in the first quarter of 2013, according to a presentation by editor in chief Stephen Adler in London on Thursday.
The Baron, a site that follows Reuters news, reports, “Rather than focusing on the front page concept of the print media, the dotcom offering would have greater emphasis on search and related stories, as most people came to Reuters on the Web via search or social media related to a specific story. It would be an even better showcase for text, pictures and video, and would aim for the ‘prosumer’ audience – people who were consumers already, as well as some of the figures who Reuters journalists write about on a regular basis but who are not clients.
“The new online offerings would include a pay wall element leading customers to Eikon for news and Thomson Reuters’ WestLaw product for legal services. It would generate revenue and provide a better showcase for the work of individual correspondents.
“Adler praised the work of Reuters in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The media business conducted an extensive survey of 820 clients and the results were very encouraging for Reuters. Reuters came top or tied for first place on all metrics, he said. The agency was judged No.1 for accuracy, objectivity and timeliness. On some of these indicators Reuters was 15 points above the median score. In most categories, AP was in second place but in financial news Bloomberg remained Reuters’ sharpest competitor. For more insightful work, the Financial Times, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal were Reuters’ main competitors.”
Read more here.
WSJ launches Korean news site
by Chris Roush
The Wall Street Journal has become the first global digital news organization to launch a local language edition in Korea.
The site has already surpassed 2 million page views in its first week..
The launch of WSJ.com Korean edition is the latest development in The Wall Street Journal’s ‘WSJ Everywhere’ strategy, which drives the franchise’s development across new geographies, new platforms and new devices.
“We have built one of Asia’s largest news organizations and are ideally positioned—across geographies, languages and technologies—to deliver the flow of news and analysis the region’s business leaders and government decision-makers need to make better informed decisions,” said Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Co. and managing editor of The Journal.
There are now 11 sites in eight languages, including German, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese. International traffic has increased from 15 percent of WSJ.com’s total traffic in 2008 to 35 percent in 2012, while international visitors have more than doubled during the past five years. Content produced by more than 2,000 journalists in more than 80 bureaus worldwide is now accessed by an expanding global audience in some of the world’s fastest growing markets.
Edited from Seoul for local readers, the Korean news site boosts WSJ.com’s Asian reach by adding to a series of digital local-language innovations already championed in the region.
WSJ.com’s Chinese and Japanese editions, launched in 2002 and 2009 respectively, attract more than 5 million local-language visitors a month. Their local-language smartphone and tablet apps have been downloaded more than one million times.
Readers in Korea will instantly see the Korean-language edition when they go to WSJ.com since the site automates to the local edition depending on where the user is based. The country site menu is located at the top-left corner of the page should a reader want to switch to a different language. The country site menu is connected to the company logo as a visible indication of The Wall Street Journal’s commitment to expansion and serving international audiences.
Half of Forbes revenue will come from digital
by Chris Roush
For the first time, half of Forbes Inc.’s revenues will come from its digital businesses, according to Meredith Levien, the business media company’s chief revenue officer.
“Although Levien declined to share dollar figures, she credited the strong growth to a variety of initiatives, including the company’s BrandVoice product, which allows marketers to create custom content on the site; bigger, more interactive ad formats, including IAB-blessed ‘Rising Star’ units; and its embrace of programmatic selling, making online inventory available for public bidding on the company’s own ad exchange, the Forbes Audience Network.”
Read more here.
Forbes is a disrupter in journalism
by Chris Roush
Clayton M. Christensen, David Skok and James Allworth write in the latest Nieman Reports about disrupters in journalism, and include Forbes magazine.
They write, “Take the example of Forbes magazine. Executives at Forbes understand that you cannot run a news business and produce quality content in the digital era with a cost structure built for analog times. The biweekly publication’s website has changed the traditional role of the editor. Editors still manage staff reporters but their working relationship with freelancers has changed. Instead of giving them assignments and editing their stories, editors now manage a network of roughly 1,000 contributors — authors, academics, freelance journalists, topic experts, and business leaders, all focused around particular subjects of interest — who post their own stories and are accountable for their own individual metrics. According to Lewis DVorkin, chief product officer at Forbes, 25 percent of the content budget is now dedicated to contributors, who wrote a total of nearly 100,000 posts last year.
“With a focus on niche subjects and a network of bloggers who write posts and curate work on these subjects from other publications, Forbes attracts new contributors and facilitates conversation across the network, driving more traffic to the company’s sites. As DVorkin describes it, ‘Talented people want to belong to a respected network, and that’s what we’ve built and continue to build.’ This new system has resulted in a network effect whereby contributors generate their own loyal followings under the Forbes umbrella. In one year, Forbes doubled the number of unique visitors to its website. Referrals from social networks rose from 2 percent to 15 percent of the traffic to Forbes’s digital properties, and search engine traffic increased from 18 percent to 32 percent of the total traffic.
“Every newsroom’s reporting strengths will be unique, and the challenge is for the news manager to assess a newsroom’s unique strengths. If the strength is local reporting, how can the newsroom derive more value from its content? How can it expand local reporting capabilities? How can the newsroom develop innovative products and applications — and how can it do this while reducing the cost?”
Read more here.
Antunes named executive editor of CNBC Digital
by Chris Roush
Xana Antunes has been named to the newly-created position of executive editor and vice president for CNBC Digital, it was announced Wednesday by Kevin Krim, senior vice president and general manager, CNBC Digital.
Antunes was editor of Crain’s New York Business until earlier this year.
Starting immediately, Antunes is responsible for setting the editorial direction of and leading the editorial team behind CNBC Digital’s products and services including CNBC.com, the suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone & iPad Apps and CNBC Real-Time Android Apps and CNBC PRO, the premium desktop/mobile service.
“Xana brings a unique mix of business journalism expertise combined with a wealth of multi-platform experience. She is the ideal person to establish the editorial vision and voice for our extensive portfolio of digital products and services,” said Krim in a statement. “Xana will ensure that we continue to be the destination for breaking news and real-time analysis for our audience of business executives and investors and that they have a seamless and high-quality experience across all digital screens.”
“The caliber of the journalists and the organization at CNBC are exceptional and I am tremendously excited to join this team,” said Antunes in a statement. “The opportunity to cover the most urgent global business and financial stories for CNBC’s growing digital audience is a special one, particularly at a moment when virtually every day seems to bring news of enormous consequence.”
Last week, CNBC.com received a 2012 Edward R. Murrow Award for Broadcast Affiliated Website – Television – Network. In the third quarter, monthly visitors to CNBC.com averaged 7 million, a 5 percent increase compared to the same time last year.
Michigan business journal launches updated website
by Chris Roush
The Grand Rapids Business Journal in Michigan has relaunched its website.
John Zwarensteyn, the publisher, writes, “It is now up and delivering timely and pertinent business news with all of our trusted accuracy and analysis. I am proud of our new capabilities to produce original content and real-time news, updated throughout the day.
“This addition continues our tradition and long-standing commitment to provide the Grand Rapids-West Michigan business community with the best in local business news reporting. Now, you will have access to that news on a variety of different platforms, produced by an expanded staff of experienced journalists you have come to know and trust.
“The online content and reporting goes beyond what our print edition has to offer, so make sure you check in with us every day to keep up with West Michigan’s ever-evolving and dynamic business community.
“Our readers will be able to comment on, discuss and share stories using this new and robust online platform.We will be mobile-friendly and add more mobile apps and special content.
“We also will carry blogs by local business leaders and industry experts, and we will deliver our stories with timely emails and alerts, all of which can be managed by you, the reader. Other features include searchable article archives spanning more than a decade, and premium online access for Business Journal subscribers.”
Read more here.
CNBC web viewers flat in September, mobile is up
by Chris Roush
Business news site CNBC.com was visited by 6.6 million unique users in September, according to data from comScore Media Metrix. The site stayed flat year-over-year when compared to September 2011.
However, CNBC’s iPad app recorded 405,000 unique visitors in September, a 9 percent increase year-over-year, according to Omniture.
CNBC’s iPhone application posted its second best unique visitors ever in September with 563,000 unique visitors, a 21 percent increase year-over-year, according to Omniture.
CNBC’s Android application saw 87,000 unique visitors in September, down 6 percent month-over-month.
The most powerful biz journalist online
by Chris Roush
Laura Stampler of Business Insider profiles LinkedIn executive editor Daniel Roth, the former Fortune magazine business journalist whom she calls the most powerful business journalist online.
Stampler writes, “Roth oversees the news on LinkedIn Today, a social aggregator that brings top business headlines to LinkedIn’s 175 million-plus members across 40 different industries.
“‘One of the things I noticed at Fortune [where he worked previously] is that we did articles that I thought were amazing articles; and you’d read the comments, and the right people were never commenting on the story,’ Roth told BI. Rather than good critiques, like a real estate developer slamming the concept behind a Fannie Mae foreclosure piece, Roth would find trolls extolling ‘You guys are liberal jerks/conservative jerks/you guys are idiots, or even, my sister makes $500/month stuffing envelopes, here’s how you can do it.’
“His job is to make sure that the right news gets to the right people, which is a win-win for readers and reporters. And as much as journalists love their stories being seen by their intended audience, they also love another bonus effect from LinkedIn Today placement: Traffic.
“Lots and lots of traffic.
“A Forbes article, which dubbed the news curator ‘the perfect morning newspaper,’ said it plainly: ‘Get a story showing on the top 4 of LinkedIn Today – the ones that appear in people’s LinkedIn home page – and it’s reader gold.’”
Business Insider to offer sponsored content
by Chris Roush
Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age reports that Business Insider plans to offer companies sponsored content on its website.
Del Ray writes, “Business Insider has sold sponsored posts and emails in the past, but is now doubling down on those efforts with what it calls ‘Brand Insider,’ which will allow advertisers to buy sponsored slideshows, videos, and even create their own blogs on subdomains within Business Insider that would mix branded content with relevant Business Insider editorial. (The site hasn’t closed a deal for a brand-sponsored blog yet, but Huffington Post’s collaboration with IBM is an example of what one might look like.)
“The site will continue to run traditional ads, which currently account for the majority of Business Insider’s projected $12 million of 2012 revenue (2011 revenue was $7.7 million and Mr. Blodget has said that revenue was $4.8 million in 2010.) But company President and COO Julie Hansen believes there’s a lot of untapped potential in selling content opportunities to brands.
“‘If it were half [of total revenue] in a couple years’ time, that would be great,’ she said.
“The foray into branded content is being led by Pete Spande, the former Federated Media CMO who joined Business Insider in March as its first chief revenue officer. (Mr. Spande was already quite familiar with Business Insider since Federated Media sold ads for the site until last summer.) In an interview, Mr. Spande said his sales team is focusing initially on helping advertisers simply find a new audience for compelling content they’ve already created.”
Read more here.
