YourHub.com launches national syndication: Business model enables publishers to implement citizen journalism quickly
DENVER (February 15, 2006) - Internet access has profoundly disrupted the newspaper industry, as news collecting and reporting become increasingly democratic. Anyone with a computer and an ISP can be a reporter, giving rise to a phenomenon called "citizen journalism." How can newspapers respond to the Internet's influence on its industry? By inviting citizen journalists to contribute to products such as YourHub.com.
YourHub.com is a network of community-based web sites featuring stories, photos, blogs, events and classified ads posted by community residents and supported by local advertisers. Now in syndication, YourHub.com enables publishers nationally to bring citizen journalism products to market quickly and inexpensively.
The Denver Newspaper Agency (DNA), in cooperation with the Rocky Mountain News, designed and implemented 42 YourHub.com metro Denver web sites and 15 reverse-published print editions in the spring and summer of 2005. Since the implementation was completed, metro Denver "hubs" have enjoyed an average of 309,000 page views and more than 45,000 unique visitors per month with more than 13,000 of those being registered users. At the same time online audiences increased, more than $5 million in annual print and online revenues were generated (with 40-50 percent of advertisers being new business), and YourHub.com print circulation surpassed all local suburban and community newspapers combined.
A testimony to the fundamental soundness of the citizen journalism movement and the need for mainstream newspapers to address shrinking ad revenues, publishers elsewhere began to notice. They saw how a citizen journalism product could
- help them regain local advertising dollars that were migrating online or to other media,
- compete with classified-like web sites such as craigslist and eBay, and
- build audience share by inviting audience involvement.
Soon after, the YourHub.com syndication model was born.
"We took the DNA success," said Tricia Etienne, Director of Business Development for YourHub.com Syndication, "and developed an entire platform solution for citizen journalism that other publishers can roll out in a short timeframe with minimal investment. We save them time and money by licensing access to our technology and business guidelines as well as identification with our brand at the national level." Besides metro Denver, nine YourHub.com communities have launched or are on the launch pad, including the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, with many more - large and small - in the pipeline.
The YourHub.com syndication model launch kit includes content publishing software and hosting; marketing, editorial and sales plans; a competitive analysis questionnaire; and a sample Profit/Loss statement. Optional features, such as reverse publishing and online posting of classified ads, are available. "With the purchase of a licensing agreement, said Fran Wills, DNA Vice President/Interactive, "a newspaper gets everything it needs from soup to nuts. The charge is a one-time setup fee and a monthly licensing fee based on circulation. Licensing also includes a link from the national YourHub.com site, all future software enhancements, and ongoing support and training."
A citizen journalism product offers newspaper publishers distinct marketplace advantages.
- On the content side, publishers always say "yes" to requests for coverage - an indisputable avenue to brand loyalty.
- On the advertising side, publishers offer a lower cost of entry and targeted demographics, thus recapturing more small business accounts.
Licensing YourHub.com offers two more advantages: It brings the product to market quickly and capitalizes on the experience and expertise of a successful operation. "YourHub.com requires minimal technical skill and is simple to install," Wills said. "It is built with open-source technology and flexible code that allow enhancements and modules to be easily added or shared with sister properties." A YourHub.com web site can be built out in 30 to 60 days. The classified module takes 60 days, and a reverse publishing system can be set up in 120 days. Build-outs can be concurrent or sequential.
Newspaper publishers are beginning to grasp an imperative to change with the times, and more and more they are climbing aboard the citizen journalism bandwagon. The YourHub.com family makes this easy, and it's a smart business decision. As reported in December 2005 by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in its Nieman Reports, "With media companies still generating respectable returns on investment, the smart money will be on those organizations…that can integrate successful citizen journalism experiments supported by better staff training, equipment and practices that encourage reporters and editors to collaborate with their audience."
About the Denver Newspaper Agency
The Denver Newspaper Agency publishes The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News under a joint operating agreement designed to preserve editorial competition. Combined business operations are managed by The Agency, which is equally owned by MediaNews Group and The E. W. Scripps Co.
Note: YourHub.com is a trademark of the Denver Newspaper Agency.
