Stopping the presses: Lessons from the

MonitorDr. Jonathan Groves, Drury University

Dr. Carrie Brown-Smith, University of Memphis

History Founded in 1908 Funded largely by

the Christian Science church

Daily newspaper, distributed via mail

Switched to Web-only daily, print weekly March 2009

John YemmaEditor

Declining influence

Circulation220,000 in 1970

↓↓52,000 2008

Culture Mission: “To injure no man, but to bless all

mankind.” Deep commitment to “Monitor journalism”

“Solutions-based” journalism

Key underlying assumption: Web-first is undermining the craft of journalism

and is fundamentally in conflict with Monitor journalism

TimelineDecember 2009:Decision

July 2010:Implementation

January 2011:Confirmation

9.5 M page views

25 M page-view milestone

19.4 M page views/ 8.8 M uniques

*

Fundamental conflict:

The success of page views

vs.The Monitor ideal

Four-pronged strategy Increase the frequency of updating Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Monitoring Google Trends for hot topics Use social media to reach new audiences

Update frequency Have reporters write two shorter stories (500

words) Use blogs to get information out more quickly

One edit instead of two Use lists to summarize and synthesize

Riding the Google wave

Don’t just use keywords; use keyword phrases Google Trends

Use Google News and Yahoo! News to identify topic

Repeat phrases in headline and blurbOnce the Monitor owns a topic, ride the Google

wave

Repeated phrase

Incorporate social media

Use blogs to create a network of interested constituencies

Have reporters use Facebook, Twitter accounts

Create a Digg team to build communities Expand brand presence on all social media

Page views

Source: Quantcast.com

Conclusions Eliminating print daily made changing

routines possible After almost two years, still conflicted Success breeds hesitant acceptance Threat/reality ignites change