Goodies from World Editors Forum in Seoul
The editorsweblog.org blog is currently transformed into "The Editors BlogConf in Seoul" with reports and discussions around the 12th World Editors Forum. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should. This is a sneak preview to the future of newspapers. Some current highlights from the blog:
Impressions of the digital media round table
• The mobile phone is the most frequently used content provider in Norway. Average 5 hrs of use a day - and the typical session is between three and five minutes.
• Newspaper will need to create interactive mobile editions of their newspapers - Using VG's example - this is an extension of the newsgathering operation. not a separate business in an off-site locale.
Newspaper Circulation and Advertising Up Worldwide
The circulation of newspapers in the world increased strongly last year,
and, at the same time, newspaper advertising revenues made significant
gains. A survey said that global newspaper sales were up 2.1 percent over the
year. Unlike previous years, growth was not only driven by gains in
developing markets, but increases in sales in many mature markets.
RSS is a great way to attract permanent subscribers
RSS is the necessary tool to aggregate all of a paper’s content into a searchable and topic specific engine that creates a bond with the reader, helping to make trail subscribers permanent, encouraging them to continue coming back to the same paper’s site. RSS changes the dynamic of online news because instead of the reader going to a newspaper’s site or an online aggregator like Google, the newspaper goes to the reader. Skrenta eased some financial concerns that editors have about using RSS feeds by showing that RSS feeds drive traffic back to a website, thus satisfying advertisers.
Google News - Biased?
What values, biases and editorial judgments are reflected in the inclusion of [Google News'] 4,500+ sites, and exclusion of others? We don't know because Google won't name the sources.
Impressions of the digital media round table
• The mobile phone is the most frequently used content provider in Norway. Average 5 hrs of use a day - and the typical session is between three and five minutes.
• Newspaper will need to create interactive mobile editions of their newspapers - Using VG's example - this is an extension of the newsgathering operation. not a separate business in an off-site locale.
Newspaper Circulation and Advertising Up Worldwide
The circulation of newspapers in the world increased strongly last year,
and, at the same time, newspaper advertising revenues made significant
gains. A survey said that global newspaper sales were up 2.1 percent over the
year. Unlike previous years, growth was not only driven by gains in
developing markets, but increases in sales in many mature markets.
RSS is a great way to attract permanent subscribers
RSS is the necessary tool to aggregate all of a paper’s content into a searchable and topic specific engine that creates a bond with the reader, helping to make trail subscribers permanent, encouraging them to continue coming back to the same paper’s site. RSS changes the dynamic of online news because instead of the reader going to a newspaper’s site or an online aggregator like Google, the newspaper goes to the reader. Skrenta eased some financial concerns that editors have about using RSS feeds by showing that RSS feeds drive traffic back to a website, thus satisfying advertisers.
Google News - Biased?
What values, biases and editorial judgments are reflected in the inclusion of [Google News'] 4,500+ sites, and exclusion of others? We don't know because Google won't name the sources.
Kvällsposten starts blog
Scania sponsors professorship in international PR
In order to raise awareness about international public relations, Scania will sponsor a professorship in international PR at Örebro University for three years. Inger Larsson, former Chief Information Officer at Gambro has been named guest professor.
Bloggforum on tv
The second edition of the Swedish blog forum, artfully named Bloggforum 2.0, was held this weekend in Stockholm. I couldn't attend because I had other engagements, but I will try to watch the session about blogging to create confidence which will be on SVT 24 on Friday [link via Bisonblog].
15:30 - 16:30 Bloggforum: Skapa förtroende genom att blogga.
Paneldebatt om fenomenet bloggning, med bland andra Zaida Catalán, fd språkrör Grön Ungdom och Fredrick Federley, förbundsordförande centerns ungdomsförbund. Inspelat vid Bloggforum 28/5. Reporter Sanna Volny.
Forget podcasting - I'm on real radio
I will most likely be on radio this afternoon at about 4.20 PM. SR Sjuhärad called me up and wanted me to talk about my blog survey.
Update: Short and sweet. It was only a few minutes, but I survived.
Update II: Kerstin Berminge from Motvallsbloggen was also interviewed, but I wasn't able to hear it.
Update: Short and sweet. It was only a few minutes, but I survived.
Update II: Kerstin Berminge from Motvallsbloggen was also interviewed, but I wasn't able to hear it.
What's wrong with Technorati?
I'm as prone to go ego-surfing on Technorati as the next guy, but it seems you can't trust the stats at all these days. I've had at least 20-30 different new incoming links to my blog the last week or so but Technorati says I still have 159 incoming links from 120 sources, i.e. same as a week ago. If you check my Technorati cosmos you can see that the first 20 hits are from the last four days, while on the second page you suddenly have blogs that linked to me 75 days ago. The third page (hits 60-80) comes up blank. Très strange.
Why the future belongs to the blogging customer
I read somewhere that a customer that feels mistreated after a purchase tells 12 other people about that negative experience. Well, if that customer has a blog, that figure might now be 10 or 100 times higher.
A few weeks back I spent more than 4,000 SEK (about 550 USD) on wallpaper at my local paint dealer Färgtema in Täby, Sweden. I bought two different wallpapers, loads of paste and putty. We renovated our bedroom and put the wallpaper up and it looked great. I was however a bit bummed by the fact that we had bought one roll too many of the expensive paper (560 SEK each), but that was because it was hard to figure out if three or four rolls would be enough. We couldn't return the extra roll so that money was lost, but there was really no-one to blame. Then the paint dealer sold us 12 litres of paste but we only used up about 4 litres. Of the 8 extra litres we could only return 2.
They had the second wallpaper on stock so any rolls that we didn't use we could return. We ended up using 4 out of 6, and we wanted to return one of these two because it had a few dents in it. The problem was that we didn't discover this until after we had torn the plastic off. So when I went to the store today they didn't want to take that roll back, because we had opened the wrapping and they couldn't get a refund for the product themselves. And not only did I have to argue with one of the sales clerks, but two, so I was feeling a bit uncomfortable and didn't really push strong enough to make them take back both rolls.
From my perspective as the customer, I had spent 4,140 SEK in this store, out of which at least 1,088 for products I didn't use or need (562 + 223 + 223 + 80). So when they question why I want to return one roll ("I'm not accusing you, but it might as well be you who made these dents in this roll") it really made me annoyed. My question is, is your reputation worth the 223 SEK you saved by sending me home with a roll of wallpaper I don't need? Of course not. Do you think I will come back next time I'm renovating my house? I doubt it. So when more and more customers start their own blogs, prepare to read some nasty stories about bad shopping experiences. Your brand is on the line, yes, it's online!
A few weeks back I spent more than 4,000 SEK (about 550 USD) on wallpaper at my local paint dealer Färgtema in Täby, Sweden. I bought two different wallpapers, loads of paste and putty. We renovated our bedroom and put the wallpaper up and it looked great. I was however a bit bummed by the fact that we had bought one roll too many of the expensive paper (560 SEK each), but that was because it was hard to figure out if three or four rolls would be enough. We couldn't return the extra roll so that money was lost, but there was really no-one to blame. Then the paint dealer sold us 12 litres of paste but we only used up about 4 litres. Of the 8 extra litres we could only return 2.
They had the second wallpaper on stock so any rolls that we didn't use we could return. We ended up using 4 out of 6, and we wanted to return one of these two because it had a few dents in it. The problem was that we didn't discover this until after we had torn the plastic off. So when I went to the store today they didn't want to take that roll back, because we had opened the wrapping and they couldn't get a refund for the product themselves. And not only did I have to argue with one of the sales clerks, but two, so I was feeling a bit uncomfortable and didn't really push strong enough to make them take back both rolls.
From my perspective as the customer, I had spent 4,140 SEK in this store, out of which at least 1,088 for products I didn't use or need (562 + 223 + 223 + 80). So when they question why I want to return one roll ("I'm not accusing you, but it might as well be you who made these dents in this roll") it really made me annoyed. My question is, is your reputation worth the 223 SEK you saved by sending me home with a roll of wallpaper I don't need? Of course not. Do you think I will come back next time I'm renovating my house? I doubt it. So when more and more customers start their own blogs, prepare to read some nasty stories about bad shopping experiences. Your brand is on the line, yes, it's online!
Journalists read blogs
Not that you need more evidence that journalists read blogs, but I couldn't resist showing this article from Aftonbladet this week. It's about the cult of the iPod and has references to this post on my blog.
I'm nominated for MarketingSherpa's Blog Awards
Cool stuff, everyone. I've been nominated for MarketingSherpa's 2nd Annual Reader's Choice Blog Awards.
Voting has already started and ends Wednesday June 8th.
Oh, and while you're at it. Adland is nominated too so give them your vote as well. Åsk rules, you know.
[Edit: I mixed up Adland with Adrants to the amusement of Niklas at Researcher.]
Voting has already started and ends Wednesday June 8th.
"Prizes this year include a "Winner" icon for your Blog, a special coffee mug, and your name and blog URL on our site and in a press release."C'mon everyone, I really want a new mug. Vote for me here and do it now. (Pretty please with sugar on top?)
Oh, and while you're at it. Adland is nominated too so give them your vote as well. Åsk rules, you know.
[Edit: I mixed up Adland with Adrants to the amusement of Niklas at Researcher.]
Bloggers at SVT - me too
A bunch of bloggers have been to Swedish public service television SVT today. Jonas and Anna were in the studio this morning to talk about blogs on SVT1. Haven't seen it yet but you're supposed to be able to view it via a link at Jonas' blog.
I was there myself over lunch, invited by SVTi to talk about blogs with the management of SVT. I'm not going to get into detail what we talked about, but they were very interested and asked a lot of good questions. Per Gudmundson was there as well to give them his views, so you kind of get the grip on where much of the discussion took place. About 20-25 people showed up (yes, it's a big company).
I was there myself over lunch, invited by SVTi to talk about blogs with the management of SVT. I'm not going to get into detail what we talked about, but they were very interested and asked a lot of good questions. Per Gudmundson was there as well to give them his views, so you kind of get the grip on where much of the discussion took place. About 20-25 people showed up (yes, it's a big company).
BloggSverige 1.0 - så ser den svenska bloggaren ut
Så var den då klar, "BloggSverige - en undersökning av svenska bloggare och bloggläsare". 600 svenska bloggläsare svarade på en online-enkät från den 12 maj till 16 maj 2005. Vi kan redan se att bloggar börjar konkurrera med etablerade medier om uppmärksamheten. Undersökningen visar att hälften av alla svenska bloggläsare spenderar mer tid på att läsa bloggar än vad svensken gerenellt spenderar på att läsa dagstidningar. (34 minuter eller mer per dag mot 28 min).
60,4% av alla bloggläsare har en egen blogg vilket stärker tesen om att dagens mediekonsumenter allt oftare också är medieproducenter.
Den genomsnittlige svenske bloggaren är:
· man
· 26-35 år gammal
· har högskole- eller universitetsexamen
· båda föräldrarna är födda i Sverige
· vet inte vilket parti han ska rösta på om det vore riksdagsval idag (största parti av de som valt var folkpartiet)
· bloggar för att han gillar att skriva
· bloggar på svenska
· är inte anonym
· läser 6-10 bloggar dagligen
· spenderar 6-10 timmar per vecka med att läsa bloggar
· använder oftast eller ibland en RSS-läsare för att läsa bloggar
· läser bloggar för att det är mer personligt än andra medier
· hittar nya bloggar via länkar på andra bloggar
Den genomsnittlige svenske bloggläsaren (inklusive de som har egna bloggar) är:
· man
· 26-30 år gammal
· har högskole- eller universitetsexamen
· båda föräldrarna är födda i Sverige
· skulle rösta på moderaterna om det vore riksdagsval idag
· har en egen blogg
· läser 1-5 bloggar dagligen
· spenderar 2 timmar per vecka med att läsa bloggar
· använder aldrig en RSS-läsare för att läsa bloggar
· läser bloggar för få fler synvinklar på nyheter
· hittar nya bloggar via länkar på andra bloggar
Myten om den liberala bloggaren är väl bara delvis sann. Visserligen är (fp) det största partiet bland bloggare (23,1%) och det är en borgerlig majoritet bland bloggare, men skillnaden mellan blocken är relativt liten (52,6% borgerligt mot 47,6% vänster, inklusive Feministiskt initiativ). (m) och (s) ligger inte långt efter med 22,3% och 20,2%.
Den stora borgerliga övervikten återfinns istället bland bloggläsarna, dvs samtliga i undersökningen. Där har de borgerliga partierna en majoritet på 62,4%. Skillnaden beror på en mycket stor grupp bloggläsare som inte själva bloggar, och som lägger sin röst på (m). Alla dessa siffror är borträknat en stor grupp osäkra väljare och de som inte röstar alls.
Hela 22,2% av alla bloggläsare vet inte vilket parti de ska rösta på. Ytterligare 5,9% skulle antingen inte rösta alls eller rösta på något nischat parti som Junilistan. Det finns alltså anledning för de etablerade partierna att ta med bloggosfären i sin valplanering inför riksdagsvalet 2006 då många bloggläsare är osäkra på vilket parti som ska få deras röst.
Andra intressanta resultat från undersökningen är att 60,7% av alla bloggare är män. Männen bloggar dessutom i hög utsträckning under eget namn (30,6% anonyma), medan kvinnor väljer att vara anonyma (60,6%). Med anonym avses att man inte har både för- och efternamn angivet på sin blogg.
För en utförligare beskrivning vänligen se hela rapporten i pdf-format här: BloggSverige 1.0 (312 kb).
Fotnot: Siffran om att svensken spenderar 28 min per dag med att läsa dagstidningar kommer från Nordicom, Sveriges Mediebarometer 2004.
Några av figurerna i rapporten kan se lite gryniga ut på skärmen om man inte förstorar upp dem. Det ska dock se ok ut på utskriften.
60,4% av alla bloggläsare har en egen blogg vilket stärker tesen om att dagens mediekonsumenter allt oftare också är medieproducenter.
Den genomsnittlige svenske bloggaren är:
· man
· 26-35 år gammal
· har högskole- eller universitetsexamen
· båda föräldrarna är födda i Sverige
· vet inte vilket parti han ska rösta på om det vore riksdagsval idag (största parti av de som valt var folkpartiet)
· bloggar för att han gillar att skriva
· bloggar på svenska
· är inte anonym
· läser 6-10 bloggar dagligen
· spenderar 6-10 timmar per vecka med att läsa bloggar
· använder oftast eller ibland en RSS-läsare för att läsa bloggar
· läser bloggar för att det är mer personligt än andra medier
· hittar nya bloggar via länkar på andra bloggar
Den genomsnittlige svenske bloggläsaren (inklusive de som har egna bloggar) är:
· man
· 26-30 år gammal
· har högskole- eller universitetsexamen
· båda föräldrarna är födda i Sverige
· skulle rösta på moderaterna om det vore riksdagsval idag
· har en egen blogg
· läser 1-5 bloggar dagligen
· spenderar 2 timmar per vecka med att läsa bloggar
· använder aldrig en RSS-läsare för att läsa bloggar
· läser bloggar för få fler synvinklar på nyheter
· hittar nya bloggar via länkar på andra bloggar
Myten om den liberala bloggaren är väl bara delvis sann. Visserligen är (fp) det största partiet bland bloggare (23,1%) och det är en borgerlig majoritet bland bloggare, men skillnaden mellan blocken är relativt liten (52,6% borgerligt mot 47,6% vänster, inklusive Feministiskt initiativ). (m) och (s) ligger inte långt efter med 22,3% och 20,2%.
Den stora borgerliga övervikten återfinns istället bland bloggläsarna, dvs samtliga i undersökningen. Där har de borgerliga partierna en majoritet på 62,4%. Skillnaden beror på en mycket stor grupp bloggläsare som inte själva bloggar, och som lägger sin röst på (m). Alla dessa siffror är borträknat en stor grupp osäkra väljare och de som inte röstar alls.
Hela 22,2% av alla bloggläsare vet inte vilket parti de ska rösta på. Ytterligare 5,9% skulle antingen inte rösta alls eller rösta på något nischat parti som Junilistan. Det finns alltså anledning för de etablerade partierna att ta med bloggosfären i sin valplanering inför riksdagsvalet 2006 då många bloggläsare är osäkra på vilket parti som ska få deras röst.
Andra intressanta resultat från undersökningen är att 60,7% av alla bloggare är män. Männen bloggar dessutom i hög utsträckning under eget namn (30,6% anonyma), medan kvinnor väljer att vara anonyma (60,6%). Med anonym avses att man inte har både för- och efternamn angivet på sin blogg.
För en utförligare beskrivning vänligen se hela rapporten i pdf-format här: BloggSverige 1.0 (312 kb).
Fotnot: Siffran om att svensken spenderar 28 min per dag med att läsa dagstidningar kommer från Nordicom, Sveriges Mediebarometer 2004.
Några av figurerna i rapporten kan se lite gryniga ut på skärmen om man inte förstorar upp dem. Det ska dock se ok ut på utskriften.
Bloggers among top 50 IT personalities
Swedish tech publication Ny Teknik has published its list of Sweden's top 50 IT personalities. Erik Stattin, librarian and arch blogger, grabs place #50.
"Bibliotekarien" Bloggfenomenet har nått Sverige med full kraft. Alla, från tidigare statsminister Bildt till Expressens jeansexpert Ebba von Sydow, har en. Men inflytelserikast av dem alla, åtminstone enligt mediabevakaren Observer, är bibliotekarie Stattin."Rasmus Fleischer from Piratbyrån, who blogs at Copyriot, is at #9. Niklas Zennström of Skype is new at #1.
Blogs vs media - an update
Here is a follow up to my previous post about Swedish blogs vs MSM in terms of inbound sources and inbound links. I have added one or two A-list blogs that were not included last time. Apart from that, the main difference is that some media have seen a significant increase in inbound sources and links since last time. I don't know if it is due to the fact that some big media have introduced their own blogs since then, or if it is just temporary mood swings at Technorati. Red is for media, green is for blogs. And as always, stats are fun, but use with an appropriate amount of skepticism.
Footnote: mymarkup.net includes several blogs under the same domain. Source: Technorati.com
Footnote: mymarkup.net includes several blogs under the same domain. Source: Technorati.com
Virtanen nominated for IT award for his blog
Journalist Fredrik Virtanen has been nominated for the Swedish IT prize Guldmusen (the Golden Mouse) for his "innovative" use of blogs. His quit-smoking-blog at Aftonbladet.se has had thousands of visitors since its inception. No wonder Sweden is in dire straits as an IT nation if that's the best we've got. Are there no Swedish Dan Gillmors, Arianna Huffingtons or David Sifrys out there? This is not aimed at you Fredrik, but what a load of boloney.
A whole galaxy of blogs
Fans of Star Wars can start their own blog at StarWars.com. It's a great way to get devoted fans to spread the word about Episode III. And to get them to pay for a membership since only members can start a blog.
Link via Micropersuasion.
Link via Micropersuasion.
Blogs can be more than "online diarrhea"
A popular misconception among some mainstream media is that blogs are just online diaries, so blogs are a fad. Blogs are a waste of time. Who wants to read all these stories about what people had for breakfast and at what time they walked their dog? Like this quote from a column in Sundsvalls Tidning about journalist Per Svensson at Expressen and his new blog (are bad journo blogs giving the rest of us a bad rep?).
"Alla pratar men har inget att säga.
Alla informerar men ingen vet någonting.
Alla vill bli författare men ingen är ett skit intresserad av litteratur." Everyone talks but no-one has anything to say. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Just because there are so called cat blogs out there (not that there's anything wrong with that...), doesn't mean that all blogs are the same. And as always, Amy Gahran at the Contentious blog says it so much better than me. "Too often, blogs are primarily described or defined as personal online diaries." They can be online diaries, but often they are not.
Gahran lists 6 blog myths and stereotypes to avoid. I especially like this one. "Weblogs are personal diaries, usually amateurish". Gahran writes "Well, that’s like saying most of the universe is hydrogen and dust. Yeah, BUT: There are galaxies and black holes and planets and nebulae, too. Which would you rather focus on?"
"Alla pratar men har inget att säga.
Alla informerar men ingen vet någonting.
Alla vill bli författare men ingen är ett skit intresserad av litteratur." Everyone talks but no-one has anything to say. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Just because there are so called cat blogs out there (not that there's anything wrong with that...), doesn't mean that all blogs are the same. And as always, Amy Gahran at the Contentious blog says it so much better than me. "Too often, blogs are primarily described or defined as personal online diaries." They can be online diaries, but often they are not.
Gahran lists 6 blog myths and stereotypes to avoid. I especially like this one. "Weblogs are personal diaries, usually amateurish". Gahran writes "Well, that’s like saying most of the universe is hydrogen and dust. Yeah, BUT: There are galaxies and black holes and planets and nebulae, too. Which would you rather focus on?"
600 svar till blogg-enkäten
Minns någon bandet Ojj!600!? De lär ha tagit namnet efter ett mycket lågt arvode (alltså 600 kronor) efter en spelning. Kom att tänka på dem när jag har nu stängt insamlingen av enkätsvar i min bloggläsarundersökning. Totalt har 600 personer svarat, vilket är ett långt större antal respondenter än jag vågat hoppas på. Eftersom jag ska åka till London mot slutet av veckan hinner jag inte göra så mycket analysarbete de närmaste dagarna, räkna inte med någon sammanfattning förrän i inledningen av nästa vecka. Men som en liten teaser kan jag avslöja att kristdemokrater inte verkar ha upptäckt bloggar ännu. På frågan "Vilket parti skulle du rösta på om det var riksdagsval i Sverige idag?" svarade endast 0,8% av alla bloggläsare "kristdemokraterna". Resten får ni vänta på ett litet tag till.
Corporate blogging survey
PR blogger John Cass has initiated a corporate blogging survey. If you are a corporate blogger you can click here to take the survey.
DN launches diary, not blog
A new day, a new media blog. Dagens Nyheter today launched it's first blog. Andreas Ekström writes about the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. But I am surprised to see the lack of permalinks, RSS feeds, comments etc. You know the drill by know. How come it is so hard for mainstream media to get these things right? Aren't they experts in publishing? Andreas has his own blog, so I had high hopes this would be a proper blog. Now it is just a diary.
Also, see Journalisten about the definition of blogs (in Swedish).
Also, see Journalisten about the definition of blogs (in Swedish).
Lotta Gröning starts blogging
Yet another Swedish journalist starts blogging. Lotta Gröning, editor of Aftonbladet's opinion pages launched her blog today. It is complete with RSS, permalinks, comments and she links to external sources. You're doing it the right way, Lotta.
Update: And Helle Klein too (at the same paper). Link via Johan Norberg.
Update: And Helle Klein too (at the same paper). Link via Johan Norberg.
Sista dygnet för att svara på blogg-enkäten
Jag lutar åt att stänga insamlingen av enkätsvar i min bloggläsarundersökning på måndag kväll då jag börjar bli nöjd med antalet svar. Har du ännu inte fyllt i enkäten så passa på nu. Här är enkäten.
Observer calls me "top journalist"
Swedish media monitoring company Observer owns a media directory in the US called Bacon's. They have approached me and a large number of PR bloggers with a request for us to confirm that the information they have about us is accurate (see Micropersuasion and the comments of this post for further names who have been contacted).
"Bacon's Help Top Journalists Like You
As you know, PR professionals rely upon correct information for contacting the media, and you know how irritating it can be to receive information on topics and beats you don’t cover. Please click on the link below for a quick survey that will provide us with this important information. Bacon’s wants to help you, but we can’t do it without you. Thank you."
So I went to the website to see what info they have on me.
"Media Culpa is a blog based out of Sweden offering an international critique on the interaction between media and public relations."
Not too far off the mark, is it? Now I don't mind being listed in Bacon's at all, it's actually flattering. But besides boosting my ego, an interesting part is that "Bacon's lists blogs compiled by journalists". So who is a journalist? I don't consider myself a journalist, but I am the editor of a medium, which I guess is enough to make me a target of different news pitches. Either way, it's fascinating that a bunch of PR bloggers have become so influential that we are considered top journalists.
Pitching bloggers is not an easy task. In a white paper (download at www.bacons.com) Bacon's write that they have listed "more than 690 top blogs contained in the MediaMap Premium Content solutions" and I guess mine is one of them. Regarding how to approach bloggers they write:
"Do not send press releases to bloggers. Bacon's generally covers these journalists at their primary media outlets, so press releases can be sent to these contacts only as it relates to their professional outlets. Instead of sending press releases and press kits to bloggers, send tips, news, and samples of products. Press releases have a purpose, but they should not be viewed as a means to building relationships with journalists. The fundamentals of working with journalist bloggers are the same as with journalists at traditional media outlets: respect their time (or lack thereof), take the time to read their material and understand what topics they are interested in, and only then contact them with a newsworthy story in the way they want."
But since I'm not a journalist blogger I don't have a primary media outlet other than my blog. My only advice on how to pitch bloggers is to read their blogs to see if they are positive about being approached, for what topics, and how. Steve Rubel wants pitches via del.icio.us, Niklas at Researcher wants them via email (he even asks for them on his blog). I seldom write about stuff that people pitch me, but it happens if they're spot on.
"Bacon's Help Top Journalists Like You
As you know, PR professionals rely upon correct information for contacting the media, and you know how irritating it can be to receive information on topics and beats you don’t cover. Please click on the link below for a quick survey that will provide us with this important information. Bacon’s wants to help you, but we can’t do it without you. Thank you."
So I went to the website to see what info they have on me.
"Media Culpa is a blog based out of Sweden offering an international critique on the interaction between media and public relations."
Not too far off the mark, is it? Now I don't mind being listed in Bacon's at all, it's actually flattering. But besides boosting my ego, an interesting part is that "Bacon's lists blogs compiled by journalists". So who is a journalist? I don't consider myself a journalist, but I am the editor of a medium, which I guess is enough to make me a target of different news pitches. Either way, it's fascinating that a bunch of PR bloggers have become so influential that we are considered top journalists.
Pitching bloggers is not an easy task. In a white paper (download at www.bacons.com) Bacon's write that they have listed "more than 690 top blogs contained in the MediaMap Premium Content solutions" and I guess mine is one of them. Regarding how to approach bloggers they write:
"Do not send press releases to bloggers. Bacon's generally covers these journalists at their primary media outlets, so press releases can be sent to these contacts only as it relates to their professional outlets. Instead of sending press releases and press kits to bloggers, send tips, news, and samples of products. Press releases have a purpose, but they should not be viewed as a means to building relationships with journalists. The fundamentals of working with journalist bloggers are the same as with journalists at traditional media outlets: respect their time (or lack thereof), take the time to read their material and understand what topics they are interested in, and only then contact them with a newsworthy story in the way they want."
But since I'm not a journalist blogger I don't have a primary media outlet other than my blog. My only advice on how to pitch bloggers is to read their blogs to see if they are positive about being approached, for what topics, and how. Steve Rubel wants pitches via del.icio.us, Niklas at Researcher wants them via email (he even asks for them on his blog). I seldom write about stuff that people pitch me, but it happens if they're spot on.
Liberal blog advertising network launched
Want to advertise on Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Eschaton via one single network? Well now you can. Henry Copeland at Blogads has launched a Liberal Blog Advertising Network for advertisers who want to buy ad space on "more than forty of the most highly trafficked, regularly updated and politically focused liberal and progressive blogs". According to Blogads, these blogs combined receive more than one million page views per day. Advertising one week on 44 blogs will set you back $3494. Something for the Swedish Timbro-posse to reproduce?
Svensk bloggläsar-undersökning
Det spekuleras mycket om vilka det är som bloggar och vilka som läser bloggar, men ingen vet egentligen säkert. Därför genomför jag nu den första svenska undersökningen av bloggläsare. Mitt mål är att få några hundra svar på enkäten så jag behöver andra bloggares hjälp med att sprida information om undersökningen.
Därför skulle jag vilja be så många som möjligt att:
1) fylla i enkäten genom att klicka på följande länk:
Klicka här för att fylla i enkäten.
2) om du har en egen blogg, lägga upp följande länk till undersökningen med en uppmaning till dina läsare att delta i den första svenska bloggläsarundersökningen: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=70638607448
Enkäten tar bara ett par minuter och är helt anonym. Resultaten presenteras här inom kort. Tack på förhand.
UPPDATERING: Av någon anledning började enkäten kräva lösenord. Det ska nu vara fixat och det är bara att fortsätta svara. Ju fler desto mer tillförlitlig blir undersökningen.
Därför skulle jag vilja be så många som möjligt att:
1) fylla i enkäten genom att klicka på följande länk:
Klicka här för att fylla i enkäten.
2) om du har en egen blogg, lägga upp följande länk till undersökningen med en uppmaning till dina läsare att delta i den första svenska bloggläsarundersökningen: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=70638607448
Enkäten tar bara ett par minuter och är helt anonym. Resultaten presenteras här inom kort. Tack på förhand.
UPPDATERING: Av någon anledning började enkäten kräva lösenord. Det ska nu vara fixat och det är bara att fortsätta svara. Ju fler desto mer tillförlitlig blir undersökningen.
What's left in the blogosphere
The left is storming into the blogosphere. Both Berit Andnor, Minister for Health and Social Affairs, and Dag Larsson, politician in the Stockholm county council (via Erik), have started blogs.
Wired journalist may have fabricated quotes
Wired is investigating whether one of their freelance journalists Michelle Delio may have fabricated quotes in some articles. Wired News has published more than 700 news stories written by Delio. When MIT Technology Review Online and InfoWorld edited or retracted stories by Delio after concerns about the authenticity of some sources, Wired assigned journalism professor Adam Penenberg to review a number of articles. In several cases they could not locate and confirm some of the sources Delio used. Wired lists 24 articles and ask readers to help confirm these stories. From now on they also require freelance reporters to submit contact information for all named sources. Anonymous sources will be used only with appropriate justification.
Blog hysteria in mainstream media
Swedish mainstream media are currently launching a bunch of blogs on their websites. I found a new one today at Aftonbladet where Tomas Ros blogs about the World Championships in hockey.
The other day Svenska Dagbladet launched a blog where a student, Helena Myrin, blogs about life after high school. (Hat tip to Chadie). On May 3 Expressen launched five blogs for a few of their well known columnists:
> PM Nilsson
> Cecilia Hagen
> Per Svensson
> Linda Skugge
> Ebba von Sydow
Journalist Fredrik Virtanen at Aftonbladet has attracted some impressive traffic to his quit-smoking-blog from its inception last month. And Sofia Olsson Olsén, chief editor at Norra Västerbotten has been blogging at Sofia OO just nu since December 2004. Political editor PJ Anders Linder was the first journalist with a blog hosted on a media website when he started his op-ed blog PJ just nu in August 2004.
During the last few months we have also seen the birth of some trade media blogs like science publication Forskning och Framsteg and IT publication IDG has one called IDG Subjektivt.
Norwegian daily Dagbladet has a different approach to its five blogs (football, politics, music, games and nightlife). It has invited some wellknown bloggers to participate on the blogs, like Bjørn Stærk.
Footnote: Aftonbladet promised to give 18-year old Evelina Björkegren a blog to be hosted at Aftonbladet.se. Her mother has chronic muscular pain and the family runs the risk of being evicted from their house. But from what I can see the blog is hosted at http://evelina.webblogg.se/
There are also a number of journalists with private blogs. More about that later.
The other day Svenska Dagbladet launched a blog where a student, Helena Myrin, blogs about life after high school. (Hat tip to Chadie). On May 3 Expressen launched five blogs for a few of their well known columnists:
> PM Nilsson
> Cecilia Hagen
> Per Svensson
> Linda Skugge
> Ebba von Sydow
Journalist Fredrik Virtanen at Aftonbladet has attracted some impressive traffic to his quit-smoking-blog from its inception last month. And Sofia Olsson Olsén, chief editor at Norra Västerbotten has been blogging at Sofia OO just nu since December 2004. Political editor PJ Anders Linder was the first journalist with a blog hosted on a media website when he started his op-ed blog PJ just nu in August 2004.
During the last few months we have also seen the birth of some trade media blogs like science publication Forskning och Framsteg and IT publication IDG has one called IDG Subjektivt.
Norwegian daily Dagbladet has a different approach to its five blogs (football, politics, music, games and nightlife). It has invited some wellknown bloggers to participate on the blogs, like Bjørn Stærk.
Footnote: Aftonbladet promised to give 18-year old Evelina Björkegren a blog to be hosted at Aftonbladet.se. Her mother has chronic muscular pain and the family runs the risk of being evicted from their house. But from what I can see the blog is hosted at http://evelina.webblogg.se/
There are also a number of journalists with private blogs. More about that later.
Earning credibility through transparency
Amy Gahran writes an illuminating piece about transparency and credibility in media and blogs.
"Traditional news organizations often give lip service to the value of transparency. In practice they generally prefer to present themselves as omniscient, objective, and authoritative – a surprisingly opaque and highly artificial (incredible) stance.I find that media often explain the lack of external links with a fear of driving traffic away from the website (and the ads). I can understand the rationale behind that view, keeping the visitor as long as possible at the site will generate a much needed revenue, but there surely must be ways of making the sites "sticky" enough and still enable external links for increased transparency. The Norwegian blog Undercurrent has an interesting article about the original design of Norwegian newspapers' websites. They have a huge amount of internal links which may help explain their relative success. Visitors are lured into clicking on links for additional news stories. The author Olav Anders Øvrebø calls it "the Drunken Sailor theory of web behaviour".
For instance, most traditional news organizations publish only the finished results of their reporting and editorial processes. Even when publishing online, they often avoid or minimize direct links to sources. Questions or disagreements generally may be raised only via private communications with reporters and editors, and these discussions generally become public only at the news venue’s discretion (via “letters to the editor")."
US advertisers want to spend on blogs
According to Forrester research, US companies are planning to take ad budgets from traditional media to online channels like blogs and RSS feeds. One of the key findings says:
"Sixty-four percent of respondents are interested in advertising on blogs, 57 percent through RSS and 52 percent on mobile devices, including phones and PDAs."
"Sixty-four percent of respondents are interested in advertising on blogs, 57 percent through RSS and 52 percent on mobile devices, including phones and PDAs."
(v) wants to blog
An established "truth" in the blogosphere is that the left-wing in Sweden is not present in the blogosphere. Wiwi-Anne Johansson, Head of information at Vänsterpartiet (the Left Party) says in an interview in Dagens Nyheter today that the she will be working for the establishment of party blogs.
- Vi har inga bloggar i dag men jag kommer att arbeta för att vi får det, säger Wiwi-Anne Johansson, informationschef på vänsterpartiet.
- Vi har inga bloggar i dag men jag kommer att arbeta för att vi får det, säger Wiwi-Anne Johansson, informationschef på vänsterpartiet.
Clueless quote of the day
Blogs are just old homepages according to free-lance journalist Marie-Louise Samuelsson. From Media 8 at TV8 tonight:
Q: Vilken sorts betydelse tror du nyhetsbloggar har för den svenska journalistkåren idag?
Samuelsson: Det är överskattat nu. Det är jättehype kring bloggar men det är som sagt gamla hemsidor.
Translation:
Q: What type of effect do you think that news blogs have today on Swedish journalists?
Samuelsson: It's overrated now. There is a huge hype around blogs, but like I said, they are only old homepages.
Q: Vilken sorts betydelse tror du nyhetsbloggar har för den svenska journalistkåren idag?
Samuelsson: Det är överskattat nu. Det är jättehype kring bloggar men det är som sagt gamla hemsidor.
Translation:
Q: What type of effect do you think that news blogs have today on Swedish journalists?
Samuelsson: It's overrated now. There is a huge hype around blogs, but like I said, they are only old homepages.
Big Media vs Blogs - the Swedish version
For a long time I have wanted to do a Swedish version of the research performed by Dave Sifry, founder and CEO of Technorati. He has had some interesting posts about the state of the blogosphere and one of these posts covers Big Media vs. Blogs in terms of inbound sources. He writes:
The first graph is the number of inbound sources and the top three are the websites of Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and SVT, but already in third, fourth and fifth place there are blogs, namely 456 Berea Street, How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons and Adland (way to go Roger, Francis and Åsk!). I'm at #13. In the graph below, green is for blogs, purple is for mainstream media.
The second graph counts the number of inbound links.
I don't claim that this is a 100% accurate ranking since there are probably some blogs out there that would fit on the list, but I've missed. But I think it still paints a fairly good picture of the influence blogs have recieved in a short period of time. Some of these blogs didn't exist 12-18 months ago.
As a reference, here are the number of inbound links from a few other leading publications:
idg.se (44)
di.se (33)
nyteknik.se (32)
tv4.se (27)
computersweden.idg.se (26)
internetworld.idg.se (24)
tt.se (21)
sydsvenskan.se (20)
Technorati Tags: blogosphere, technorati, media.
Footnote: Some results for inbound links may be a bit skewed depending on what URL you type in, like mymarkup.net and mymarkup.net/blog gives vastly different results (301/220 vs 164/141) probably due to the fact that the domain hosts several blogs, so the latter numbers might be the ones that should really be in the graphs above. Some blogs may also get more hits by linking to themselves, but I think it is a minor problem.
"The number of people linking to you is a very powerful measurement of your influence or authority with those people - because if nothing else, those people are spending some attention on you. Documents are the exhaust of our attention streams - they are a tangible reflection on what we are spending our time and attention on. Negative attention “I hate such-and-such” runs counter to this theory, but empirical evidence shows that people overwhelmingly link to items and objects that they like or endorse, far more frequently than to things they disapprove of [...]"Sifry's slides tells us that mainstream media are the websites that most bloggers link to (www.nytimes.com on top), but blogs are not that far behind. I have done a "lite-version" of Sifry's research and looked at the websites of Swedish mainstream media versus the Swedish blogs with most inbound sources and links. The picture is quite similar, although on a much smaller scale.
The first graph is the number of inbound sources and the top three are the websites of Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and SVT, but already in third, fourth and fifth place there are blogs, namely 456 Berea Street, How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons and Adland (way to go Roger, Francis and Åsk!). I'm at #13. In the graph below, green is for blogs, purple is for mainstream media.
The second graph counts the number of inbound links.
I don't claim that this is a 100% accurate ranking since there are probably some blogs out there that would fit on the list, but I've missed. But I think it still paints a fairly good picture of the influence blogs have recieved in a short period of time. Some of these blogs didn't exist 12-18 months ago.
As a reference, here are the number of inbound links from a few other leading publications:
idg.se (44)
di.se (33)
nyteknik.se (32)
tv4.se (27)
computersweden.idg.se (26)
internetworld.idg.se (24)
tt.se (21)
sydsvenskan.se (20)
Technorati Tags: blogosphere, technorati, media.
Footnote: Some results for inbound links may be a bit skewed depending on what URL you type in, like mymarkup.net and mymarkup.net/blog gives vastly different results (301/220 vs 164/141) probably due to the fact that the domain hosts several blogs, so the latter numbers might be the ones that should really be in the graphs above. Some blogs may also get more hits by linking to themselves, but I think it is a minor problem.
Linda Skugge starts blogging
Swedish tabloid Expressen starts five blogs by five columnists, among them Linda Skugge, recently quoted saying "I will not blog for free, not a chance". Well, we interpreted that as she wouldn't blog at all, which was wrong. Expressen pays her to write, now also in a blog. Here are the five blogs:
> PM Nilsson
> Cecilia Hagen
> Per Svensson
> Linda Skugge
> Ebba von Sydow
Oh, and then the usual housekeeping stuff: could you please get permalinks and list your RSS feeds, if there are any? UPDATE: Permalinks and RSS feeds added.
Link via Mymarkup.net.
Update: Another thing, there is not a single link from any of the blog posts. This sure looks a lot like a non-blog to me. And what's up. With the. Short sentences?
Hagen: "Detta alltså, att blogga. Vad är det jag har gett mig in på? Skriva dagbok på nätet. Är det verkligen riktigt passande? Riktigt ödmjukt? En sorts enmansdokusåpa utan bilder. Big Mama. Eller Big Writer. Beronde [sic] på vad jag betraktar som min absoluta identitet. Börja blogga, sa dom. Det ligger i tiden. Nu är jag inte så oerhört i tiden, jag strävar inte ens efter att vara det."
Svensson: "Jag tappar lusten för politisk satir. Dricker kaffe och äter släta bullar på Mäster Hans. Cyklar sedan till Folkets Park och lyssnar på Göran Persson. Grådiset lättar. Solen skiner. Det är vår."
Skugge: "Själv är jag en non existing mom. Tilde väger 55 kilo och är 162 cm lång. Jag väger 52 kilo och är 173 lång. Jag vågar inte se mig i spegeln och jag vågar inte räkna ut mitt BMI."
> PM Nilsson
> Cecilia Hagen
> Per Svensson
> Linda Skugge
> Ebba von Sydow
Oh, and then the usual housekeeping stuff: could you please get permalinks and list your RSS feeds, if there are any? UPDATE: Permalinks and RSS feeds added.
Link via Mymarkup.net.
Update: Another thing, there is not a single link from any of the blog posts. This sure looks a lot like a non-blog to me. And what's up. With the. Short sentences?
Hagen: "Detta alltså, att blogga. Vad är det jag har gett mig in på? Skriva dagbok på nätet. Är det verkligen riktigt passande? Riktigt ödmjukt? En sorts enmansdokusåpa utan bilder. Big Mama. Eller Big Writer. Beronde [sic] på vad jag betraktar som min absoluta identitet. Börja blogga, sa dom. Det ligger i tiden. Nu är jag inte så oerhört i tiden, jag strävar inte ens efter att vara det."
Svensson: "Jag tappar lusten för politisk satir. Dricker kaffe och äter släta bullar på Mäster Hans. Cyklar sedan till Folkets Park och lyssnar på Göran Persson. Grådiset lättar. Solen skiner. Det är vår."
Skugge: "Själv är jag en non existing mom. Tilde väger 55 kilo och är 162 cm lång. Jag väger 52 kilo och är 173 lång. Jag vågar inte se mig i spegeln och jag vågar inte räkna ut mitt BMI."
Bacon Strips Bandages
Tags are it
You’re It! - a blog on tagging is just that, a blog about tagging and folksonomies. The first posts are just up and the blog might be worth checking out in the weeks to come. It is written by 8 prominent bloggers, among them David Weinberger, the co-author of the Cluetrain Manifesto.
Norwegian dailies face significant shrinkage
Four Norwegian newspapers are investigating a shift to the smaller tabloid format, reports Journalisten.no. Adresseavisen, Bergens Tidende, Stavanger Aftenblad and Fædrelandsvennen have hired McKinsey to come up with a plan for reducing the ad format without losing ad revenues.
Smoke gets in his eyes
Journalist Fredrik Virtanen at Aftonbladet thinks his quit-smoking-blog is Sweden's biggest blog after just two weeks online. Please allow me to laugh out loud. Sure, I bet his blog gets loads of visitors from being hosted on Aftonbladet.se but it takes a little more than that to be considered the biggest blog in Sweden, at least in my book.
