innovation in media session for Hogeschool Zuyd at MGL Sittard

1. Going Local in Limburg:
building communities & entrepreneurship
- Sittard, 13 maart 2014

2. Pleased to Meet You!

3. The Hyperlocal Highway

4. The Hyperlocal Highway

5. Goals dichtbij.nl (dd 2010)
• A hyperlocal, hyperpersonal, hypersocial
platform for every Dutch citizen – device
independent, well timed
Interactive, community-oriented
• Sustainable businessmodels around the
offered hyperlocal information
No editorial freedom without business
• A way for journalism to reinvent itself
Professional skills + amateur wisdom

6. How did we start?
• 4 task forces (Feb-June 2010)
•ICT, Content, Business, Marketing
• 4 pilots (started august 2010)
•1 Commercial, 1 Community, 2
Aggregation
• Project Team, (6 people)
• Platform: Open Source Drupal
• Businessplan based upon pilot-learnings
• National Roll Out started June 1, 2011

8. And now…
• Dichtbij is integrated in HMC (regional and local
newspapers)
• 45 active platforms, 100’s of subs, 400 “light”
• 140 employees, 150,000 active users (“co-writers”)
• 2.5M uv’s, 5M visitors, 20M pv’s
• Making good mone, but sustainable in this form?

9. (from: TMG 2013, presented on March 12, 2014)

10. What we learned
• Journalism can be a two way business
• An active community means returning visitors & content
• Social Media essential in community building
• “Urgent” news (accidents etc) is needed for peaks, pv’s
• Aggregation offers a safety net for news
• Go fast, make mistakes - but don’t be wrong for long
• Independence from traditional structures is key, as long as
you keep looking for company-opportunities
• Development, content and sales in ONE team
• Tech & Content are pillars, but…
• …describe your businessmodels before starting

11. In Short:
• An attitude that reflects the needs &
opportunities of the community you
are working with
• Closest possible cooperation
between editorial and commercial
activities, people

12. In Short:
• An attitude that reflects the needs &
opportunities of the community you
are working with
• Closest possible cooperation
between editorial and commercial
activities, people

13. The fields of Journalism are
turned upside down
From a walled
garden…
…to an open
greenfield

14. …a very crowded greenfield

15. And if everything moves…
•An ambitious,
entrepreneurial
journalist will have to
move along (and be
flexible on the way)

16. Find your own answers
• It’s up to every individual new
journalist to show how relevant or
(in)dispensable he is
• There are many ways to do so.
Choose the way the fits you best.
• Always be aware of the changed &
changing circumstances

17. Core Values

18. Finding the truth

19. Accurate
Finding the truth

20. Accurate
Explaining
Finding the truth

21. Curious
Accurate
Explaining
Finding the truth

22. Curious
Complete
Accurate
Explaining
Finding the truth

23. Those were
the core
values
for ages in
Journalism

24. Those were
the core
values
for ages in
Journalism

25. © glennsasscer.com

26. New needs for the
professional and his Castle

27. Break down the castle

28. Break down the castle

29. Think niche

30. Think niche
Where is the (local)
relevance?

31. Be personal
© Rikkert Walbeek

32. No deadlines: publish timely

33. Be Easy-to-Use

34. Be transparant

35. Mistakes are no #Fail

36. …outside
knowledge
Combine…

37. …outside
knowledge
Combine…
…with your
own skills

38. Be involved

39. Cooperate…

40. …with your audience too

41. Curate (the web is a gold mine)

42. Be entrepreneurial

43. Collect small change

44. Embrace the community

45. Embrace the community
…and be embraced

46. (you’re not in the charity business…)
And somewhere, find a business…

47. The Old Business Model
© PJ Cook

48. Old Media Power #1

49. Old Media Power #1

50. Old Media Power #2

51. Old Media Power #2

52. Old Media Power #3

53. Old Media Power #3

57. The business Model has been Broken
…and whatever we try,
we don’t succeed in fixing it

59. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be
free

61. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be
free
• Consumers will get their news anyway

63. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be
free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

65. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be
free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources
• Copying the old model in a new setting
appears to be complex or unfitting

67. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be
free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources
• Copying the old model in a new setting
appears to be complex or unfitting
• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP
anymore

69. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Target groups are fragmenting
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources
• Copying the old model in a new setting appears
to be complex or unfitting
• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP
anymore
• Monopoly on information was an illusion

71. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Target groups are fragmenting
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources
• Copying the old model in a new setting appears
to be complex or unfitting
• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP
anymore
• Monopoly on information was an illusion
• Dinosaur complex

73. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Target groups are fragmenting
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources
• Copying the old model in a new setting appears
to be complex or unfitting
• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP
anymore
• Monopoly on information was an illusion
• Dinosaur complex + Pax Brittanica complex

75. The Business Model is Gone
• Consumers think that information should be free
• Consumers will get their news anyway
• Target groups are fragmenting
• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources
• Copying the old model in a new setting appears
to be complex or unfitting
• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP
anymore
• Monopoly on information was an illusion
• Dinosaur complex + Pax Brittanica complex
• Second best is good enough

77. But it’s not all misery
There are Opportunities too

78. Examples? How about 33?

79. Sponsoring

80. Service

81. Expertise

82. Marketing vehicle

83. Supply & Demand (C2C)

84. E-commerce

85. Utilize your Community

86. Events

87. Republish

88. Intelligent ads

89. Shared content, shared ads

90. Groupdeals

91. Affiliate marketing

92. White label

93. Subsidies

94. Angels

95. Crowdfunding

96. Memberships

97. Reader Funded Journalism

98. Community management à la carte

99. Non profit

100. Micropayments

101. After Content Payments

102. Native Advertising

103. Journalist-for-sale

104. Incubator / Shareholdership

105. Journalist as a platform

106. Paywalls

107. Social

108. Freemium

109. Gaming

110. Bars

111. Going Local in Limburg:
building communities & entrepreneurship
Bart Brouwers
brewbart@gmail.com
Twitter: @brewbart
Blogs:
dodebomen.nl
nadedeadline.nl