Extended New Media Index
An Ongoing Wrap-Up of Key Developments on the Interactive Frontier
For the most recent weekly news update, visit the NAA New Media
Federation's Digital Edge. Also be sure to
read Presstime's monthly new-media commentary.
NOTABLE QUOTES
"I think possibly the last frontier of size to be organized on
the Internet is the local city site. As we have maintained for some time, we believe that
most people's interests lie within the general limits of the cities in which they
live."
--USA Network head Barry Diller, on the merger of CitySearch and
Ticketmaster Online (see Strategic Moves, below).
"The average Internet user is accustomed to a high level of
pain."
--Ray Valdes, Gartner Group research director for Internet
strategies, on a new study suggesting home users spend one-quarter of their online time
waiting for pages to load (see Trends, below).
STRATEGIC MOVES
Hardened journalists may scoff, but
community-minded publishers know that "people" news about weddings, school
honors, promotions and even home-grown legumes resembling Bob Hope draw readers.
What's more, such items, often taped to refrigerator doors or folded into family
Bibles, have long shelf lives.
Taking advantage of the unlimited news hole on the World Wide Web, a Washington-state
weekly created an online scrapbook of such news clippings from several years' worth of
archives. Ranging from short blurbs to feature-length stories, each item culled from the
Grand Coulee Star is searchable by name. While hardly cutting-edge, the (site) offers a prime example of
how newspapers can painlessly leverage years of minutiae into an invaluable community
resource.
"Over the years, Star reporters have written stories on hundreds of people from
the community they were interested in," reads the site's introduction. "Often
the stories are just about one aspect of the life of the person or family, and there is no
attempt at biography. Each is one moment in time." |
Another portal play: Digital City and Netscape Communications Corp. enter
a distribution agreement placing local Digital City content on Netscape's Netcenter portal
(Dow Jones News Service, 8/3). Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. posts a preview version
of its long-anticipated start.com portal at http://www.msn.com/welcome/comingsoon.asp
ONLINE
Newspapers' online moves continue.
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel increases online coverage of business news,
including new content from Bloomberg News, Knight Ridder News Service, The Washington Post
and Los Angeles Times, as well as online-stock portfolios and other interactive features
(KR-T Business News, 8/5). .
PEOPLE
Mitch Golub was named president and general manager of Classified Ventures' Cars.com.
He had previously worked in new media and classified capacities for Tribune Co. for 20
years. Also, Bill Swislow was named executive producer (press release).
Greg Stuart was named vice president and director of marketing for Classified
Ventures' cars.com. He had been the principal of @webrite inc., an online marketing and
management consulting firm (press release).
--Compiled by Mark Toner, Presstime
Staff Writer.
[ July/August
Presstime compilation ]
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