Financial maneuvers won’t slow Digital First progress

I don’t pretend to understand corporate finance. So I won’t have a lot to say about today’s announcement that Journal Register Company filed for Chapter 11 and is for sale.

Here’s what I know: JRC is making great strides in developing a healthy new business model for the digital marketplace. (So are Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, which are all intertwined but not identical; it’s just JRC that is involved in today’s filing). I don’t expect the financial measures announced today to change that beyond giving us the ability to renegotiate some debts, pensions and leases.

Read Full Post »

Don’t be selfish on Twitter; tweeting useful information is good business

A journalism student asked me a question last night that reflects a common concern among professional journalists and media managers:

@stevebuttry How can Twitter be used effectively w/o giving away too much content? I don’t want my work being given away for free #ls260

— Stephen Shiflett (@StephenShiflett) September 4, 2012

I wasn’t exactly pleased with my reply (as tirelessly as I encourage journalists to use  Twitter, can I still blame the 140-character limit?):

@stephenshiflett Effective Twitter use w/o worrying about giving it away will drive traffic to sites where you sell ads.

— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) September 5, 2012

Then this morning I got around to blogging about some analysis Matt DeRienzo did recent of Digital First Media’s branded Twitter accounts in Connecticut, and I realized Matt had a better answer: Serving your Twitter audience effectively drives traffic to your website better than trying to drive traffic.

Read Full Post »