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2005-04-14 Home Front: Tech

Murdoc 'Gets It' - Urges Newspaper Editors to Embrace Internet

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Posted by .com 2005-04-14 12:26:50 AM|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "The challenge for each of us in this room is to create an Internet presence that is compelling enough that users make it their home page. Fred, had any offers yet?

Posted by phil_b 2005-04-14 1:13:28 AM|| 2005-04-14 1:13:28 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Phil, as an user I can say that RB is my start up page. Just the right mix of things here.

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-04-14 1:56:37 AM|| 2005-04-14 1:56:37 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 in the future I hope that the way they start their day online will be with coffee and our Web site

Dream on, Rupe. Your bread and butter classified advertisers have already gone to craigslist.org and similar sites, and soon the car dealers and realtors will figure it out as well.

As to subscriptions, your circulation figures are bullshit, and in any case no one with a browser and a modem finds your stuff compelling enough to pay for it. I have not subscribed to any newspaper site, or offline newspaper, since 1991. With the exception of colleagues' workplace subscriptions to the WSJ and the FT, I don't know anyone else who's done so either.

Quit while you're ahead. Getta blog.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 2:36:03 AM|| 2005-04-14 2:36:03 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Someone once remarked that 'On the Internet the killer app is other people.' What makes something like RB work, apart from Fred and others hard work behind the scenes, is a commonality of interest and a sense of community, combined with a low enough noise level. Whilst I frequent other sites, none of the others has the same magic mixture as RB. My first comment wasn't entirely tongue in cheek. Sites that in MHO don't compare with RB have recently sold for large sums and the RB formula doesn't depend on a single or small number of people posting and commentating like most of the big name sites.

Posted by phil_b 2005-04-14 2:48:02 AM|| 2005-04-14 2:48:02 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Only with superior quality will you bring people to subscribe to online media. The WSJ and FT are such publications, but in the first place because their information can help you make (or save) money.

The Spanish El Pais, the most important and comprehensive newspaper in the Spanish language, went to subscription only a few years ago, and lost dearly. If those papers can't even make it, few others will.

And people are not likely to pay for something they had for free for years.

The solution? Clever but not annoying advertising, maybe some (payable) prime content (but it better be good).

Offer something nobody else has. This you can charge for.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-04-14 2:51:53 AM|| 2005-04-14 2:51:53 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 True, Phil, but check out the ads here to see the business challenge Fred faces.

Ads by Google serves up the NY Times [guffaw] and an ad for "newspapers in Colorado" -- go figure. Then there's an ad for Podcasting: cool. Rakes in millions each month, I'm sure. Also "Conservative T-Shirts" and other flotsam and jetsam.

Fer chrissake, is there not one advertiser who understands Fred's demographic? Isn't it obvious that you have on this site people with a huge and voracious interest in things military, technology-related, historical, global politics and economics, travel and working abroad and all the services that expatriates require?

How about ads for print publications targeted on the above interests? Or maybe travel, or offshore banking, or vacation homes, or conservative publishers, or gun manufacturers, or maybe even... I know this is a stretch... cars???

Where the hell are the intermediaries who can gather Rantburg's demographics and shop them to advertisers we truly want to hear from? It can't be that difficult.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 2:57:06 AM|| 2005-04-14 2:57:06 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 Very valid point. Even "automated targetted" advertising should do better than that.

Now imagine a real person checked out Rantburg, asked for detailed statistics and then pays for intelligent, targetted advertising.

What is so bothersome about ads? That 99% is rubbish, stuff we don't need or want. Brute force.

Getting smart is the ticket. Advertising is about products I don't know (enough) about but which would interest me.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-04-14 3:03:15 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:03:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 Lex, you bring up something I've been meaning to raise for a while. What is the RB demographic? I'd be interested in knowing. I may post a suggested questionaire as an opinion piece.

Posted by phil_b 2005-04-14 3:07:59 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:07:59 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 I recall that TGA's looking for a second home (or is it retirement home?) with lots of open space and don't-fence-me-in atmosphere. Well, I'd be willing to bet that many others here would love the same thing-- it's hte intelligent libertarian/conservative's dream to live among nature unencumbered by bureaucrats and the state. This is why Mark Steyn and PJ O'Rourke live in New Hampshire, and why VD Hanson still has his dusty family farm in teh San Joaquin Valley.

So I'm sure that these folks would get quite a few click-throughs from this site: http://www.cjsmtnparadise.com/

Likewise, I'd bet that Rantburgers are partial to high-performance 4WD SUVs that have plenty of space for gear, maybe guns and prey as well. So GMC and Jeep and maybe the Escalade CXT (?) and the Honda Aztec (?) would do a good business here too.

Or how about an ad for the hybrid car (Prius?) that highlights the fact that ex-CIA Director Jim Woolsey drives one now? "Spite Osama, Drive a Prius"....

Is it really that difficult to figure out?

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 3:17:57 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:17:57 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 Looks beautiful indeed...

Posted by True German Ally 2005-04-14 3:22:22 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:22:22 AM|| Front Page Top

#11 Here's my guess at the RB demographic:

Gender: 95% male
Median Age: 47
Active or ex-military: 40%
Median Household Income: $70,000

Education: 90% have undergraduate degree, 40% have one or more graduate degrees

Occupation: 15% government/military; 15% self-employed professionals or businessmen; 70% in corporate sector, of which 60% in technical or other staff functions at manager-senior manager level.

Psychological orientation: Jacksonian technophiles with a strong interest in foreign cultures and history. Independent thinkers, skeptical of the state but fiercely loyal to country, God, the military.

This group is demographic gold for a market-savvy maker of high-priced technological toys for big boys. Cars, guns, bikes, boats, you name it. And given the age and income characteristics, for financial services companies like Schwab: how many Rantburgers have $70k or more in investable funds? 80%?

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 3:29:38 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:29:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 Let me know if you're in the market for a large (200 acres+) parcel, TGA. Seriously.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 3:31:52 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:31:52 AM|| Front Page Top

#13 Rantburg gets away with snarky old drawings and stuff for deocration that makes it much more interesting. It would be nice to have music and video clips imbedded in the articles too... but, skipping the serving cost ... we all need to wait for the MPAA and RIAA to truly understand how much their business plan so screws up everybody's little puns and jokes with no money gain for them and tons of ill will generated. One can hope that they figure out something more friendly.... (of course we may all die of old age first...)

Of all the blog type formats I think RantBurg is really doing the snarkyness attached to real serious topics much (I refuse to use the fisking phrase) better than then others... Giving up PC was a good thing to. Thought police just make everything so boring....
Its sort of like mixing Foreign Affairs with Nat. Lampoon and an attitude...
Your right that the demographic should generate business but its pushing the envelope too.

Posted by 3dc 2005-04-14 3:53:56 AM|| 2005-04-14 3:53:56 AM|| Front Page Top

#14 Maybe Murdoch does get it. He said what was needed in addition to the news was "Commentary and Debate. Gossip and humor."

Posted by phil_b 2005-04-14 4:13:36 AM|| 2005-04-14 4:13:36 AM|| Front Page Top

#15 I absolutly refuse to pay for or subscribe or register for things like the NYT.If they want my patronage do not expect meto pay for it.I have 12 blogs on my favorites list,RB is my favorite.It is the first one I visit and the only one I post to on an almost daily basis.

Posted by raptor 2005-04-14 10:04:05 AM|| 2005-04-14 10:04:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#16 Another brilliant Ad by Google just popped up: "dontblamemeivoted4kerry.com"

Google sucks. Where's the next big thing?

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 10:07:12 AM|| 2005-04-14 10:07:12 AM|| Front Page Top

#17 Add to the demographics:

X% have/do live[d] as expat Americans outside the U.S., or travel regularly outside the U.S. (20-30%?)

Y% are not Americans (10-15%?)

Z% have spouses of a different nationality (for some reason a bunch of you married Russians...)

I would be willing to bet that there is a much higher percentage of female lurkers than posters, but the marketing shouldn't be much altered to address that: such wymynfolk are good for investments, travel, property and SUVs/Priuses, too, though perhaps not so much guns and motorcycles (rkb seems to have all the guns she needs at the moment, and whatever Sgt. Mom needs she can send Cpl Blondie to acquire (is that her latest rank? I've lost track)). And the girls hanging out here have graduated from Foreign Affairs magazine just like the boys.

As for income, I would bet on a double bell curve, low at the median but high and tight near both left and right ends. Our military readers have traded monetary rewards for the joys of duty and honour, and you seniour management types make almost as much as you are worth to those who pay you. And quite a few (like me) have retired from the working world either temporarily or permanently. (Granted, in my case housewifery is not the same as spending the day fishing, and Mr. Wife still goes off every morning to spread profit & loss, but the principle still holds).

Posted by trailing wife 2005-04-14 11:08:30 AM|| 2005-04-14 11:08:30 AM|| Front Page Top

#18 Another brilliant Ad by Google just popped up: "dontblamemeivoted4kerry.com" Google sucks. Where's the next big thing?

Google sucks because they don't target their advertising beyond keyword. It's like a lawyer handing out his card at a mass-casualty train wreck; there's been some really inappropriate ads on some sites.

Posted by Pappy 2005-04-14 11:15:48 AM|| 2005-04-14 11:15:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#19 I make a point to click those inappropriate ads on the theory that a few cents per click come to Fred. I like the irony of Emily's List or JohnKerry.com (2 from yesterday) forking over a few cents for the care and feeding of Rantburg. It's yummy!

Posted by eLarson 2005-04-14 12:04:55 PM|| [http://larsonian.blogspot.com] 2005-04-14 12:04:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 eLarson just read my mind. Fred, have another beer courtesy of BumperStickersAgainstBush.com

Posted by Seafarious 2005-04-14 12:11:10 PM|| 2005-04-14 12:11:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#21 BlogAds are maybe a year or so away from showcasing more 'legit' stuff. Remember, a year or so ago the infrastructure wasn't there at all, except perhaps for Reynolds. Now every decent-sized site has a few ads. The money's starting to follow.

The problem with RB becoming a mega-site is that it may not be scalable: it depends on a certain absence of noise and a more or less known-to-each-other -- if growing -- community of contributors. Would it work at 10*, 100*, 1000* the traffic? I dunno.

Posted by someone 2005-04-14 1:16:08 PM|| 2005-04-14 1:16:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#22 rkb seems to have all the guns she needs at the moment

Just cause I'm too busy to get to the range much lately does NOT mean I have all the guns I want .... okay, maybe all I need. Maybe. But then there's what I want .... ;-)

I still sort of wish I'd bid higher on that Remington 700P .308 TWS that was up for sale last year. Very lightly used, good optics, bipod.

Mind you, I have ZERO time to learn precision long-distance shooting right now, but what fun it would be to distract myself from other things with it.

Posted by rkb 2005-04-14 1:55:11 PM|| 2005-04-14 1:55:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#23 RB is a trusted network. Add functionality that leverages trust relationships within the network and you get scalability plus query/search capabilities that far exceed what GOOG's lame keyword- and page-rank based algorithms can deliver

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-14 2:54:41 PM|| 2005-04-14 2:54:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#24 Today: 67 rants, 233 comments. 423 people are online at 18:58

Only a tiny number of us actually bother to post. There is a H-U-G-E number of Rantburg readers that merely read the site.

Posted by gromky 2005-04-14 7:11:42 PM|| 2005-04-14 7:11:42 PM|| Front Page Top

#25 Only a tiny number of us actually bother to post

heh.. I guess that explains the 95% male.

Posted by anon female 2005-04-14 9:06:54 PM|| 2005-04-14 9:06:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#26 always try and reed. dont always post.

Posted by muck4doo 2005-04-14 9:08:21 PM|| [http://meatismurder.blogspot.com/] 2005-04-14 9:08:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#27 The challenge for each of us in this room is to create an Internet presence that is compelling enough that users make it their home page.

that's so clueless that it's cute.

Posted by 2b 2005-04-14 9:12:44 PM|| 2005-04-14 9:12:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#28 Were not sure what our muckster is, so Fred's readership could be 94.5% male, 1/2% vegetable.

Posted by ed 2005-04-14 9:32:32 PM|| 2005-04-14 9:32:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#29 ..Cars, guns, bikes, boats,..

Anybody selling a 2000 - 2003 BMW K1200RS cheap? ;)

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-14 10:44:52 PM|| 2005-04-14 10:44:52 PM|| Front Page Top

15:50 its me
23:38 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
23:28 thibaud (aka lex)
23:28 Laurence of the Rats
23:26 thibaud (aka lex)
23:14 Bomb-a-rama
23:05 trailing wife
23:03 trailing wife
22:59 Bomb-a-rama
22:58 trailing wife
22:57 Bomb-a-rama
22:55 trailing wife
22:53 Sobiesky
22:53 Frank G
22:45 Silentbrick
22:44 Bomb-a-rama
22:43 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
22:39 Frank G
22:37 Sobiesky
22:37 SteveS
22:34 Bomb-a-rama
21:50 Bomb-a-rama
21:48 Frank G
21:47 ed