Rex Ballard - Director of Electronic Distribution
	http://cnj.digex.net/~rballard

On Wed, 23 Oct 1996 PJacobson@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 96-10-22 13:59:04 EDT, Mark Edelen  writes:
> 
> >So will newspapers, particularly smaller ones, have to accept "giving up"
> >on being something for everyone?

The "Local" newspaper has one particular advantage in terms of marketing.
They can be the primary point of contact with regard to billing and
royalty collection.

> >I look at some non-geographic topics many newspapers (including ours) now
> >cover -- books, food, fashion, even national news in some cases -- and I
> >wonder what the value of trying to transfer that content online would be
> >given Web competition.

It isn't necessary to transfer the content anywhere, it is only necessary
to manage the access such that the syndicated content provider can be able
to distinguish the subscriber who has paid for access rights through a
"local subscription" and who is just "popping in" for a peek at the summer
swimsuit pictorials.

The nationally syndicated features, newswires, and other content can be
fed to regional web servers via sattellite or IRC.  The local papers would
pay flat fees based on projected use of the content.  The local paper
would then sell access to the nationally syndicated content along with the
local content.

This isn't too terribly different from what the local internet service
providers are providing.  The local ISP buys Frame Relay bandwidth in bulk
and sells access to that link via dial-up links.  The core service is
worth less than $10/month, but the value added services such as e-mail,
web page hosting, accounting and billing, and even revenue collection, can
be worth up to $100/month.  As the price approaches $400-$500/month, the
customer is in a position to put up his own server.  In some cases, local
franchises such as SuperLink or Digex can actually use the costomer link
to extend their own service into new calling areas.  Good ISPs gain
customers in the face of competition from Netcom, AOL, Prodigy, the Baby
Bells, AT&T, and dozens of others, because they provide better service,
higher ultimate throughput, more convenience than the Nationals.

The local publisher can learn from this lesson.  Your web pages can
contain invisible content and cookies that enable the user to access other
services and servers.  These "Virtual Newspapers" could contain content
from thousands of publications.  In fact, it only need be limited by the
ability of the customer to read.  Copyright clearing centers such as
Clickshare, First Virtual, and some of the other royalty management
companies can act in a manner similar to the stock exchanges.  If the
Madison Daily News includes content from WSJ and NYT, they can get the
money from the customer and pay WSJ and NYT based on bulk usage.

> >Yes, we can stretch our resources thin trying to re-create that
> >something-for-everyone coverage online, and shortchange and endanger our
> >one (for now) undisputable niche - local news and information. There's your
> >real vertical market.

Vertical markets abound!  Imagine if everyone who had access to a Xerox
machine could print a newspaper or newsletter that included your content.
Each time a reader would view your content, you would automatically get
paid.  The payment tokens would be used by advertizers.

Speaking of advertizers, it's even possible for them to become the
ultimate publisher.  Look at how the average user creates their own
personal web page.  The advertiser would create pages which referenced
content that appealed to them.  In much the way Microsoft, Apple, and
Amiga had their own "Patron Papers", these web sites would be a niche.

> One of the joys of online journalism is that you can really serve two (or
> more) masters.
> Your readers can see all the local news and features at YOUR site, and they
> will be happy if you also include links to the sites of OTHER newspapers that
> will fulfill their needs for additional information. They will come to you
> first if your site makes it easy for them to enter the online world each day.
> 
> 
> Paul Jacobson
> 
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