Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 13:41:23 -0400
Cc: meyer@newslink.org (Eric Meyer)
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At 01:04 PM 9/19/96 -0500, Eric Meyer wrote in response to someone else
about emailing content:
>Would you define what local content you have tried that falls outside the
>predictable categories of weather, sports, markets and the like?
Eric is right that predictable categories would fail to deliver many, if not
most, front page stories. The unpredictable can't be precategorized for
routine delivery, neither by email nor intelligent agentry (at least, not
with foreseeable technology). We don't know what we don't know, so we need
human editors and general interest news publications and broadcasts to tell
us those things which we don't know. Long may that be the case for ink &
electron-stained drudges everywhere!
However, we on this list have a professional tendency to read our newspapers
from front-to-back. Not all our newspapers' readers do. Comics, features
such as movie reviews, advice columns, etc., may be the most broadly
appealing, most read parts of your newspapers. So, if your publication is
considering a 'push' strategy, why not start with the most broadly read and
easily categorized content? The back-of-book might not be as glamourous as
the front page, but it's more of a sure position from which to start.
Starting any 'push' strategy by attempting to categorize the ever-changing
contents of the front page would be playing a game of dimishing returns.
Instead, start from the back and work forward.
By the way, some front page and front-of-book content can indeed be
predicted if it pertains to a local subject or dateline. Simply categorize
your readers. Most live, shop, attend school, even pay taxes, somewhere. For
examples, here in metropolitan Boston a resident of the township of
Brookline might like to subscribe to a service that emails him all stories
about his town's government and taxation. Parents might want to subscribe to
all stories concerning their town's schools (even school lunch menus). Etc.
In today's hectic life, not everyone has time to read (all of) the paper
every day or spend time navigating to and downloading website stories.
'Push' services can deliver stories that particular readers always want to a
place where it takes no work or time for those readers to find them.
_________________________________________________
Vin Crosbie Freemark Communications, Inc.
Director of Content Development
crosbie@freemark.com 125 CambridgePark Drive
(617) 492-6600 x211 Cambridge, MA 02140 USA
(617) 492-6622 fax http://www.freemark.com
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To: meyer@newslink.org (Eric Meyer), online-news@planetarynews.com