Everybody seems to think they are a newsman these days. Last night I noticed a new site run by mattress meister Kevin Fear....it's an aggregation of stories from other media plus links to media, web cams and other things of interest including this blog.
It's another attempt,and there are others, to replicate the enormous success of the pioneer in this field, Newzjunky.com.
Imitation is flattery and the proliferation of such sites is evidence of the success Newzjunky has had. The new competition is good in that it keeps up the pressure to create original content.
In the end, I still believe content is king and I think you will see more original reporting by Junky in order to maintain his edge in this emerging field.
While these sites can be cobbled together with a fraction of the dollars spent running old media, their mere existence does not guarantee success.
The new aggregators also drive traffic to existing old media who still create most of the content others piggy-back on.
In the end the marketplace will sort out who survives and prospers and who is just a flash in the pan. While people might sample different new sites, they will return to those perceived as offering the content they want. In Watertown, that's Newzjunky, the WDT and TV 7.
In that sense Junky is the new and old media at the same time.
16 comments:
Old media discourage input by mere citizens. Locally, TV7 and the Times have a history of limiting, editing, and homogenizing the beliefs of the public. Newzjunky and new media does just the opposite. They respond. This flexibility makes all the difference.
bricks and mortar j-lism is almost extinct, except for TV "reality" shows.
I do not watch 7 news any longer. Really how much news can you compress and report in 5 to 6 minutes which is the extent of their news on any given broadcast.
They need to freshen up their product and their presenters of the news are stale also.
Really what is the point of watching a news broadcast anyway whether morning or night. By the time they "report" (use that word generously for them) anything you have already heard and seen something on it and you know as much as they are going to tell you in their 30-60 second segment.
Just because a site has been around forever does not mean they are the best. You have mention multiple news sites that are, quite frankly, not very impressive. Newzjunky fell into this, and to be honest does a mediocre job at it. I am not going to say the new 3 websites that have popped up will do any better, nny news cow, thekevinreport.com and whatsupnny are worth a look to see if they can do better.
Lets just take the wait and see approach... you can't make a true decision without first sampling all of the possibilities.
12:16 and 1:54 are both very good posts. Thanks.
Tim Geitner
I agree completely with 12:16. I used to be somewhat fond of Newzjunky until it started becoming less and less localized.
I couldn't care less about a shooting in Utica or a robbery in Rochester or even a whole heck of a lot of Syracuse crap.
The Watertown Times has great content that you will never see on NJ because of its single-minded ways.
There are other alternatives out there and I find NJ to be overrated. I hope the new News Cow site the best of luck.
If you want the latest in Syracuse, Utica and Rochester news, then by all means NJ is your best bet.
What is this News Cow site you speak of, 5:46?
Not sure how long the site has been around for but I have been aware of it for a few months now. Very local
stuff. here is the link www.nnynewscow.com
I agree with all the posts above that have disparaged newzjunky to one extent or another. NJ really does nothing more than cob together stories from other sites, generally selecting the most sensational or disgusting in order to provide the most provocative (and often misspelled and/or grammatically incorrect) headlines.
And who is the "editor-in-chief" of NJ? There is no original journalism, and what is there is too anonymous. NJ is nothing more than an excuse for online advertisements.
This new www.nnynewscow.com site is great.It was formed by two of my old school buddies I expect that it will grow into something big.I am still finding myself searching threw all the sites exept for one.Jeffersoncountyweb board is Junk.It has a bunch of either fat used car sales man or a insurance guys with no life.Plus a couple lawyers,judges,one radio head not the Mayor they call him ratty.I dont think they like him as much as they dont like me what else state police guys.I know becouse the state police guy I like told me all kinds of people go under cowardly screen names and make fun and pick at people becouse they dont feel good about there selves.Its basicaly a trash board with our countys name on it.....Sad very Sad.
I would find NJ somewhat interesting if I lived in Tampa as that seems to be where NJ' editor/owner lives. It used to be interesting local coverage now it blows! NJ has lost its way and its original concept, but hey keep selling those advertising spots. Maybe the new competition will remind the NJ owners of where they started and the original conceptthat got them where they are today.
I had not heard of these new sites till this morning. I cant wait to check them out.(The business most prone to failure is the one intrenched in success)
Interesting things going on here. So I went to the 3 main sites: newzjunky.com, thekevinreeport.com and nnynewscow.com.
newzjunky had maybe 3-4 local stories, the rest were national or some sort of advertisement. nnynewscow takes 90% of their news from Watertown Daily Times. There is no aggregation at that site, might as well visit the WDT site. thekevinreport.com had 9 local stories from 5 different sources. They also broke out the Syracuse (or they label it CNY) stories from the northern. That was another 9 stories...
Just saying. I agree with a lot of the people are saying here that newzjunky is getting old and removing themselves from Northern NY news...
I love the new site thekevinreport.com. It was clearly designed by a skilled designer and is set up in a very attractive and logical manner. The thing I get tired of about newzjunky is the way there is no order or organization to it at all, stuff is just all over the place and it is honestly about 80% ads at this point.
I'm not so much concerned about whether or not the news is mostly local, although obviously, I want to see the big local news which I did find on thekevinreport.com. That is where I found out about the closing of Public Square this weekend because it's at the very top of the page with an eye-catching icon. But I want the regional, state, and local news too which I can certainly get there and it's set up so that I can limit or expand my news the way I want to see it-- if I want to see NNY, I click on that section, etc.
There are some really new and fun links and widgets on thekevinreport.com. Seems Mr. Fear wanted to add a little bit of lightheartedness to the news, which for God's sake we all know is needed. All the other sites depress me. If I want to get upset and feel crappy about the world, I will go to NewzJunky or WDT.
But check out the Fun, Odd, and Offbeat News sections of TKR. I go there every day now to get a good laugh as well as the mainstream news. I look forward to seeing what else TKR does since I think they've only been up for like a week or so.
The Good News is competition!
At the end of the day it affords the news consumer with access to the news.
It is traffic that monetizes the sites.
An example is the monies the Mayor has received for his blog.
More aggregates that link to his blog means increased traffic.
If you are a reader of this site that is Good News.
Ben Franklin used to lease printing presses across the colonies. Novel for its time, but technology moved on.
All sites will change.
All sites have different strengths and weaknesses. Competition changes these attributes.
Today video is available on WDT.
Live events are on News Cow.
Slide shows are on Newzjunky.
Channel 7 used Steve Weed Productions for 3 live feeds on its site during last Fall's election. 6 hours of live feeds on their web site and live programming on their TV Broadcast.
Competition and change in news provides us better access.
Isn't America great?
I agree especially with 5:46 here. I really could care less about Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Utica news. I live in NNY and want to read about NNY news. Newzjunky has lost most of its appeal to me not because they have shifted away from local news but rather they have "dumbed down" their content. You check Newzjunky anytime of the day and you are more likely to read about Miley Cyrus, the Kardashians or some other mindless blatherings common to gossip tabloids. Newzjunky started a great local format, but perhaps its time for them to move over if they are not going to stick with what made them so big.
WhatsUpNNY focuses on events only. The site also strives on giving back to the community and allowing nonprofits to promote their organizations for free. The site will undergo another facelift soon, because in the 4 months of existence, the demand from both users and advertisers has forced these "growing pains," which is a good thing. The facelift should be complete (hopefully) in about 30 days. WhatsUpNNY just helped raise over $2000 for the TLS boys home with the Bistro 108 (5/1 event at Bistro) and the next project is a June golf tournamant for the USO and Trisonomy 21. We always appreciate feedback on how to improve the site and your comments can be emailed to us by visiting our website at www.whatsupnny.com. Thank you for your support, it is greatly appreciated.
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