Archives for December 1998

Choose your bedmates wisely

December 31, 1998 by JD Lasica

When partnering with advertisers, content sites need to be careful to avoid conflicts of interest

This column appeared in the Dec. 31, 1998, issue of The Industry Standard. Here’s the version on the Industry Standard site.

These are the Web’s Woodstock days. From small startups to corporate behemoths, the name of the game is to bed as many partners as possible.

It’s finally dawned on online publishers that they can’t just put up some wickedly cool content and expect the world to beat a path to their Web sites. Without distribution, you’re dead. Which is why companies are hopping into bed with one another faster than you can say Powered by AT&T WorldNet. Check out the roll call of recent partnership deals: Lycos with Barnes & Noble. Mindspring with CNN Interactive and CNet. Excite with Music Boulevard and SportsLine USA. Yahoo with everyone.

But what happens to your editorial credibility when you build a virtual love shack with a major business player? [Read more…] about Choose your bedmates wisely

Online news group needs to reach out

December 16, 1998 by JD Lasica

The Online News Association is just what journalism needs — if it opens its doors to rank-and-file journalists

This news analysis appeared Dec. 16, 1998, in the Online Journalism Review. Here’s the version on the OJR site.

The formation of an Online News Association, devoted to tackling thorny issues of ethics, credibility and credentials faced by Web journalists, fills a vast gap in the online news landscape.

What remains to be seen is whether they can translate that praiseworthy goal into a broad-based grassroots effort that includes not just senior executives but rank-and-file online journalists.

Some two dozen senior managers from major Web news sites met in Chicago last week and agreed to organize a nonprofit group “open to people interested in practicing serious journalism on the Web,” spokesman Rick Jaroslovsky said. [Read more…] about Online news group needs to reach out

A credibility gap for online news?

December 16, 1998 by JD Lasica

The Internet Content Coalition drafts a set of guidelines to separate advertising from content

This column appeared Dec. 16, 1998, in the Online Journalism Review. Here’s the version on the OJR site.

Pick up a print magazine or newspaper and the rules are pretty simple: Ads over here, editorial over here. Sometimes the lines blur, but most often not.

On the Web, it gets murkier. Ads can appear anywhere on a Web page — sometimes smack in the middle of editorial content. Links? Well, there are links, and there are paid links. Buttons may transport you to a related story, or to a merchant. Advertising dollars may skew search engine results. Ads can be targeted to a specific story page, or to a particular user.

Rules of the road? It’s pretty much a crapshoot. [Read more…] about A credibility gap for online news?

Online news sites embrace personalization

December 1, 1998 by JD Lasica

Online news publications should take advantage of personalization’s promise

This column appeared in the December 1998 issue of The American Journalism Review.

Should online news publications personalize their content?

To date, they’ve shown a remarkable indifference to one of the fundamental hallmarks of new media. While mass media like newspapers, magazine and TV newscasts bring the same information to large numbers of news consumers, the Internet makes it possible for news transactions to be micro-targeted to individuals.

Since 1996, Web portal sites such as My Yahoo, My Excite and My Netscape have grown in popularity, with users able to select favorite news topics, stocks, TV listings, sports teams, horoscopes, and other interests, plus handy reminders of friends’ birthdays or relatives’ anniversaries. Millions of people now use these “personalized pages,” often as their starting point for surfing the Web each day. [Read more…] about Online news sites embrace personalization

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