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Niche Archive
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Self-published reporting: journalism’s next frontier
Interview by Alex Klaushofer. Marc Herman couldn’t have been more surprised by the success of his Kindle Single The Shores of Tripoli. ‘The interest in the topic completely shocks me,’ he says. ‘I went over there to talk about Libya, and ended up being seen as something of an expert in electronic publishing.’ Within weeks, [...] -
Cycling polemicist strikes viral paydirt
Case study by Tim Writing his Bike To Work book, Carlton Reid’s intention was to produce a conventional printed tome. A trade publisher of 25 years experience, his business model was simple – sell sufficient advertisements to pay for the book and then give away the product. Creating an eBook was an afterthought. Nevertheless, in [...] -
Come the revolution, Sister – if we can afford it
Report by Alex Klaushofer. My last blog reported on the curious absence of women among the pioneers of digital journalism – a regressive trend seen by some as symptomatic as an emerging form of e-patriarchy. But hang on, isn’t the beauty of the digital age the new opportunities it opens up, the way it affords [...] -
Local press: adrift without a compass and in danger of disappearing
I met the editor of one of Britain’s oldest regional dailies at a social event recently. We chatted about the worrying state of the media and with a resigned sigh he said: “I am hoping that the paper will see me out”. He is in his mid-50s and the title he edits has been published [...] -
Download tools – an online newservice for the labour movement
Report by Tim Dawson. Trades unions have not always been the quickest to adopt new means to communicate, in part because of an institutionalised ambivalence to technological change. It perhaps explains why reporting this sector is one that that has attracted relatively few online operations. Into this gap step two recent past presidents of the [...] -
Niche both a help and hindrance to online start-up Bookbrunch
Case study by Alex Klaushofer. When Nicholas Clee and Liz Thomson were casting about for a new job, with full-time staff jobs behind them and freelance opportunities on the wane, a digital solution seemed obvious. Between them, they had over fifty years experience in writing about publishing and the book trade: Clee was a former [...] -
Year-out forum finds a gap in the market
Case study by Tim Dawson. Specialist social media sites have substantially replaced niche magazines and directories as a source of information in dozens of interest areas. The largest – like mumsnet.com and the Army Rumour Service – are said to sway elections and to have forced the closure of The News Of The World. Hundreds [...] -
Like a phoenix from liquidation – mag experiments with partnership model
Case study by Alex Klaushofer. When the numbers fail to add up, the publishers of most small magazines take the simple, expeditious step of simply folding the thing. But when weekly regeneration magazine New Start was deemed no longer viable, it embarked on a new direction which could point the way for other, similar publications. [...] -
New pay-what-you-want mag shows appetite for longform journalism
Case study by Alex Klaushofer. This week sees the dropping onto doormats of Issue One of The Blizzard – a quality, quarterly football magazine offered to readers on a pay-what-you-like basis. The digital edition of the magazine came out on Thursday in a launch timed to come ahead of the Champions League Final at the [...] -
Want to profit from internet journalism? Here are three golden rules
In Practice by Tim Dawson. For the past six months, I have been teaching a course entitled Making Internet Journalism Pay. After the last session that I delivered, I received some of the most complimentary notes of thanks of my professional career – and they came from over half the people taking the course. It [...]