interactive databases
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Become the Answer SourceDatabases help news organizationsbuild audience & generate revenue
Steve Buttry, Gazette CommunicationsOttawa Citizen
January 19, 2010steve.buttry@gazcomm.com, @stevebuttry on Twitter
Slideshare.net/stevebuttry
Read about using databases
Available at Newspapernext.org
Building on our traditional role
Stock listings Sports results Obituaries Calendars Movie schedules Police blotters Lawmakers’ votes
Job listings Service directories Homes for sale Garage sales Vehicles for sale Worship times
Newspapers were always a database
Databases add value
Stories provide content today; databases provide evergreen content
Databases allow the user to personalize the content and the experience
Start with the question – the job
How to develop databases
• Acquire or gather data on a topic of interest• Organize & present data• User asks question & database answers with
relevant information • Graphics & flexibility enhance presentation• Simple user interface
Databases start with mega-jobs*
For consumers: “Help me make good spending decisions.” “Help me connect, talk and share with others” “Help me find/choose things to do” “Help me get answers about my community” “Give me a one-stop answer place”
* Newspaper Next 2.0
Databases start with mega-jobs
For businesses: “Help me reach exactly the type of customer I
need to reach.” “Help me get considered when a customer is
about to make a choice.” “Help me show people the quality of my
product/service/user experience.” “Help me build and maintain customer loyalty.” “Make advertising simple and cheap enough that I
can actually do it.” “Help me with the customer transaction.”
Opportunities for revenue growth
• Local search• Email, text advertising• Video advertising• Direct sales• Mobile• CalendarsDatabases help with all of these
Mega-jobs for everyone
• For businesses: “Help me get considered when a customer is about to make a choice.”
• For consumers: “Help me make good spending decisions.”
Databases help tell news stories
Consider whether database can have value that outlives the story
Consider whether a database can tell a continuing story or place daily stories in context
Consider how audience might contribute answers
Databases help with mega jobs
“Help me find/choose things to do”
Don’t do all the work yourself
Burlington Times-News in North Carolina includes invitation to post events in the calendar in staff members’ email signatures.
Databases help with mega jobs
• Mega-job: “Help me get answers about my community”
Answer questions about … Politics
Answer questions about … Politics Government
Answer questions about … Politics Government Crime
Answer questions about … Politics Government Crime Education
Answer questions about … Politics Government Crime Education Sports
Answer questions about … Politics Government Crime Education Sports Recreation
Answer questions about … Politics Government Crime Education Sports Recreation Interests
What else?What are some other kinds of answers you could provide for your community?
Community answerbasesMultiple answers layered into one
database:• EveryBlock• Local Explorer• CinciNavigator
Promotion builds traffic Promote databases in print product Promote databases in blog(s) Offer chance to sign up for emails
notifying of new databases TV, T-shirts Use widgets to direct traffic to databases
How will you do it? Data desk or team Job descriptions Training Measuring traffic
Building database skills Get started with simple databases Vendors (Caspio, Zvents, Planet Discover,
LJWorld) provide plug-and-play solutions Start with the easy stuff (maps, simple
queries)
Building database skills Build on computer-assisted reporting
experience Build on web development experience Get started now and improve as you go Hire for programming skills
A great opportunity
• Databases will help you seize the digital opportunity
• Start working now to become your community’s answer source
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