Technically Philly vies for Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism

jlab-page

Update: We lost.

Grant money in journalism is flowing freely in a tightened economy and a historic juncture in print media.

Seems like an opportunity.

So, my two partners and I, who founded Technically Philly, applied for the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, a $10,000 grant to support new ideas in news. See our submission here.

We thought bringing together two niches — the geography of Philadelphia and the industry of technology and innovation — and diversifying revenue streams — going beyond advertising — was a new enough model that it might catch the eye of a judge or two.

We walked into a meaningful business, social and startup community in a major metro region’s creative economies and began reporting, relying on our interests in social media, community reporting and professional and ethical journalism.

We recently introduced advertising — a small first step in monetization –and feel that a grant for $10,000 could afford the three of us an opportunity to work full time for perhaps as much two months or more. Considering how pleased we are with our traffic growth and the response from the community, we’re thrilled by even the chance at the opportunity to give full time to a project none of us have been able to offer even part time thus far.

Unfortunately and entirely unsurprisingly, there is some stiff competition from the nearly 100 submissions that were entered.  Below I share some of the more interesting submissions I saw and my thoughts on our viability.

Continue reading Technically Philly vies for Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism

Obituaries: a newspaper staple that should find a way into community news sites

memorial-obitIt’s all about alternative revenue.

Newspapers, large and small, have served for generations as a gateway for providing information about the deaths of loved ones.

Without any real numbers to back this up, it sure seems that unlike things like job listings and other classifieds, obit profits haven’t been eaten away nearly as much.

When I look at highly targeted community Web sites — successful ones like Howard Owens’s The Batvian and My Missourian (read about if they are sustainable) — I don’t see them trying to do the same. Any site that has any meaningful geographic focus and critical mass of readership there needs to see this as an important monetization strategy.

Continue reading Obituaries: a newspaper staple that should find a way into community news sites

What if advertising wasn't in a recession, but dying?

downward-trendIt would create a permanent fissure in the media world.

The question of whether plummeting advertising numbers are representative more of a broader trend than just the economy was the focus of an interesting post from James Fallows of the Atlantic, as I found from Philadelphia Inquirer online editor Chris Krewson.

The real problem is, advertising is dying. It’s just pulling down newspapers along the way. Next up: TV, radio, and Google.

This is why I was warning anyone who would listen that traditional media’s schadenfreude when the internet bubble popped in 2001 was probably misplaced. Because the reason it popped was one finally had the metrics to show Advertising Doesn’t Work. Google has forestalled the inevitable by doing the Net equivalent of the “tiny little ads” schtick of a decade or two back, but I think they see the writing on the wall, which is why they keep trying so desperately to find something, anything, other than search that’ll make money…. [Source]

Continue reading What if advertising wasn't in a recession, but dying?

What is a blog and why do so many people hate them?

blog_logo

If you check out Technically Philly and you follow every minute change, you may have noticed that the tagline that we boast at the site’s top has changed slightly.

Last week it still read: “Technically Philly is a blog covering the community of people who use technology in Philadelphia.” Now it says, “Technically Philly is a site that covers the community of people who use technology in Philadelphia.”

It may be a small change, but we realized we were lying.

Twelve years ago December in Ohio, they say, Jorn Barger took to calling his Robot Wisdom site a “web log,”  as his collection of links were, he said, literally logging the Web.

The type of Web site quickly took to house a variety of online diaries, often collecting news and commentary, too, but always flowing in some form of sequential order.

In 2004, with five million worldwide, the blog format was said to have hit the critical mass of being mainstream, bringing with it a new crew of news analysis and commentary, then largely from an outsider’s perspective.

Something happened then. While some even well-known blogs — like Deadspin, as Buzz Bissinger, Bob Costas and then-Editor Will Leitch made famous — maintained that the outsider’s perspective was crucial to the blog form, the world went silly with blogs.

Continue reading What is a blog and why do so many people hate them?

Metro: Philadelphia casinos keep eye on prize

Pick up a copy of today’s Metro Philadelphia, in which I have a story.

Unfortunately, it’s currently not online.

Metro, the international newspaper group with a successful outlet in Philadelphia, recently dropped AP content. Though they still use Reuters and other wire services, losing the largest means perhaps more opportunity for interested freelancers. So I got involved.

My story takes perspective from casino experts on just how table games could affect the clientele at currently slots-only casinos. A leading state representative recently expressed his belief that table games should be allowed.

Below see some of what I cut from the final product.

Continue reading Metro: Philadelphia casinos keep eye on prize

Despite declining traffic, @ArthurKade is a story, what that means for media

If you leave your car door unlocked, with the keys in the ignition, and your car is stolen, I don’t believe the crime is any less heinous.

Stealing is wrong, no matter the level of difficulty.

I read that somewhere recently and it resonated with me, reminding me of a Philadelphia story that speaks to the importance of old media, the power of social media and the future of them both.

Former Center City financial planner and current aspiring actor Arthur Kade has become a story. Since February, he has been chronicling the throes of his plight charging toward the spotlight through long, personally-involved and mildly misogynistic missives on his blog and in YouTube vidoes of increasingly cartoonish self-admiration.

He’ll lead posts with things like “My game with girls is so sick, but even I couldn’t get through the situation that I had to deal with last night…” and is getting attention for his Kade Scale for rating women.

HOW HE GOT HERE

Whether Joey Sweeney likes it or not, the brains behind Philadelphia culture blog Philebrity first gave the world Kade and has continued covering Kade. That led to Kade, who grew up in the Rhawnhurst neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, taking the virtual tour of the Jersey Turnpike when New York’s Gawker took notice. As you might have guessed, a flood of other blogs then followed, yes including popular Hot Chicks with Douche Bags, though the site doesn’t have permalinks. He spent 45 minutes on the Danny Bonaduce nationally syndicated radio show.

What thrust him from Web 2.0 quasi fame to a degree of Philly regional mainstream attention was the profile of him and his plight in this month’s Philadelphia magazine — broken by freelance writer Brian Hickey, who himself had quite a tale in the mag.

Last week, he was an attention grabber for an otherwise anonymous fashion show in a city not known for its fashion shows, and then he was the focus of a rather aggressively named Q&A with the popular city blog Phawker. The final regional touch came with an appearance on a smaller TV news outlet — though it, too, proved critical.

But, what, pray, does this all mean?

Continue reading Despite declining traffic, @ArthurKade is a story, what that means for media

FootPrints Of Life @ Philadelphia Art Museum steps

Shirley Boggs needs help.

Boggs is the founder of Mothers United Through Tragedy, the often-struggling yet always-inspiring Strawberry Mansion-based nonprofit that aims to expose the humanity lost in violence in Philadelphia.

This Saturday at 2 p.m., her eighth annual FootPrints of Life is in danger of coming up short — as I wrote for CityPaper.

Every year, in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, her group places a pair of shoes on the ground to represent each man, woman and child who was killed the previous year. But, after the past weekend’s last big collection came up short, she has just 175 for the 333 lives lost in 2008. Boggs, whose own son was shot to death during a 1997 robbery, is in particular need for men’s shoes of any kind or size.

After the event, those shoes are given to Self Inc., which distributes them to homeless shelters throughout Philadelphia.
Continue reading FootPrints Of Life @ Philadelphia Art Museum steps

CityPaper: Million Little Stories on Shirley Boggs

I’ve become something of a fan of the short briefs that CityPaper, a popular alternative-weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, features. Called “Million Little Stories,” they are actually well-written and worth the investment of time, a step away from the dry briefs with which most newspapers fill space.

I have one in this week’s paper — third down.

The story of Shirley Boggs has gotten around, but only because it seems to be such a good one. She’s made a couple appearances in Philly Weekly and the Daily News and most recently in The Temple News.

It’s worth going to Saturday’s event and/or donating a pair of men’s shoes. Call 215-227-5331 or 267-235-0046 to donate or get more information.

Five sales lessons that I don't think Seth Godin meant to give last month

I am surprised to say I’ve become something of a fan of marketing author Seth Godin.

I find his blog purposefully insightful, thought-provoking and strangely general. A person from just about any industry could take lessons away from his posts, which, of course, is likely his purpose.

It’s in that way that if, say, a fellow young journalist asked for a few blogs to follow, I’d suggest at least two that really don’t have any direct relationship to newspapers or even media. I’d certainly say Godin’s, and I’d also say Mark Cuban‘s — but that’s for another post.

I have to fight an urge to share very nearly everything they post.

Last month, though, I found a bit of a theme in Godin’s posts. It may have been because of my focus of my own announcement of intentions to monetize Technically Philly, but no matter the reason, I think Godin offered a series of interesting thoughts on making sales, all of which correlated, I thought, to Web startups.

Continue reading Five sales lessons that I don't think Seth Godin meant to give last month

What links should mean to news media in the future

Most media folks know that casual readers and viewers don’t really care if one news organization beats another by a few minutes on a story.

That’s about the pride of those involved.

If you were beaten, you either searched for a new angle or rehashed what was done, trying to add value in some way.

I figure that will long continue into the future, but I think something should change, an admission of sorts.

Continue reading What links should mean to news media in the future