The Wisconsin State Journal has come up with a new way to tie its Web site to its print publication. On Jan. 23, the paper began asking readers to vote on the paper's Web site (http://www.madison.com/) for the stories they'd like to see on the front page of the next day's print edition.
Readers have four or five different story "candidates" to choose from and can vote from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, according the Managing Editor Tim Kelley.
(See article at http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001883270)
Would you be more likely to read/subscribe to a print publication if you had a say in what went on Page One?
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4 comments:
I would definitely be more likely to read and subscribe. Even today I like to skip reading the newspaper because I can just get on the Internet and look up what news I actually care about instead of skimming the pages for things I find interesting. I think it's an edgy idea that might bring in more readers.
I like this idea as long as the paper offers up the top four or five stories for readers to choose from. Please, no open-ended options here or readers will just be choosing stories based on their own personal self-interest. If the newspaper offers the top five for readers to choose from, still based on traditional journalistic news values such as consequence, uniqueness, conflict, or prominence, then this is a win for everyone:
Readers will get to choose their top stories which interest them, newspapers will have created an interactive effort with their web site, and editors will still retain control over what stories might end up on the front page.
I think this is definitely a good idea. With new media overtaking older print media as the primary means of news and info in society, it is imperative that newspapers become innovative with new ways to hold their audience. Although a national poll which was shared in MCCNM 101 Media and Society showed that 21% of the national audience went to the internet for news, whereas 72% went to the papers, in our class, which I feel is more representative of the younger generation, the majority (57%) went to the internet for the news. So as newspapers become a dying breed especially among young audiences, this new tactic which is interactive and also an aid to recruitment is a great way for the newspapers to stay above the curve. I personally feel like the larger, national newspapers have a great editorial content and I usually am interested in their top stories and agree with them. But the smaller papers with less expertise behind them are where I think this technique would be put to good use. I find that locally sometimes the stories they consider important may not be at the top of the priority list for most of the readers. This is a good way to solve this problem and the problem of declining readership.
Even if I had a choice of choosing what I think should be on the front page of a newspaper it wouldn't convince me to buy it. Frankly I don't care if the story is on the front page or the third page as long as it's in the newspaper. There were many front page stories that I skipped over in the past to read what I thought was a better one. It didn't matter to me one bit which page I found it on. Most people are going to do what Adina does any way and look up what they want to know more about online.
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