TAKEAWAY: Nothing can be more important than effective brand extensions for today’s newspaper titles. In Dubai, the Gulf News continues to do so across platforms, introducing a newscast at midday daily with emphasis on short local and regional news items of interest.
It’s a midday newscast for the Gulf News
Left, sitting David Westley, gulfnews.com Portal Manager;
Mick O’‘Reilly, Senior Associate Editor; Jaye Lentin, Video Editor
;Nadia Eldemerdash, Web Producer
It is a new initiative for the Gulf News of the United Arab Emirates, and it is part of how newspapers expand across platforms in efforts to extend the brand.
This time the Gulf News has introduced this week a midday newscast, which already had 5000 plays in two hours the first day it was launched Sunday, Sept. 16.
Like all Gulf News project, this has been a true team effort in the newsroom, led by Mohammad Al Mezel, Managing Editor with Senior Associate Editor Mick O’Reilly and Video Editor Jaye Lentin. Mick describes it this way:
” As English TV is not strong in the UAE, we felt there was an opening to combine our news resources and multimedia capabilities to present our audience with a 2-minute capsule—the top story, local news from the UAE, regional, Middle East, world, business sports and entertainment,” Mick tells me.
“We’ve being doing timed edit runs for the past two weeks and have it down now to where we decide the line up at the Hub daily news meeting, I write the script, photo supplies three ore four for each segment, then we do a timed read and edit, then tape it—editing and effects takes time—final sign off at 12:20, allowing a quick change, then push it to our servers at 12:30.”
Right now there is a newscast per day, but Mick anticipates that soon it may go twice a day or more.
“We’re building on our reputation as a credible newspaper and want to fully embrace potential offered by better broadband 3 and 4G networks, smart phones and tablets,” he says.
“If you believe in web first—we have switched to pushing all of our content to the web ASAP rather than dumping it when the print edition goes—then this is a logical step. The beauty is that we have created the means and methodology to specialize content in capsule format If it’s there in print, and there are photos, why not combine them into a package that suits the viewer, not the newspaper editors.”
Response comments from viewers has been very positive, says Mick, and they want more!
Content is from local news, regional and Middle east, the World, Business, Sports and Entertainment—and the weather! The news is presented in a quick and tight fashion in two minutes.
“This is a very exciting development for Gulf News,” said Abdul Hamid Ahmad, editor-in-chief and executive director of publications at Al Nisr Publishing. “It shows our commitment to our readers and viewers in giving them the best news package, whether in print, or on the web. There is nothing else like it in the region.”
First newscast link:
http://gulfnews.com/gntv/headlines/gulf-news-at-midday-1.1073671
Promoting the newscast in print
Miguel Gomez, design director at the Gulf News, sends us pdfs of pages where the newscast is promoted in the printed newspaper, starting on Page One, but also directly under stories where the newscast may revisit a story that appears in print.
Of special interest today:
5 things journalists should know about Quartz, Atlantic Media’s business news startup
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/188712/5-things-journalists-should-know-about-quartz-atlantic-medias-business-news-startup/
First thing to know:
Tablet-first focus: Quartz is a digital-only publication that will be “mobile-first and tablet-focusedwith a responsive design that is optimized to fit any device.”
Time Inc CEO seeks comeback unifying online to print fiefdoms
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/time-inc-ceo-seeks-comeback-unifying-online-to-print-fiefdoms.html
First paragraph:
Time Inc. Chief Executive Officer Laura Lang, hired last year to revive the struggling magazine publisher, is forging a plan to unify its long-sparring online and print fiefdoms.
Lang wants to give customers the ability to advertise across all 21 of Time Inc.’s magazines, both on the Web and in print, potentially reaching an audience of 127 million people in one fell swoop. That’s a break from the previous strategy, where the company typically suggested doing marketing campaigns via specific brands—say, the print edition of People or Time.
Introducing The Observer in our iPad edition
http://view.mail.guardian.co.uk/?j=fef7157771600c&m=fe8a1570706c0d7a72&ls=fea016727660077d74&l=ff61157773&s=fec51c707261047b&jb=ff961273&ju=fec51d747d64017d&CMP=&r=0
Chatting with Tyler Brulé on Monocle Radio’s new show, The Stack
Listen to my chat with Tyler Brulé about future of print in Monocle Radio’s The Stack here:
http://www.monocle.com/24/shows/stack/
Sign up to get information on my new digital book
Assorted screens from the book: top, chapter openers all of which are color coded and carry illustrations by Luis Vazquez, of the Gulf News of Dubai; second image, opener of Storytelling chapter, and two inside screens.
As we get closer to publication date for The iPad Lab: Storytelling in the Age of the Tablet, we are now set up so that you can give us your email address and you will automatically be informed when the book is ready for download.
Now you can leave your email address so that you will be updated and informed the moment the book is read for download.
Simply go here:
http://ipaddesignlab.com
Video walkthrough of the iPad prototype of iPad Design Lab
SND Scandinavia Space 2012 conference
Still time to get a spot to attend the SNDS conference in Copenhagen, Sept. 27-29;
For more information:
SNDS workshop ever. Read all about SPACE 2012 here:
1st Middle East News Design Conference
It promises to be a great program, and a historic one, too: the first SND Middle East gathering. Put it on your calendars: November 8 & 9, in Beirut, Lebanon. Sponsored by An-Nahar and SND.
For more information:
http://www.snd20events.com/conference/