Road Ahead: Content Clouds and Paywalls

July 12, 2010 in Road Ahead by Glenn Campbell | No comments

Clouds of content are circling overhead and many experiments in making money by delivering that content to consumers are underway and for good reason.

The Road Ahead:Clouds of Content July 2010
Photo by: Flavio Takemoto

As Dan Coates comments in his Perfect Marketing column for Media Post: “While the Internet doesn’t quite represent a perfect market where individuals have perfect information and benefit from perfect competition, it’s much closer to perfection than ever before.”

It is not just the technology that is changing. Citing a recent study, by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Kantar (“The New Consumer Behavior Paradigm“) Coates contrasts Gen Y with previous consumers and says: “While other generations use these same (Internet) tools and technologies to make comparisons and guide their purchase decisions, they do so with the spirit of a convert rather than that of a true believer. Gen Y has never not had these tools at their disposal.” As well documented by declining print circulation figures, Gen Y is far more inclined to go online than open a newspaper or magazine.

Their reliance on the Internet makes paywalls promising despite contrary findings from surveys that undoubtedly included a high proportion of Gen X and Boomer respondents. That’s why Rick Edmonds surmises on Poynter Online’s Business Blog that the big players are getting serious about paywalls. He cites News Corp’s investment in Journalism Online and acquisition of the Skiff E-Reader from Hearst and Google’s development of NewsPass and a number of variations on the trend. Among the latter: MediaNews while seeking bankruptcy protection and Gannett while seeking solutions to floundering, staff-depleted and content-starved small dailies in its chain. Also noteworthy are Yahoo and AOL adding content farms, leading it was suggested to “an itunes of news.”

John Blossom, in his Shoreline Newsletter takes a less sanguine view in his review of most of the current paywall attempts but does offer high praise for one Internet innovation that also seems to offer opportunity for auto writers. It is Main Street Connect. It puts the focus on new ways to include local merchants (car dealers?) and community members in the editorial mix.

Whatever evolves, Coates’ conclusion seems a certainty: “Gen Y is at the beginning of the arc of its economic power. What we see today will be rapidly extended and expanded beyond our current context as technology evolves and the largest generation in American history begins to participate fully in the economic activity of our society.”

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In The Spotlight: Cliff Atiyeh

July 12, 2010 in Autowriters Spotlight by AWcom Staff | No comments

Autowriters.com Autowriters Spotlight: Cliff Atiyeh
Cliff Atiyeh

Unless you are a self-proclaimed pundit who goes straight from your conceit to your own blog, it’s not a straight path to work as an auto writer, as Cliff Atiyeh recounts in this month’s Spotlight.

Back in 1995, I didn’t know automotive journalism was an actual business. I was nine years old, leafing through my first issue of Motor Trend, wondering how these writers could drive a yellow Porsche across Europe and call that a job. It was wild folklore, and editor C. Van Tune might as well have been Gandolf. Month after month I was hooked: reviews, comparison tests, wacky letters to the editor, concept art, gossip. Until I graduated high school, I couldn’t eat a bowl of cereal without a car magazine.

I realized two things before setting off to Boston University for a journalism degree. First, I’d need to move to Michigan (do I have to?) or California (right away) if I ever got a magazine job. The second part involved waiting for enough writers to die off the mastheads. I figured 20 years. Auto writers aren’t like professional athletes, in that they almost never retire. And who can blame them? When I’m 80, I want to be tearing around a track in the 2070 solar-hydrogen M3, not tending an organic vegetable garden.

I haven’t yet been published in a major magazine. Every time I try, another newspaper reels me in. In college I interned for two summers at the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn., where I covered the 2003 New York Auto Show for their business section. Unlike most local papers, they actually paid me. Three years later I was writing about New York from London during a study-abroad semester at The Times. I wrote for the online auto section, read lots of Jeremy Clarkson, drank one too many beers for lunch, and wrangled a free ticket to the British Grand Prix. I was paid for that, too.

Now I’m the unofficial auto guy at The Boston Globe for both online and print. This is my third year. But first I had to take a dirt-pay layout job at a free newspaper, only to be fired and frustrated for six months. In that time I saw a job posting for Boston.com that wanted someone to edit the auto section, but required meeting “product revenue” and “key performance indicators.” Editorial people don’t talk like that, but I thought it was a good way to get my name in a major newspaper. I didn’t realize how good until print staff were being bought out by the dozens, including auto writer Royal Ford, or laid off.

No one on Boston.com got booted, and no one was covering cars. In 2008, I convinced the bosses to start a car blog, Boston Overdrive, to start building a voice. Soon I got talking to John Paul of AAA, whose “Car Doctor” advice column I posted each week. He got talking to journalists in the New England Motor Press Association, which had connections to nearly every automaker. Months later, they forced me to dress in an elf costume and play trombone to a crowd of national PR reps during a Christmas party. I’m on the billing till I retire, if that ever happens.

Turns out auto journalism isn’t impossible to join, it’s just a small world. Of all the writers in the Geneva Auto Show press room, I ran into Motor Trend’s Angus MacKenzie. Ezra Dyer lives 20 minutes south of me here in Boston. We even talk on the phone. Well, one time.

At 24, I’m living what I’ve always dreamed about as a little boy. I can visit an auto show and have the same car sitting on my driveway weeks later. I’m invited to fancy press trips, but get uncomfortable by the lure of free vacations. I’m finding the tipping point between editorial independence and advertising dollars. I’m certainly not in this for the money.

I joke that I’ve spent my whole life driving cars that aren’t mine. I came to work today in a Mercedes SL63. This is a real job, right?

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John Rettie: Living Content is Quality Content

July 12, 2010 in The Tom-Tom by AWcom Staff | 1 comment

John Rettie is a freelancer, with the emphasis on being free to pursue his light. Going on staff when it works and leaving when it doesn’t, he has been on staff for Meyer’s Publishing, Ward’s Communications, J.D. Power and Associates and The New York Times among others in an auto writing career that began in England in 1971. He also writes on photography, has designed and built auto parts, raced cars and originated the Automotive PR Survey conducted by MPG.

Like many of you, I’ve enjoyed reading the ongoing debate about the future of auto journalism, especially as I am now one of those “old and bald” journalists.

Autowriters.com Tom-Tom: John Rettie
John Rettie

Almost 40 years ago I was a fresh-faced writer who started working on a small magazine in the UK. I had no degree in journalism but I was enthusiastic and realized how lucky I was to be in my dream job. My salary was poor — you know the rest of the story.

A few weeks ago someone told me there was an opening listed on CareerBuilder for an automotive writer in my hometown, Santa Barbara. It looked promising. It read as if a major newspaper or magazine was looking for an experienced auto journalist. Only this was for Examiner.com.

Several established auto writers are indeed writing for Examiner and a few are making some money but I don’t know of anyone making a decent living doing this.

Writer’s forums have been full of discussions about content mills, the derogatory name given to websites that seek writers to crank out copy on every subject under the sun.

In fact just as I was on a final edit I read the following, penned by Nik Usborne, on searchengineland.com:

“Most web content is barely alive, even when it is first written. It is pumped out by content mills, optimized and uploaded. This kind of bulk content is often referred to as backfill content. I prefer the term “landfill content.” Dead and rotting from day one. In sharp contrast, living content is quality content. It is shared quickly through social media—because it is worth sharing—and takes root across the web. Better still, true living content is updated and added to on a regular basis.”

I’m sure everyone echoes this sentiment.

It’s true that Examiner appears to be a cut above these sites it has nonetheless been included in the discussions at times.

Traditionalists see a relentless downward push on the quality of writing and the rate at which writers are paid. It’s perhaps even more worrisome to read that Fortune magazine is now accepting articles for which it does not pay.

It’s sad.

Some call it “SEO marketing of content for dummies.” As long as content shows up well on search engines and enough people click on them the content generators will make money. Some of these content mills supposedly make millions of dollars a year yet their writers, sorry content producers, are not making much at all.

Nevertheless, there are many young writers, and even some seasoned out of work writers, who are happily producing features for these sites despite the low pay. And it appears there are plenty of people signing up to produce content.

I think this confirms there have always been thousands of people who relished the idea of writing and seeing their prose published. Of course, in the “old days” it was only a few who were fortunate enough to land gigs that enabled them to see their work in print.

Now anyone can start a publishing company at virtually zero cost. However, the chances of making a lot of money are still slim. Perhaps these content mills are currently a better way for new writers to get started – at least they make some money.

Despite all these dramatic changes nothing has really changed. Pretty much every one of us “old farts” started at ground zero as an unpaid intern or an entry level cub reporter before making anywhere near a living wage.

Since it’s now so much easier to get started we have thousands more trying their hand at writing, photography, and even movie making. Pretty soon we’ll reach saturation and hopefully the best sites with the best content will grow and the weak ones will wither.

Within a decade, I bet we will return to seeing the best content producers making a decent living. We will then look back on the massive changes going on at present and realize that every trade and profession has been radically altered by the digital age. Heck, by then even the healthcare industry, which is one of the last to be “digitized” will surely be undergoing transformation.

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July 2010 Passing Scene

July 12, 2010 in Passing Scene by Glenn Campbell | No comments

Chrysler’s Ed Garsten was quoted by Bradford Wernle in Automotive News with this frank assessment of auto journalism in his explanation of why the carmaker shut down its freewheeling Firehouse Blog, “While still depending on the press for important coverage of our company, we’re now able to also promote our news, positions, and products directly to the public through social media without waiting, hoping the media will pick up particular stories or angles that benefit us.”.

The Journalism Shop began last summer as a co-op of former Los Angeles Times staffers. It is looking to add highly qualified journalists from across the country (international applicants will be considered). The expansion is timed with the launch of Ebyline, a web-based marketplace designed to match freelance reporters with carefully chosen publishers. Membership in the Journalism Shop is $100.00 per year and applicants must have five years experience at a major newspaper and not have a full time job, among other requirements. For more information see: http://www.thejournalismshop.com.

An article citing instances of auto journalists influencing the design of cars can be read at: http://www.mpegtech.com/article/view/cps-6/id-16663 . . . Joe Marchese reports in Online Media Daily (June 16) that online advertising is poised to supplant newspapers as the world’s No.2 ad medium, according to a recent report by ad agency Interpublic’s Magna Global unit. . . . Citing a report by SFAppeal blogger Eve Batey, SFWeekly says You Tube is working on some clandestine journalism projects in San Francisco. Batey, who was among those contacted, says she was referred to an Atlantic Magazine article, “How To Save The News” to explain what was underfoot. From that article, SFWeekly quoted: “Amateur-produced video is perhaps the most powerful new tool of the Internet era in journalism…The idea behind the various YouTube projects is that the same newspapers that once commanded an audience with printed reports…could re-create their central role by becoming a clearinghouse for video reports.”- perhaps the motivation for Kelley Blue Book’s amateur car review video contest.

The aforementioned Joe Marchese wonders in a July 6 column, “if there will be any news sources that can be distinguishable from editorial opinion produced to attract the largest audience at the lowest cost.” His concern is: “The ability of well-researched (re: expensive) journalism to monetize effectively is nonexistent today in a digital world that can, and does, churn out more content everyday than people can possibly consume.” . . . A behavioral marketing firm will soon be checking your emotions and sending ads to please them. Laurie Sullivan, reports in Behavioral Insider, (June 16), Lotame “will soon have the ability to scan content across the Web, as people create it, and associate content creators with the emotions they express about brands, activities and other topics.”

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Road Signs: Chocolate and Audis

July 12, 2010 in Road Signs by Glenn Campbell | No comments

Steve Smith, reports for Behavioral Insider: “According to Peerset, an ad targeting venture that leverages social data in a unique way, our interests are reflected most accurately by our expressions online rather than our browsing history.” For example:” If you mention the word “chocolate” here and there in your online blog and comment posts, the odds are pretty good you are also interested in Audis, lacrosse, Easthampton and weeds.”

J.D. Power and Associates, famous for its quantitative measures of consumer behavior when it comes to car buying, is now adding that sort of qualitative research for its clients. Writing for Marketing Daily, Karl Greenberg, says the company’s new Auto Intelligence Monitor, combines data and insight from social media conversations about automaker brands and models with marketplace retail sales and segment data. In a semi-scholarly post for the U.K.’s Car Rental, Mark Rainford writes, “magazines are developing the core competencies required for a multi-platform future. Auto journalists will always need to be good to write, but soon every journalist is expected to be proficient in video production, presentation, editing, and some may need to know how we can develop electronic media such as Web pages and online magazines. The Internet should not be seen as a problem for auto magazines but more of a price change.”

And quotes Autocar editor-in-chief Steve Cropley: “It could be suggested that Autocar has become a hybrid magazine, printed and distributed each week, but also with a daily updated online presence at www.autocar.com.

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