Managing Today's News Media: Audience First / Edition 1

by Samir A. Husni, Debora Halpern Wenger, Hank Price

Overview

The business of journalism is in the midst of massive change. Managing Today’s News Media: Audience First offers practical solutions on how to cope with and adapt to the evolving media landscape. News media experts Samir Husni, Debora Halpern Wenger, and Hank Price introduce a forward-looking framework for understanding why change is occurring and what it means to the business of journalism. Central to this new paradigm is a focus on the audience. The authors introduce “The 4Cs Strategy” to describe how customers, control, choice, and change are all part of a strategy for successful media organizations. Real-world case studies, important theoretical grounding, and a focus on understanding rather than resisting the customer’s desire for choice and control make this an unbeatable resource for students and managers alike who want to succeed in this changed media business landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452292571
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/26/2015
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D. is the founder and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University f Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media. He is also Professor and Hederman Lecturer at the School of Journalism. As Mr. Magazine™ he engages in media consulting and research for the magazine media and publishing industry.

Dr. Husni is the author of the annual Samir Husni’s Guide to New Magazines; Just Common Sense: Mr. Magazine’s Ideas to Grow and Cultivate Magazine Media ; Magazine Conversations; Magazine Publishing in the 21st Century; Launch Your Own Magazine: A Guide for Succeeding in Today’s Marketplace; and Selling Content: The Step-by-Step Art of Packaging Your Own Magazine,. Dr. Husni is also the co-author of Design Your Own Magazine . He is also the editor of The Future of Magazines.

He has presented seminars on trends in magazines and magazine media to the editorial, advertising and sales staff of the magazine groups of the Morris Communications Company, the Finnish media group Sanoma, The South African Media 24 Magazine Group, IOStudio, Hightlights for Children, Inc., Hearst Corp., Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, Meredith Corp., Reader’s Digest Magazine, ESPN the magazine, Sail Magazine, American Airlines Publishing, the National Geographic Society, the Swedish magazine group Bonnier, Southern Progress magazines, New South Publishing, Inc., the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Society of Magazine Editors, MPA: The Association of Magazine Media, Vance Publishing Corporation, the Florida Magazine Association, The Magazine Association of Georgia, the National Society of Black Journalists, the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association, and the American Press Institute.

He is “the country’s leading magazine expert,” according to Forbes ASAP magazine, “the nation’s leading authority on new magazines,” according to min:media industry newsletter; “a world-renowned expert on print journalism” according to CBS News Sunday Morning and The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “the planet’s leading expert on new magazines.”

Dr. Husni has been interviewed by major U.S. and International media on subjects related to the magazine industry. He has been profiled and is regularly quoted in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and many other newspapers world-wide, as well as the major newsweeklies and a host of trade publications.

He has appeared on CBS News Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, CNNFN, PBS, and on numerous radio talk shows including National Public Radio’s Morning and Weekend Editions as well as On The Media.

Dr. Husni holds a doctorate in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of North Texas.

Debora Halpern Wenger, a veteran journalist and educator, is associate professor and director of undergraduate journalism at the University of Mississippi. She is also a former associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to her academic appointment, she served as assistant news director at WFLA-TV in Tampa, Fla. She started her career as a reporter/anchor at KXJB in Fargo, N.D., moved on to producing at WBBH in Ft. Myers, Fla., and WMUR in Manchester, N.H., then became executive producer at WSOC in Charlotte, N.C. Wenger conducts multimedia training in newsrooms across the country and is co-author of the broadcast, online and mobile journalism curricula for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Journalism Training Program. She has been invited to work as visiting faculty for the Poynter Institute. She has a BA from what is now known as Minnesota State University and an MA from University of North Carolina–Charlotte.

Hank Price, is a veteran television executive who has led some of the nation’s most prominent stations including WBBM-TV, the CBS owned station in Chicago, KARE-TV, the Gannett-owned NBC affiliate in Minneapolis/St. Paul, WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, NC and WFMY-TV in Greensboro, NC. He is currently the President & General Manager of WVTM-TV, the Hearst-owned NBC affiliate in Birmingham, Al. Since 2000 Price has also been Senior Director of Northwestern University’s Media Management Center where he concentrates on future journalism and business models. Earlier in his career Price was a national television consultant with Frank N. Magid Associates. A frequent speaker at industry events, in 2000 Price was named a Fifth Estater by Broadcasting & Cable Magazine for “innovation in television news.” In 2010 he was given the North Carolina Association of Broadcast’s Distinguished Service Award for “Outstanding contributions to broadcasting.” That same year he was named a member of University of Southern Mississippi’s Journalism Hall of Fame.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

1 Audience First 1

Benefits 1

State of the Audience 1

Fight the Fear 2

The Business of Journalism 3

News as Service 3

Creating Relationships 5

Branding the News 6

Packaging the Experience 6

New Challenges 8

New Competitors 8

The 4 C's Strategy 9

Call Them Customers 9

Recognize Choice 10

Cede Control 10

Embrace Change 11

Leadership Reports 11

Theory in Practice 12

Think and Do 12

Executive Summary 12

2 Be the Brand 15

Benefits 15

The Importance of Brand 15

How Did It Get This Way? 15

Traditional Models Still Predominate 16

The 4 C's Strategy: Choice 18

The Rise of Brand 18

Leadership Report - Douglas Clemensen 20

The Brand Experience 22

Branding Example: Cable News 23

Brand Distinctions 25

Leadership Report - Marv Danielski 25

The Rise of Targeted Media Brands 27

Leadership Report - Ekaterina Walter 28

Theory in Practice - Branding Theory 29

Focus on the Future 29

Executive Summary 31

Think and Do 31

The Background 31

The Goal 32

Things to Consider 32

3 Audience Power 35

Benefits 35

State of the Medium 35

The 4 C's Strategy: Control 36

Technology Impact 36

Business Model Breakdown 37

Brand Extension Challenge 38

Understanding and Engaging Audience 38

Leadership Report - Scott Libin 39

Technology Advancement 40

Theory in Practice - Social Construction of Technology 42

Empowerment of Social Media 42

Leadership Report - Jacques Natz 44

Audience Measurement and Research 45

Leadership Report - Pat McDonough 47

Psychographics, Tribes and Other Qualitative Measurements 49

The Audience "Persona" 50

Behavioral Sequence Modeling 50

Focus on the Future 51

Executive Summary 52

Think and Do 53

Things to Consider 53

4 Newspapers 55

Benefits 55

State of the Medium 55

How Do Consumers Connect With Newspaper Media Today? 57

Leadership Report - Stan Tiner 58

Innovation Needed 59

The 4 C's Strategy: Change 62

Focus on Local 62

Leadership Report - Scott Coopwood 63

Rethinking Frequency 64

The Wall Street Journal Model 65

Looking Back - Technology Challenge 67

Leadership Report - Michael Rooney 68

Focus on the Future 71

Executive Summary 72

Think and Do 72

5 Magazines 75

Benefits 75

State of the Medium 75

Newsweeklies 76

Audience Relationship 78

The 4 C's Strategy: Customers 78

Leadership Report - David Carey 79

New Revenue Streams 80

Beyond Printed Products 81

Leadership Report - Donna Kessler 82

Mobile: Pros and Cons 83

Leadership Report - Steve Kotok 85

Looking Back 86

Theory in Practice - Leadership Theory 87

Focus on the Future 87

Executive Summary 88

Think and Do 88

6 TV 91

Benefits 91

State of the Medium 91

Getting Social 92

The 4 C's Strategy: Choice 92

The Social Audience 93

Mobile Moves 94

Leadership Report - Donna Reed 95

Watching the Web 97

Today's Bottom Line 98

Looking Back - Complacent Past 99

Leadership Report - Leon Long 100

Theory in Practice - Innovation Management 101

Leadership Report - Steve Hammel 102

Focus on the Future 105

Executive Summary 106

Think and Do 106

The Background 106

The Goal 106

7 Online 109

Benefits 109

State of the Medium 109

Online Revenue 111

Leadership Report - Bill McCandless 111

Pay Walls and Other Products 113

Streaming Video 114

Leadership Report - Warren Webster 115

Beyond Legacy Media 116

The 4 C's Strategy: Change 117

Leadership Report - Chip Mahaney 118

Looking Back - Hindsight Is Easy 119

Theory in Practice - Dual Transformation 121

Focus on the Future 121

Executive Summary 122

Think and Do 122

Page Views 122

Unique Visitors 123

Time on Site 123

Bounce Rate 123

Sources 123

8 Mobile 127

Benefits 127

State of the Medium 127

Attracting Younger Demos 127

Advertising Opportunities 128

The 4 C's Strategy: Control 129

Additional Revenue 131

Smartphones vs. Tablets 131

Revenue Challenge 132

Looking Back - Mobile Moves Quickly 132

Leadership Report - David Cohn 133

Leadership Report - Bill Tallent 135

Theory in Practice - New Product Development 137

Focus on the Future 139

Leadership Report - Dan Bradley 140

Executive Summary 141

Think and Do 142

9 From Consumer to Producer 145

Benefits 145

Soical Media and the News 146

The 4 C's Strategy: Customers 148

Audience Engagement 148

Leadership Report - Katie Hawkins-Gaar 149

Digital Influence 151

Leadership Report - Judy M. Stone 152

Content Curation 153

Leadership Report - Lewis D'Vorkin 154

User-Generated Content (UGC) 155

Theory in Practice - Disruptive Innovation 157

Focus on the Future 158

Executive Summary 158

Think and Do 158

10 Show Me the Money 161

Benefits 161

State of the Medium 161

How It Became This Way 162

More Challenges 162

The 4 C's Strategy: Change 164

Media Revenue Models 164

Newspaper Revenue 165

Leadership Report - Gary Randazzo 167

Television Revenue 169

Leadership Report - Wayne Freedman 170

Beyond Advertising 172

Retransmission Consent 173

Cable/Satellite/Telecom Revenue 173

Digital Media Revenue 174

Content Marketing 175

Event Marketing 176

Amazon.com: A Digital Exclusive Distribution System 178

Impact of Regulation on Future Business Models 178

Leadership Report - Mark Prak 179

Theory in Practice - Revenue Management 181

Executive Summary 181

Think and Do 182

Things to Consider 182

11 Road Map for the Future 185

Benefits 185

State of the Medium 185

The Power of Choice 186

The Power of Connectivity 187

Understanding the Media Consumer 188

Leadership Report - John Lavine 189

Mission Critical: Brand 191

Brands Transcend Technology 191

Role of Media Brands 192

Leadership Report - Gordon Borrell 193

Role of the Consumer Journalist 195

Role of the Journalism Entrepreneur 195

Media Start-ups 196

Leadership Report - Terry Mackin 197

Big Data 198

Content Competition 198

News Media Manager Skill Set 199

Jounralism Rules 199

The Trusted Source 200

Executive Summary 201

Think and Do 201

Things to Consider 202

References 203

Index 211

About the Authors 217