Lincolnite: Lincoln's Online Community

You want RSS feeds from JournalStar.com, I want RSS feeds from JournalStar.com, but they didn’t give them to us with their latest redesign. They say RSS feeds will decrease page views and, by extension, ad revenue. Well, I disagree. I say RSS feeds are actually a good business decision. Help me make the case. Let’s write a letter to the Journal Star.

Let’s begin by laying out our case, point by point. Why do you want RSS? How can RSS feeds help the Journal Star’s bottom line? Let’s just brainstorm for now. Bullet points, not paragraphs, are all we need at this point.

As long as it’s not overdone, you can advertise in RSS feeds.

Oh, and I know I’ve been a hootin’ and a hollerin’ about RSS a lot, but I don’t need a full post in RSS.  Something as simple as BBC News RSS feed, which contains a headline and a one sentence summary of the story is enough.  I look at the summary and headline, decide if it’s something i want to read more of, and if it is I go to the page where I generate views and ad revenue.

I would never go to cnn.com or usa.com if I did not see the news blip on my google home page via RSS.

I know they need to make ad revenue, but it seems to be a little too much.  What ever happened to just providing us with some news? I know I know, but it irks me.  Not to be some whiney conservative or nothing, heck I have ads on my site (although I have yet to make anything from them), but ads everywhere makes the site look cheap.  The hosting bill cant be that much.

I am still waiting on a few things to become available on their site though.  Guess I will have to suck it up and make posts about them.

Still RSS can only help their site.  once someone comes in from a feed, they will see some other interesting thing and read that.  More people aware of the stories should be what it is all about.

First of all, let me say that I think their new site is a significant improvement and a LOT better looking than the OWH site.

About your question - Personally, I’m probably not in the best position to argue that they start RSSing because I do what they probably want people to do, which is save the LJS website on a firefox tab and pretty much go through most of the online edition on a daily basis.

Having said that, in addition to what Jwiltshire and BorK wrote, there are a couple of other good reasons they start RSSing. First of all, although this isn’t based on empirical evidence, I think RSSing a feed or feeds might increase the frequency that people tag LJS stories using social bookmarking services like Del.icio.us, Furl, Ma.gnolia etc. I know several people who spend at least an hour a day or several hours on the weekends tagging articles. Its seriously like an addiction for some people.

Secondly, there is another business argument for RSSing that goes beyond the bottom line in income generated from their ads. Namely, it creates good will among consumers. That might sound cheesy, but the old saying of “What my baby wants my baby gets” may be something they should consider. In other words, if they RSS feeds, people who use aggregators daily are going to be more likely to think, “You know, the LJS is a refreshing newspaper. They’ve got a great website and now they’ve started RSSing their news so I can read things from my aggregator.” Know what I mean?

I must give them major kudos for one great thing though.

They do not make you register to visit their website like the fricking omaha paper.
That is complete BS, and the reason I use http://www.bugmenot.com very often.

I would love to see a “from the blotter” and health code violation sections as well.

Plus when they use AP articles for the print and you cannot read them on the site, it kinda makes it not a site I will look to for “news”, know what I mean?

I know the AP stories cost money, and I can gladly put up with the ads for such content.

I would love to see a “from the blotter” and health code violation sections as well.

You mean, like on this page? (Linked in the upper right-hand corner here.)

ta da

I did see I could search for “blotter” stuffis and find it.

But a from the blotter sounds so much cooler.

But the health code violations is fricking golden.

Thanks mr wilson

beerorkid - 04 December 2006 08:32 PM

But the health code violations is fricking golden.

You know, that would be nice to have.

I have wanted to have a section on that for a while.

I have worked foodservice for so long that I know it is mostly BS, but peeps need to know.  Cockroaches can be controlled.  if an inspector can see them, it is out or control.

I never go to the LJS web page, unless I see a story linked from here - which, consequently, means I don’t get much local news. I get my national news from- you guessed it - RSS feeds.

They don’t have to even put the whole story in the RSS, they can put a lead in paragraph, so I can decide whether I want to see the story.

Perhaps point out this statistics on this page: http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2006/11/social_software_3.html

76 of the top 100 online newspapers provide RSS feeds.

You might also want to point out that even the Daily Nebraskan has RSS. C’mon, they’re behind the student newspaper?

Below is a proposed letter. Comments? Edits? Would anybody care to co-sign with me?

-----

Dear Editors,

I (we?) want to thank the Lincoln Journal Star for giving JournalStar.com a long-overdue overhaul. The site is more attractive, easier to use, and filled with more content than before. I/we especially want to thank you for not following in the footsteps of a certain Omaha newspaper’s website, which requires a ridiculous online registration process (and a circumvention of that process by those of us who are turned off by it) in order to read articles. I/we wish to congratulate Online Editor Steve Smith and his crew for a job well done.

The Journal Star has done a good job trying to maintain, or even increase, its relevance through blogs, podcasts, and the like, so it is odd that JournalStar.com still, even after its facelift, lacks RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. RSS is a simple technology that would allow the Journal Star to push its content to new audiences at virtually zero cost. The fear, common among the “old media”, is loss of site visits and ad revenue. That fear is unfounded and, in my/our opinion, completely backwards. Indeed, RSS feeds will increase the size and diversity of your readership. Even simple feeds with headlines and short summaries would expose your content to a wider audience. The majority of publishers agree with me/us: 76 of the nation’s top 100 newspapers offer RSS feeds (http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2006/11/social_software_3.html).

Providing RSS feeds is a win-win situation. Your readers win yet another way to access your content, you win a wider audience with almost zero extra resources. It really is that simple.

seems perfect.  Simple, concise, and written well. 

I subscribe at home, heck I pick up an extra copy out of a machine if I do not go home for lunch.  When news breaks I want to know about it.  being able to get breaking news via my google home page would be stellar.  I would even consider adding a feed to my blog for easier access to my visitors and to let them know it is available.

I will gladly sign on to that letter with ya.  Gonna try and round up a few more troops as well.

By the way, I prefer not to use pseudonyms in the letter (and I don’t know if the LJS would allow it anyway), so if you want to co-sign, let’s do it this way:

* If you don’t mind your name being public, just post your full name here
* If you prefer the semi-anonymity of the internet and you don’t want to post your full name here, send your full name to me via Private Message (the PM button on the left under my name) or e-mail me at mrwilson at lincolnite dot com

I would even consider adding a feed to my blog for easier access to my visitors and to let them know it is available.

I was planning the same. We probably aren’t the only two who would do it, either.

Steve Ramos

http://www.beerorkid.com/2006/12/05/want-rss-on-the-new-ljs-website-speak-up/ spreading the word.

Count me among the undersigned.  Joshua Anton Wiltshire.  Say it loud, say it proud.

Count me in!

Karin Dalziel

(ps, great letter!)