At 10:54 AM 2/7/96 -0800, you wrote:
>There have been several threads that contained this thought:
>
>"Readers want to configure their own news service."
>
>How do we know this is true?  I am under the impression that there have
>been some experimental services that have had some success with this model,
>but we should remember that the early adopters of such services are already
>a highly specialized breed.  They tend to be more focussed about what they
>want and why they want it.  I'm not sure the daily newspaper reader is
>always that way.
>
>I suspect most are like me.  I usually read just the local news and the
>sports.  But some days, I read the A section cover to cover.  Some days I
>read the feature section, or at least the lede story.  I don't often read
>Dave Barry, but sometimes I do.  I want the classifieds available in case I
>need them.  If my newspaper said, OK, since 8 out of 10 days you read only
>the B and D section, that's all we're going to deliever to you ... I
>wouldn't be happy.  I want the option of having it all readily available.
>
>My caution is, online news outlets shouldn't lean too heavily on the
>customized news model.  While it's value added to have that option
>available, and the more options you offer the customer, the more customers
>you can snag -- it's still the whole package that is going to make or break
>a news organization.  Publishers better be ready at a moments notice to
>meet the capricious demands of every reader.
>
>I think it's going to be very difficult to deliver an off-line electronic
>newspaper that's going to do that.  The downloaded paper is going to have
>to have no extrnal links -- that means no links to related sites on the
>Web, no links to advertisers' sites, no links to other sections just in
>case the reader suddenly gets a hankerin' for Dave Barry, no links to
>forums or chatroom in case the reader suddenly feels compelled to comment
>on President Limbaugh's economic policies.
>
>To me, the home delievered e-newspaper isn't a complete package, it's a
>tease to get the reader to visit the full site.  Newspapers can and should
>offer a custom service that can be read off-line, but it should be marketed
>in such a way that readers get the message -- "You're missing some really
>good stuff if you don't visit our site."  Once reader loyality is
>established, those readers will often visit the full site, I believe.
>
>Best,
>
>H.
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Howard Owens // owens@adnc.com
>Free-lance Writer // HTML Author
>
>            East County Online (http://www.sandiego-online.com/eco/main.html)
>            East County Internet Services (http://www.adnc.com/ecis/)
>
>Board Member: SPJ San Diego Pro Chapter
>Member:  HTML Writers Guild
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
>
>
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Universities don't have opinions, which 
makes it fortunate that I have an ample supply.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Terence L. Day, 509/335-2806 (Office voice), 509/335-2863 (Office fax),
509/334-1619 (Home).  SE 635 Steptoe St., Pullman, WA 99163
Internet:   or 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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End of online-news-digest V1 #512
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From owner-online-news-digest@marketplace.com Fri Feb  9 12:24:40 1996
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