“Printcasting”
June 19th, 2008 by Fernando PizarroIt’s always cool to hear about the latest thing.
Well, here’s a new media strategy that I’m keeping my eye on: “Printcasting.”
Dan Pacheco of The Bakersfield Californian blogs in MediaShift Idea Lab about a “Printcasting” experiment that could take “reverse publishing” to new heights.
What I call reverse publishing is taking material originally created digitally (reports by a media organization’s staff or site users, reader comments, uploaded photos) and publishing the information in a print edition.
One local example of reverse publishing is our editorial page feature, The Hot Seat, which invites a different newsmaker each week to answer readers’ online questions. Each Sunday, The Advertiser’s editorial page reprints highlights of the Q&A session.
In his entry, Pacheco describes what I think is a wonderful turn-about: his newspaper’s highly successful online community, Bakotopia.com, led to a promising print product, Bakotopia magazine, that’s now attracting ad revenue.
As he writes:
“… to my shock, the same people who contributed to Bakotopia were rushing out to get the latest Bakotopia magazine, even when they’d read the same content on their computer screens.
We can tell that when a new print edition comes out, they start submitting content online again in the hopes that it will be selected for the next print magazine.
This digital-print hybrid behavior is true across all 6 demographic groups we’ve tried it with, including youth, who are supposedly not interested in print.”
Young people interested in print? Amazing.
What’s exciting about the project is that users will be able to create their own custom publication using content pulled in from the newspaper’s social network site, Bakotopia.
Pacheco’s blog has much more detail, including how users and ads will be matched up, so check it out.
He’s also created a social network built around the project, at www.printcasting.com, and a video demonstrating an early look of the project here.
Remember, “Printcasting.” You heard it here first!
Tags: digital newspapers, online communities, reverse publishing, social networks
June 20th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Thanks for the mention. We hope to have more to show throughout the summer and into the Fall, and we may even use the Printcasting.com social networking site as the springboard for alphas and betas.
We welcome feedback from companies or individuals in any field (not just newspapers) that see applications for this product where they live. For example, we know that new custom printing devices are about to come out on the market that would allow any local print shop to sponsor and distribute Printcasts.
The Knight News Challenge (http://newschallenge.org) is about serving the local news and information function of geographic communities. To that end, we will first test this concept out in Bakersfield, California, through The Bakersfield Californian Newspaper (where I work). But in later phases, we will be reaching out to others and giving them the tools and training needed to make Printcasting work in their communities. We will choose five partners for that phase.
We’re not anywhere near being able to decide who those partners will be. But in the meantime you can start by joining our Printcasting.com network, learning about the project, participating in feedback and, eventually, testing. Even if you’re not chosen as a partner, at the end of the two-year project all code will be open sourced and you will be in a good position to begin using them as you see fit. In the end, what will make Printcasting — and really any locally focused media initiative — work is how it’s marketed locally. Tools are only the first step.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Dan: Thanks for the additional information. Folks in Hawaii interested in digital storytelling should find Printcasting an exciting new strategy, and I encourage them to check out Dan’s site. I know I’ll be keeping up with developments!
July 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Thanks for the mention! Matt - Bakotopia.com
July 31st, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Thank you for your great posting. I like your posting.
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Aady
Hawaii Treatment Centers