Here's the transcript:
1. According to Google, the Santa Fe New Mexican has been around for quite some time. How old is the paper, and can you give me a quick primer on its history?
SD: The paper has been around for 155 years, and is the oldest continuously running paper west of the Mississippi. It's one of the last independent family owned newspapers around. It has been in the McKinney family for about 65 years, except for a brief period where it was sold to Gannett, but the family sued for breach of contract and regained ownership. It's nice to be part of a paper with such an independent history and tradition.
2. When did you first launch a Web site for the New Mexican?
MO: 1995
When did your Web presence change to offer both the subscription-only, direct-from-the-paper version and the Free New Mexican?
MO: June of 2004, on a trial (free) basis, then fully paid October 1, 2004.
What prompted that change, and what have the results been in terms of subscriptions and Web traffic?
MO: Inevitably, the paid vs. free argument faces every paper. We reasoned it didn't have to be an either/or situation. We lobbied hard for not only a continuation of the free site, to avoid losing the actual and potential advertising revenue based on the free site's 100,000+ unique users, but an expansion. It has allowed to us have some flexibility to experiment with different ideas, since we're not so completely bound to the print content , while giving the parent side a noticeable boost in paid subscriptions. After just four months, we've added over 1% to our subscription base, while experiencing an increase in traffic and usage of the free site, due to the increased variety and opportunities for reader interaction, breadth of news coverage, and useful reference material on Santa Fe.
3. What gave you the idea to add comments to each story as it was posted? Was the ability to reorder the front page by most-commented stories launched simultaneously with the comments, or did it come later?
MO: One of the key attributes of the Web as a medium is its capability for interaction. I would say we were inspired specifically by the now-classic and still-valid "Cluetrain Manifesto." We've had comments since 2001 in previous, out-sourced designs .
SD: When we developed the redesign and CMS in-house, we added the reordering feature, so that's been around since June 2004. No other paper's done this. It' s a direct way of letting the public decide what's important.
4. What percentage of your reporters have taken to reading the blog comments? How many of them are getting news leads from the comments? Are these numbers increasing? Are there any particular factors that make the comments useful in generating leads?
SD: the blog is a separate piece, but as to the comments on each story, more and more reporters are checking on it. Interestingly, editors as well are reading the comments and it often sparks ideas for follow up assignments to reporters.
Its not always about specific leads or tips; very often the loop is a little tighter. People may raise questions about a particular fact or issue, and the reporter does some verification or pursues an additional, different angle. Its my favorite symbiosis
in this loop: it generates better reporters, better news, and happier readers!
5. Has the New Mexican always been so strongly focused on community news? If not, when did that change, and what prompted the change?
SD: I believe the paper always had a community oriented direction; the web and these new participatory techniques simply realize a community-focused content in a more immediate, interactive and direct way.
6. When did you start enlisting readers to write articles and submit content for the New Mexican?
SD: about a year and a half ago.
What kinds of stories have resulted from that effort?
SD: Currently I have a continuing series from a gentleman who taught in Saudi Arabia; we've had eyewitness accounts from the Asian tsunami, and the Florida hurricanes; another series from a local travelling and working in China is in the works.
More often, however, our most interesting reader stories get generated from some event - see the fire log entry described on the new blog I mentioned,
and of course, the Mothers Uncensored section, detailed in the Media Center entry.
Do you have plans to expand the amount of community-created content on the site in the future?
SD: Most definitely! the door's wide open. I'm always looking for stuff, particularly at the hyperlocal, neighborhood level. I really want to tap into that.
7. How do you earn revenue from the site? Is it subsidized by subscriptions to the print edition, or does it bring in its own revenue? How successful have your revenue-generating efforts been thus far? Any ideas that have worked particularly well? Any new tactics you'd like to try in the future?
MO: The site is supported by classified and display advertising from the print edition carried on the free site; by online-only advertising, including banner ads, enhanced directory listings, Google ads and virtual tours, and recently, online-only enhancements of classified ads (photos and animated attention-getters) and subscription revenue.
We're successful in that revenue exceeds expenses, but it's been difficult to find the right Internet advertising sales staff or to involve the print advertising staff. We expect that self-service advertising, such as the classifieds, enhanced calendar listings, and photo sales will be significant new contributors to our revenue in 2005. We hope to add our own localized keyword search-based advertising, too.
8. How hands-on are you in editing users' comments and contributions?
SD: All the comments get read and proofed by either Michael or myself before we approve them to go live . It's standard forum policing: you have to watch for language, you have to control potential flame wars or trolls, keep discussions focused and on topic. That said, we have very very little trouble; if people know they're being moderated, they tend to behave. Having people use their real names - or at least having their real names on file - helps a lot ; you don't have that 'road rage' syndrome.
As to the more story -oriented reader pieces, they go through me, but they don't need much; usually just a little spelling or word-tightening. I try to preserve the writers' tone as much as possible. It's their voice, not mine. I want it real, I don't want it to read like some AP-style conforming piece. I may suggest a certain direction for an additional piece, or ask some questions for clarification.
On the Saudi series, John [ the Saudi series author] and I work very well together; he often provides a lot of links for definitions and context, and I'll check and verify those as well and often look for a few more links, so the pieces are becoming very blog-style that way, which you don't see a lot of in online news stories from newspaper sites. The web is all about links and connections and context, why aren't web editors using it? it does take time though, I don't do enough of that myself.
John often double checks my editing work once it gets posted online, too! its a nice team.
How did you come up with your user guidelines, and have you ever had to change them in reaction to events on the site?
SD:That was a big piece of research. Fortunately I have a tiny bit of law background from my undergrad days, and it came in handy when we developed the language. I looked at news sites that had a lot of commenting activity, studied their language and policies, and created a hybrid from all that I looked at, as well as my own language. I've never had to change them; we took great care to make them extremely thorough from the outset. I do have to send commenters to review them from time to time.
9. What other media outlets compete with The New Mexican for audience?
MO: Albuquerque is 60 miles away, so its major newspaper, Albuquerque Journal, is a competitor, as is the local free weekly, Santa Fe Reporter, plus an assortment of other niche publications on food and restaurants, the arts, kids, outdoors, etc.
How do you think the Free New Mexican's community features help it stand out from the competition?
SD: From a community perspective, I think we're giving people an outlet, a voice to be heard, a chance to sound out on both local news and issues and global events.
From a news perspective, we're finding ways to close the gap between the news and the public, between the news we're told we've experienced and the news we actually do experience. Journalists so much want to connect with their readers, but readers also need - very much in these times - to connect back into the loop, and not feel so alienated and distanced from the media. News doesnt happen in a vacuum, it happens to people, so we should let people have a part in the news process.
10. What sort of growth have you seen in the site's traffic since you added the new features?
MO: It's hard to filter out seasonal fluctuations and major news events like the presidential election, but pageviews for December 2003 were about 750,000 and were just over 5 million for December 2004. However, unique users per month has fluctuated between about 100,000 and 150,000 over the year. So what's really exploded is the depth to which visitors explore the site.
How many registered users do you now have?
MO: Close to 45,000
What percentage of them comment regularly?
SD: We have almost 2,000 commenters, of which roughly 15 percent contribute the top 80 percent of the posts , so far this year.
How many of them submit stories?
SD: Not that many, yet. I think they're adjusting to the idea, and I'd love to see more come in, but I'm flexible. The way people have used the forum to engage each other, the reporters, and even public figures seems to be the core community mechanism we're experiencing, that people are comfortable with. They use it in ways I never expected.
The hyperlocal reader-submitted story is a much touted symbol in participatory journalism discussions these days, but it shouldn't be the Holy Grail or trophy or yardstick; not all participatory journalism has to take on the form of reader submitted stories. Participatory jounalism is about giving people a voice, but you have to listen to that voice, its digital dialect, so to speak, and not impose a single mechanism. You have to watch what your community does with the tools you offer, and go with what they're most comfortable using and doing.
You can use strong responses on whatever tools are working for you to generate other kinds of participation. The Mothers Uncensored section started by a strong forum response. I saw something larger at play, asked for it, and then we got reader submitted stories and photos.
Your community may be diffferent. Maybe you get a lot of reader stories but not much forum activity. Thats OK. Maybe you don't have a forum system set up; are you inviting any kind of feedback on a reader submitted story, even if it's an e-mail back to you? post those emails - it's a start. Be creative, be flexible. Look for what works, and make it work further.
11. What factors make Santa Fe the right place for a community journalism site? How, if at all, have you tailored the design and content of your site to fit the needs and interests of the community
MO: Santa Fe is a fairly small town (65,000 population in the city proper, 130,000 in the county), with several important subcommunities: it is a very popular tourist destination, and has developed a strong repeat-vacation as well as second-home and retirement community. It is the seat of state government (political junkies), has a world-class arts community, a scientific community anchored in nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Santa Fe Institute, an historic, long-established Hispanic community, a new and rapidly growing immigrant, largely Hispanic community, and a significant Native American population. Santa Fe has a vibrant gay community including two of the world's first gay resort retirement developments--and it is a center of New Age spiritual and alternative healing practitioners. Almost none of these communities, with the exception of the scientific, has its own local community presence online. We have developed "topics" or clusters of news, interactive tools and resources for each of these.
12. What sorts of stories and content draw the most comments and interest from readers?
SD: You never know, readers will surprise you. There are certain perennial hot-button issues here in Santa Fe; language, immigration, water, city development, Los Alamos Labs. Those generally create a fair amount of discussion. Gay and lesbian issues as well, we have a large community here, as Michael mentioned.Issues affecting any of those subcommunities will generate a lot of dialogue.
SD: But it is not always "all-local"; world events get a lot of attention. Again it's bringing your community together, allowing them a platform - and world events affect everybody, everyone thinks about whats happening out there to some degree - if people didn't care about world events, there'd be no CNN.
13. What have been the most satisfying aspects of the Free New Mexican's new community focus?
SD: Oh there's several gratifying moments: the many "thank you"s we get for giving people a voice and outlet; policy changes that occur as a result of reader feedback; the diversity of discussions; knowing that we're making a difference in that media/public gap.
What aspects have been the most frustrating?
SD: Theres not enough time to get to all of it! Our wishlist of what to implement and where to go from here is very long indeed, and we need about a 48 hour a day to do it all.
How do you choose which stories from the print edition go onto the FreeNewMexican each day? Are all the stories on the free site, or just some of them?
SD: This was the subject of some discussion with the print side, but we eventually settled on a quota of two stories by local staff reporters from a1, two from B1, one local sports, one from the special subject section (Wednesday -food, Thursday - outdoors, etc) and about 5 to 10 of the local columnists per week ( we're column heavy - that represents about a third of the total number of local columnists). Wire services don't follow this rule - i.e., if they have AP stories on the front page, that doesnt count against our 'quota', we can run as much as wire as we wish, even state or local.
The actual choice per night of which stories to select is up to the discretion of the night production person on duty. Its one of the more subtle aspects of the job, and I guide them a lot in the beginning, but they really enjoy having a hand in shaping the news our readers will wake up to in the morning.
They also know the perennial issues of interest: water, education, Los Alamos labs, the others that Ive mentioned.
Ill alert them if theres something specific I know of or that is developing news-wise from the day to watch for.
Aside from stories from the print edition and reader-submitted articles, do you draw from any other sources?
SD: We agressively update from the wire throughout the day, both hard news and lighter material for the evening edition (using the concept known as 'dayparting'). Today as an example, we have 16 updates plus 5 for the Sunset Edition. That's light - it can easily run close to 30 updates and about or 8 or 10 for Sunset.
We use AP for wire primarily, but Im investigating other services as well. We have agreements with some other sources and syndicates, and Ill also check an array of different news sources in the morning and chase down permissions on a case-by-case basis if something really jumps at me that the wire may not have yet.
Between that approach and the increased reader comments and stories, I think we've made up for the cut back on the printed material in some interesting ways that don't conflict or compete - we're offering the best of both possibilities.
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