How To's Digital Strategies E-Media Tidbits

by Steve ButtryPublished Dec. 10, 2009 3:43 pm

I used to watch the crowds in airport lounges when I traveled, studying how

people read newspapers. Even with circulation declining, you could see people

reading newspapers intently. Especially after 9/11, people would have plenty of

time to read while waiting for flights, and newsstands stocked a variety of

papers to choose from.

Look around an airport lounge now. You’ll see more people looking at their

phones than holding newspapers.

When I see people in the airport lounge, I know time is only accelerating with

each tap of their thumbs.

My concern over this acceleration pushed me last month to call for news

companies to pursue a mobile-first strategy. New York University journalism

professor Jay Rosen asked me to “describe what a ‘mobile first’ newsroom

would do differently.” That’s what I’m trying to do here, start the difficult but

important job of answering the question: How do we need to work differently

(not just in the newsroom, Jay) to command the attention of those people

reading and tapping small screens?

A successful mobile-first strategy will require effective work by reporters,

photojournalists, designers, technologists, sales and marketing people, and

management.

The mobile-first strategy needs to embrace new relationships with the

community, as described in my blueprint for the Complete Community

Connection. That principle is fundamental to mobile-first success.

As with Web operations, a crucial question will be whether mobile

opportunities should be the responsibility of a separate operation focused

exclusively on mobile or whether the full operation needs to share mobile

How News Organizations Can Create aMobile-First Strategy

How News Organizations Can Create a Mobile-First Strategy | ... http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/e-media-tidbit...

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