Innovation and entrepreneurship in journalism, and some emerging technologies and trends to watch. From Dan Pacheco, the Horvitz Chair of Journalism and Innovation at the S.I. Newhouse Schooll at Syracuse University.

1. 1
Copyright 2013, Newhouse School at Syracuse University

2. Chair of Journalism
Innovation
 My job description:
 “To chart, not fear, the future.”
 Teach students to think entrepreneurially, whether
or not they want to launch or join a startup.
 Teach the business model, both the past (successes
and failures) and future opportunities.
 Train “intrapreneurs” to be agile and nimble within
rapidly changing legacy industries.
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Journalism innovation – new ideas, approaches,
technologies, opportunities.
New business opportunities, entrepreneurial training, startup acceleration (in
conjunction with Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship.

4. My Background
 Denver Post: Reporter.
 Washingtonpost.com: Launch team (1994-97).
 AOL.com: Principal product mgr, community products.
 Consultant: Rocky Mt News (YourHub), Denver Post.
 Bakersfield Californian: Social media
in 2004 (pre-Facebook).
 Startups: Printcasting, BookBrewer.

7. The new normal

8. True or false?
The launch of the consumer
Internet in 1994 is what caused
the newspaper industry’s
decline.

9. FALSE! It started in 1949.
1994:
consumer
internet
Newspapers
launches
Radio, TV,
Cable,
Niche pubs Accelerated
decline 10 yrs
later
Martin Langeveld: http://bit.ly/40MZM8

10. A tale of two cities.

11. Comics
Local, The Coupons
national D a ily
and global N ew Find a job
spa
news per
Car ads
Sports
Apartment
listings
Share
Delivered to Crosswords
opinions
you every day
in one nice Service
package! directories
Source: WikiMedia Commons

12. Newspapers’ view of Internet
Misconception: “The Internet is a new, more efficient delivery vehicle for our content.”

14. The network view
Share opinions: Twitter,
Local, Facebook, blogs
national
and global
news
“Unbundled”
articles
Consumer: get Find a job:
what you want, Craigslist
mostly for free.
Service directories:
Angie’s List, local
discussion boards.
Comics: online,
apps Apartment listings:
Craigslist

15. The article as a scalpel
This is fundamentally different from
the newspaper model.
Local, national and
global news News articles, or increasingly just
individual facts (in tweets), are the
product.
Everything else that was delivered
in a newspaper you get online from
“Unbundled”
wherever you want.
articles
“Delivery” is no longer the goal.
Relevance and driving continued
engagement are key.
Consumer

16. Horsey Horseless Carriage
1899 by Uriah Smith.
Misunderstood problem: “People
won’t buy automobiles because they
don’t want to scare horses.”

17. Horsey Horseless Carriage
1899 by Uriah Smith.
Misunderstood problem:
“People won’t buy
automobiles because they
don’t want to scare
horses.”

18. What drives change?
 It’s not just about one media form (digital) replacing
another (analog).
 It’s about consumers evolving, aided by technology.
 Fundamental forces have always eroded away at
incumbents’ advantage while encouraging more nimble
competition. Digital just speeds that up.

19. Innovator’s Dilemma

20. Phone industry
Fiber Friends &
optic family iPhone –
Long
lines “Phone” means
distance
data, mobility.
plans
Blackberry
and Treo w/
Landline First cell internet
phones phones
Car phones –
huge, bulky

21. Writing on the wall in ‘02
Source: KPCB
http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2012-kpcb-internet-trends-yearend-update

22. Everything, and I mean
everything, is changing. And
the change is only happening
more quickly!

23. Mary Meeker’s “reimagination” slides
Watch here:
http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2012-kpcb-internet-trends-yearend-update

24. So how do you prepare
yourself for a career in a
world of constant change?

25. Get basic digital skills
These skills are all important, but to get or keep a
job, you’re expected to have them. (If you don’t, start
learning now!)
•Basic web publishing, including HTML.
•Basic mobile sites & informational apps.
•Multimedia storytelling.
•Using social media for audience engagement.
•Basic business understanding, and entrepreneurial
thinking.

26. Think like an entrepreneur
 Important whether or not you’re in business yourself.
 Get comfortable with “The B Word.” Business means:
 Making money, but also …
 Sustaining operations for your dream.
 Paying for great journalism and civic information
that will improve the world.
 Controlling your own destiny.

27. Avoid the field of dreams
The “If you
build it, they
will come”
fallacy.

28. Just a few
questions
Who are “they?”
Do they want it?
How will they know it exists?
How will you convince them to
come?

29. Start with a problem
 What’s the pain, and what’s your
painkiller?
 What’s broken for someone, and how
do you fix it?
 What personally drives you crazy, and
how do you solve your own problem?

30. Talk to real people
 Don’t assume you just know their
interests, concerns, desires, etc. Ask!
 Share your idea, request frank feedback.
 Listen carefully.

31. Once you have a target …
 Get some real data to determine how large
the target market is.
 Government data
 Census.gov, data.gov,
opendata.socrata.com
 Wikipedia (but check primary sources)
 Analyst reports
 Forrester, Gartner, Nielsen

32. Quantcast.com

33. Keywordspy
Shows which keywords your competitors buy.

34. Cheap online tests
 Set up a “coming soon” page with a video
demo and beta signup form.
 Create a one-page site around an idea.
Pay for one Google ad w/ specific
keywords to see if there’s interest.
 Make a prototype using free tools
(Cacoo.com), post online, tweet it and ask
for feedback.

35. Types of biz models
 Subscription model – not realistic for most
topics. Currently the fad in newspaper
companies, but out of whack with how
people use the Internet.
 “Freemium” model. Most free, but the best
requires small payment or subscription.

36. Revenue sources
 Advertising – Put Google Adsense ads on your
site (why not?) but don’t expect huge payments
without millions of pageviews.
 Syndication – other, more established sites pay
you for your content.

37. Revenue sources
 Premium reports – If you’re an expert in
something, create a report and sell it for $300
to businesses.
 Events – Once you have an audience, create a
conference and invite experts to speak. Sell
tickets to your audience.

38. Revenue sources
 Services – Freelance the skills you use daily for
your business (writing, editing, page design,
social media marketing, etc.)
 Solicit donations – Tip jar. Put a PayPal button
on your site encouraging people to contribute if
they like what you’re doing.

39. (The opposite: red ocean!)

40. e.g. Cirque du Soleil
Cirque “… did not win by taking customers
from the already shrinking circus industry
… it created uncontested new market space
that made the competition irrelevant.”
- Blue Ocean, Chapter 1

41. How to find blue ocean?
Live on the digital edge. What I’m currently watching:
1.Live content curation.
2.Interactive data visualization.
3.Made-for-mobile content (phone, tablet).
4.Immersive experiences.
5.Robots (both physical and software) and automation.

42. 1. Live Content Creation
http://instacane.com

43. Curated from social Media APIs
http://embedstagram.com

44. 2. Data visualization
Help, we’re all drowning in zettabytes! Help me understand …
Source: KPCB
http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2012-kpcb-internet-trends-yearend-update

45.  Some stories are easier to see and explore through data than
to read about and imagine.
http://hint.fm/wind/

46.  Patchwork Nation’s election results.
http://project.wnyc.org/election2012/

47. 3. Mobile
Global: mobile is 13% of all traffic.
In India, mobile has already
surpassed desktop internet usage.
Source: KPCB.
http://www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2012-kpcb-internet-trends-yearend-update

48. Mobile “Infosnacking”
Cir.ca

49. Mashable – responsive
Web (on a laptop) – made for your mouse.

50. iPhone
“Thumb
friendly.”

51. iPad – Index-finger friendly.

52. 4. Immersive experiences
Moving from telling a story, to letting you step in and experience it.
Video: http://bit.ly/QPsECH

53. Until now …
1. Get personal computer.
2. Connect to internet.
3. Computer  pocket (smartphone).
Rise of the tablet.
Transition is over, right?

54. Wrong! Up next:
1. Devices  clothing.
SixthSense
Camera + projector
http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

55. Beyond clothing
2. Devices  bodies.
Google Glass.
Screen.
Camera that
watches your
world and tracks
your eye.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/7050489913/sizes/c/in/photostream/

56. Beyond devices
Leapmotion.com

57. And into our bodies
http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2012/june/june8_retinalprosthesis.html

58. 5. Robots and automation
Rewritten for display
on a mobile phone by
software, which was
written by a 17-year-
old.
Summly

59. Get ready for flying cameras
 FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 – “The Drone law”
– makes it legal to fly in federal air space for commercial
reasons by Sept. 30, 2015.
 FAA projects that 30,000 drones could be in the nation’s skies
by 2020.
 FAA working on rules and licensing procedures.

60. 60 Minutes footage
FAA: 30,000 commercial drones in
U.S. airspace by 2020.
60 Minutes used drones for a
piece on salvage operation of the
Costa Concordia cruise ship in
Italy in December, 2012.

61. What are your
predictions for
the future?

62. Dan Pacheco
Chair of Journalism and
Innovation
S.I. Newhouse School
Syracuse University
@pachecod
@journovationSU
drpachec@syr.edu