“Memos, Presentations” Items

Traveler’s Gazette Fax Experiment, 1995

Some times it was fun to experiment.  In 1995, Phoenix Newspapers created a fax publication call the Traveler’s Gazette. The fax was sent to hotels that partnered with the paper. The hotel would copy the fax and distribute it.  The purpose of the two-page publication was to help visitors have a better time and provide a way for advertisers to reach those consumers.

Of course, this was also about the time that online would start to grow so the experiment was just that.

The benefit that the project provide was simple — an opportunity to think about serving a market outside of the newspaper readership.  The project was the idea of Dave Gianelli.  Dave and I worked on a number of new media projects during the late 1990s.

The Traveler’s Gazette was low-tech innovation that would help lay the groundwork for AzCentral’s launch later that year, as Phoenix Newspapers explored more scalable, digital ways to reach new audiences. The focus on travel was one of the early pillars of AzCentral. It’s online area for visitors to Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun was very robust.

I sent a copy of the Traveler’s Gazette to Randy Bennett, the Newspaper Association of America’s new media director.

Here’s a part of what I wrote.

This publication is sent to PNI’s hotel “partners” (current count is more than 30) six days a week early each morning. PNI considers the Traveler’s Gazette to be the essential two-page guide to events and activities in the Valley. Much of the material is pulled from existing resources within the newsroom and assembled by clerks.

One example of an advertiser was a real estate company targeting those visitors who might want to move to the area.

Driving Web to Print

At the 2002 IFRA Asia Conference in Bangkok (held March 20–22, 2002), I presented findings from a research project close to my heart—one that explored how newspapers could actually increase print subscriptions using their websites. Yes, increase. At the time, this idea ran counter to the conventional wisdom that digital only eroded print. [This AI-generated summary is drawn my presentation slides.]

The project was a collaboration between my consultancy, Finberg-Gentry, and a number of forward-thinking circulation and online leaders across the industry. Our research included:

  • Over 100 site reviews
  • 290 responses from circulation managers
  • And dozens of in-depth interviews with media professionals

We asked a simple but often overlooked question: What if the web could help sell the newspaper?

What we found was encouraging—and revealing.

Some newspapers were already leveraging their digital platforms to drive subscriptions, but these successes had something in common: cooperation. When online and circulation teams worked together, when they shared goals and data, the results followed.

Unfortunately, that kind of collaboration was rare. Too often, subscription links were hidden “below the fold.” Technology systems didn’t talk to each other. Customer data wasn’t shared. And the user experience—especially for signing up or managing delivery—was clunky at best.

We identified several key challenges:

  • Most newspapers didn’t have an integrated system for online and print circulation.

  • Subscription buttons were buried or mislabeled—making it hard for users to take action.

  • Only 15% of papers offered web-exclusive pricing.

  • Many didn’t even allow basic customer service functions—like stopping or holding delivery—online.

But there were bright spots.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune used contests to generate over 6,000 subscription orders a year. The Poughkeepsie Journal tracked retention of web-generated subscriptions and found they performed just as well—if not better—than other channels. The Houston Chronicle developed a user-friendly online service center that set a new standard for self-service.

What all these examples showed was that technology and strategy must go hand-in-hand. We couldn’t just slap a “Subscribe” link on a site and hope it worked. We needed to design digital experiences that respected what users had come to expect—speed, convenience, clarity—and we needed to do it without forgetting the power and value of the printed product.

In the end, my presentation message was simple: web and print aren’t rivals—they’re partners. But partnership requires intent. It requires shared ownership. And, perhaps most importantly, it requires that we stop thinking in silos.

The opportunity for newspapers to increase their audiences across platforms is still very real. But it’s up to us to build the systems, culture, and customer experiences to make it happen. The full report is available on this site.

Digital Credibility, IFRA Presentation

In my 2002 presentation at the IFRA Asia Conference, held in Bangkok, I addressed the critical topic of credibility in online journalism, highlighting its significant impact on media brands and their audiences. As Managing Director of the Digital Futurist Consultancy, I shared insights from the Digital Journalism Credibility Study, sponsored by the Online News Association and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. [This AI-generated summary is drawn my presentation slides.]

In our research, we explored how consumers and media professionals perceive credibility online, identifying four key types of credibility:

1. Presumed Credibility: Assumptions based on domain names, web traffic, and update frequency.
2. Reputed Credibility: Influenced by third-party recommendations or references.
3. Surface Credibility: Based on first impressions of a site’s professional appearance and navigability.
4. Experienced Credibility: Derived from ongoing user experience, ease of navigation, and perceived content accuracy.

Key insights from our survey revealed that the public had not yet firmly decided on the credibility of online news, presenting an opportunity for media organizations to differentiate themselves through credible reporting practices. Factors such as accuracy, completeness, fairness, and timeliness strongly influence credibility perceptions. Additionally, I emphasized the essential need for a clear separation between editorial and advertising content to maintain consumer trust.

Ultimately, I concluded that the debate on digital credibility remains open, offering both challenges and opportunities for media companies aiming to establish or reinforce their reputation online. Credibility, I argued, is a business imperative in the evolving digital landscape.

The full report is on this site.

Impact of Technology on Newsrooms, 1993

In a forward-looking presentation at the Seybold Conference in San Francisco in 1993, I explore the transformational impact of digital technology on the newsroom. Speaking in 1993, at the dawn of the digital revolution, I emphasize that technological change isn’t just about adopting new tools—it’s about fundamentally rethinking how journalism is practiced, how newsrooms are structured, and how people work together. The shift to digital, I argue, is not just evolutionary but revolutionary.

Key Points

  • Circular Workflows: Traditional linear production is giving way to a more collaborative, integrated process where editing, design, and content development happen in tandem.

  • Hybrid Roles – The “One Journalist”: Roles are blending. Journalists increasingly need to be multi-skilled—handling editing, layout, design, and even multimedia (audio, video, fax).

  • Organizational Shifts: Old org charts no longer reflect reality. The focus is moving toward fluid, cross-functional teams rather than rigid editorial silos.

  • Technology = Fewer Machines, Bigger Changes: While digital tools reduce hardware needs and cut costs, they also force reevaluation of workflows and staffing.

  • Tech is About People: Choosing the right tools starts with understanding how people work and how tasks flow. The goal is to enable, not restrict.

  • Leadership Through Learning: Managers must lead by example—learning new tools themselves, supporting their teams, and helping leadership embrace change.

  • Evolution vs. Revolution: Recognizing the difference is key. Shifts like hot type to cold type are evolutionary. The move to digital production is revolutionary—and demands a new mindset.

The file is a PDF of the presentation slides.

Electronic Newspaper of the Future, 1992

One of the more innovative folks in the design universe was a professor from Spain, Dr. Juan A. Giner.  Giner was at the School of Journalism  at the University of Navarra. In 1992, he asked several folks for their thoughts about electronic newspapers.  This is before the Internet.  I think he was using some of the information for a research paper and for a presentation at the Summit Meeting of Editors and Publishers, a European conference, I’m guessing.

Here’s what I wrote, the conclusion of my thoughts, sent via FAX:

They have information to sell, regardless of the form it takes to reach the reader. Unfortunately, only a few see the road ahead; too many are looking behind at the road they have just traveled.

If the current leadership fails in understanding the market place or fails to adjust to the needs of the news consumer, then the consequences will be two-fold:

• Many more companies will go out of business.
• Many more companies will be bought by those who understand the needs of the marketplace and replace those publishers and editors who do not.

The future will belong to the quick and smart. Be neither quick nor smart and you’ll be out of the game.

It was fun to think about the future.

Constant Training: New Normal or Missed Opportunity

As part of the grant to The Poynter Institute for the creation and running of News University, an online training program, the Knight Foundation asked that we conduct studies as to how effective training was and better understand the training needs of journalists. One study was called “Constant Training” and it was based on a survey of newsrooms and journalists.  Here’s what I wrote in the introduction:

These results are from an anonymous survey of staff members from 31 newsrooms around the country conducted by The Poynter Institute on behalf of the Knight Foundation.

The survey was conducted in newsrooms that ranged in size from 20 to 150 staff members. More than 1,650 staff members were possible participants for the survey, which achieved a 72.5 percent response rate. The survey was conducted online in June-July 2014.

Is the glass two-thirds full? Or, more important to ask, is it one-third empty?

A third of the journalists in the survey [34 percent] said they received no training in the past 12 months. But the numbers varied widely in different newsrooms. While in some newsrooms, nearly everyone had gotten training, in one newsroom, only 17 percent reported receiving training. In six of the newsrooms, less than half of the staff members had received training. Considering the abundance of free or low-cost training available, those numbers seem strikingly high.

One of the key findings was the hunger journalists had for training.  However, then, as in now, time or the lack of time, was a key factor as whether journalists got the training they needed or wanted.

This raises the point that everyone, especially journalists, lives in a world of constant learning. Each new technology creates new opportunities and new challenges. Which create new openings for training. To be successful in the digital world, a journalist needs to embrace the idea of “constant training” to meet the changing demands of the workplace.

Other results from our training survey are more troubling.

Actually doing the training presents a significant problem. Lack of time was cited by 62 percent of the participants as the number-one factor that prevented them from getting the training they needed or wanted. That’s twice as many responses as lack of funds, the second-place factor, which was selected by 34 percent.

One final point involved the focus of newsrooms in 2014:

The survey also provides an unsettling insight into the focus of the newsrooms surveyed. The journalists surveyed still see their newsrooms as print-centric or straddling the fence. Only one in 10 said that their newsrooms are thoroughly
“digital-first.”

Eric Newton wrote the introduction to the report.

The Explosive Growth of Journalism E-Learning

Part of the mission of Poynter’s News University was to provide research on the whether e-learning would be an effective method of training journalists.  NewsU launched in April 2005 after a short beta period, with 1961 registered users.  In April 2006, the e-learning platform had more than 13,500 users.

NewsU’s success was detailed in its first report: The Explosive Growth of Journalism E-Learning.  Here’s the overview:

The growing reach of the Internet has changed the nature of job training and career development. Training no longer is limited to in-person contact, either by trainers coming onsite or by managers and employees traveling to seminars and conferences.

The Internet is increasingly popular as a delivery system for training – through Webinars, online courses that use instructors, Webcasts and readings, as well as interaction among participants in discussion groups. In addition, many companies such as Cold Stone Creamery, Cisco Systems Inc., and Canon Inc., are turning to online training games on corporate Web sites.

Those in the media industry are also embracing this form of training, with thousands of journalists turning to e-learning to supplement conferences, seminars and in-house training programs. One of the fastest-growing sites for journalism e-learning is News University (www.newsu.org), a project of The Poynter Institute funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Being Part of the News

While in journalism school at San Francisco State University, I was stringer for United Press International. UPI was the second largest wire service in the U.S. during the 1970s.  It was a tradition that one of the college newspaper editors would be a UPI stringer and so I was.  A former SFSU graduate worked as a reporter at UPI and he would often call and ask for a bit of “string” for national stories.  String was just another way of saying comments from around the country that could be woven into a large round-up story.

One such story that not only did I provide string but provide a quote that was in the story involved the firing of Lt. Gen. Lewis B Hershey in 1969.  Hershey was the head of the selective service  system, the draft, and a hated official during the Vietnam war. 

Here’s my quote:

“It’s great that Hershey as a personality is finally getting out,” said Howard Finberg, 20, a student at San Francisco State College. “But the system is still wrong, and that’s what needs to be corrected.”

The image is the wire service teletype copy that was set to newspapers and other subscribers of the UPI national wire. 

This was an interesting period to be a journalist and cover the Vietnam war era turmoil on your own campus.

Changing the Paradigms of Production

In 1997 I was asked to do a presentation about pagination to a group of users of the Harris computer systems. Even thought Phoenix Newspapers weren’t customers, Harris executives thought our experiences installing the CCI system would be helpful in understanding the changes of a new publishing system.

My key points included:

  • New way of thinking
  • New technology
  • New installation model

The slides used in the presentation outline our new approach to new technologies.

Agenda and Plans for PAFET

This is a memo to the PAFET management committee, the group that oversaw the work of the operating committee [the real workers in the PAFET universe]. The meeting was held in St. Louis, headquarters of Pulitzer Newspapers.   Here’s the agenda:

1. Introduction: Comments from Jim Rosse
2. Name and Mission Statement:
   Discuss/approve name and m1ss1on
3. Structure: Organizational roles and partnership material.
4. Operating Plan: Plans for initiating and/or participating in research, including development of database of member activities. Discussion of possible group relationship with Delphi.
5. Finance/Budget: Proposed budget and contributions.
6. Confidentiality: Proposed standards and procedures.
7. Communications: Draft announcement and any other release materials.
8. Executive Session: Discussion as appropriate.
9. Next Steps: Next Management Committee meeting; other issues to be addressed.
Two handouts were used at the meeting. Alan Flaherty provided an eight-page agenda package dated March 10, and Dean Blythe provided a three-page undated document entitled Financial Administration and Guidelines. Materials from these documents will not be repeated in these minutes, except insofar as they were modified, or were the basis for specific resolutions adopted by the Management Committee.

And here’s the bit about PAFET’s name and mission statement:

The name Pafet, standing for Partners Affiliated for Exploring Technology, was adopted. The wording of the mission statement was adjusted to the following, in accordance with a suggestion from Joel Kramer:
The mission of Pafet shall he to assisl individual member companies in the development of mechanisms for presentation and marketing of information using new technologies, in order to help the member companies make better individual decisions concerning the future of their businesses.