The Daily Romp into Multimedia Content
Posted on Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:13 AM
News Corporation's start-up could give us all a glimpse of where
magazine editing is headed.
By William Dunkerley
So,
you can edit. But do you do audio, video, and 360-degree photography?
That's a question you may be asked on some future job interview if News
Corporation's The Daily becomes the model for our future. The new
launch promises readers a rich assortment of multimedia content. The
concept of the publication also promises to remake the editorial office,
as various new media presentation features become more central.
That's
all to the good. Editors need to keep pace with the ever-emerging
technologies for configuring and delivering content. If The Daily
becomes a popular publication, it may serve to intensify reader demand
for more up-to-date features from all the publications that they read.
That could have a profound impact on how we staff our editorial offices
and what skills are required.
There's some reason to believe,
however, that the architects of The Daily may been more bedazzled
by the new technologies than respondent to actual reader needs and
interests. For example, number 3 on their list of The Daily's
features is 360 degree photos. That feature certainly sounds appealing.
But will it really rank in third place in terms of what will sustain
reader interest in the publication? Time will tell whether The Daily
is in tune with actual reader preferences, or just a publication
over-embellished with bells and whistles.
Defusing Audience
Focus
Most publications recruit readers based on attributes
that are in consonance with the editorial focus. The Daily,
however, will be on sale in the Apple iTunes App Store. That will make
it easy for consumers to make impulse purchases of single copies and
subscriptions, based on little understanding of a publication's focus.
That's not a bad sale for Apple. But it may produce a disinterested or
disgruntled reader for the publication. What's more, that reader may
have little interest in the advertisers, too. Over time, that could make
the publication less appealing to advertisers and result in a loss of
pages or space.
Is the Tail Wagging the Dog?
Apple
plays a strong role in the concept of The Daily, and other
publications that join in with an iPad app and App Store sales. The
company sets limits on how much you can know about your readers. There's
also an approval process to get your publication into the App Store. In
all, some believe these factors constitute a loss of control for the
publisher.
Google is now offering a competitive product to
publishers that may not be quite so restrictive. But nonetheless, it
inserts a big company with interests that may at times diverge from the
interests of your publication, right between you and your readers.
All
this leaves one wondering who is the customer and who is the vendor
here. What's more, Yahoo has announced a tablet newsstand of its own.
According to reports, it intends to gather content from its own website
and create an assortment of digital publications aimed at the tablet
computer users. Associated Press calls this an "attempt to lure
advertisers away from print and broadcast media."
To me this
seems to be pointing in the direction of the commoditization of content.
Historically, magazines and newspapers, both print and online, have
strived to customize content for readers. Now, a situation may be
emerging wherein mega-companies seeking to control the means of
distribution may regard content as a mere commodity, banking on impulse
purchases instead of long-term reader satisfaction.
Some have
suggested that this new tail-wags-dog relationship between publishers
and their distribution vendors could spell war. Perhaps it should!
Will
the iPad Last?
The Daily is a device-specific
publication. Without an iPad, you can't read The Daily. In the
future, versions may be offered for additional tablet devices. But, in
any case, the tablet computer will be the substrate of The Daily.
That raises the interesting question of how long the iPad, or the
tablet-class of PDRs (portable digital readers) will be around. To date,
paper and the ubiquitious computer screen have served as the substrates
for print and digital publications. What will be the fate of The Daily
and other such publications if tablet technology sometime is superseded
by something else?
There is already a sign that the popularity of
the iPad is waning as a substrate for magazines. During a period of
triple-digit percentage growth in iPad sales, initial sales of digital
magazines designed for the tablet computer have been plummeting.
Follow
The Daily
We've focused on a number of possible
pitfalls for The Daily. But the concept is certainly
forward-looking and worth following closely. We all could learn a lot
from its success or failure. Without question, The Daily could
become a transformative publication in the evolution of our industry.
(Note: for a look at The Daily from a publisher's viewpoint, see "The
Daily Quest for Online Profits" in the STRAT Newsletter.)
William
Dunkerley is editor of Editors Only.
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