Online News Site Pioneers New Journalism Model

An ex-AOL executive has launched a new online news delivery system in America which hopes to capitalise on the changing trend from traditional print advertising to online advertising.

Advertising spend in traditional media has been on a downward trend for a while now, whereas internet advertising has been a lone bastion of growth in an otherwise declining industry. Newspapers, journals and magazines in particular, the “print” collective, have suffered more than television and radio in terms of incoming advertising revenue.

As traditional journalism fades, the logical step is to move to online journalism and capture advertising space to compliment news articles online. Lewis Dvorkin, a previous writer for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal has formed True/Slant along with former colleagues from AOL News.

True/Slant officially launched some eight weeks ago in April but entered beta testing phase earlier today. The site is a mix of blogs and industry news generation, bringing together professional journalists from the BBC, Boston Globe, New York Times, CNN and other news services to contribute articles.

Adverts run alongside the articles, and contributors are either paid a stipend or a share of the online advertising revenue generated from the article. Mr Dvorkin’s vision is to create the newsroom of the future: “What we’re trying to do is combine traditional standards and values and standards of traditional media with dynamics of the web,” Mr Dvorkin told the Financial Times.

The project was given a $3 million financial backing from Forbes and Fuse Capital. True/Slant hopes to be at the forefront of news delivery online, enabling the internet community to “efficiently find relevant and interesting news culled by contributors they respect.”

TV and Online Advertising Combination Most Effective

A new report from CNN International has found that consumers respond best to multi-platform advertising which combine the best of traditional and online advertising.

Cross-platform advertising offers marketers the best of both worlds, combing the conventional clout of television with the effervescent buzz of digital media online. The most effective advertising campaigns according to CNN are those that can yoke the strength from both platforms to encourage people to buy into the brand.

CNN’s Cross-platform Advertising Study on Effectiveness and Engagement (CASE) involved a dual monitoring of market penetration through a comprehensive online survey and biometric assessments. Candidates were asked to wear a “smart vest” to monitor their heart rate, respiratory rate and body movement during a television screening.

The report showed a high cross over between the two media platforms. Adverts with a call to action have enjoyed success by promoting a teaser on television with a follow up advertisement online.

The results from the scientific investigation found that advertising breaks increased engagement in viewers by up to 10 per cent. Contrary to popular belief, consumers do not switch off during when their programmes are interrupted by advertisements. The study also introduced eye-tracking technology which found that viewers responded well to video content on websites, taking between 66 to 80 per cent of their attention.

According to CNN International’s senior vice president of research, Didier Mormesse, with a combined TV and online advertising approach: “an advertiser can markedly increase campaign recall, leading to positive shift in brand attitudes,” reported bizcommunity.com.

Television adverts in isolation had a 20 per cent chance of being recalled by viewers, but with the addition of internet advertising or mobile marketing, this figure rose to 33 per cent.