This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, October 21.
Could USAToday print edition go away?
Is USA Today’s print edition headed for the sunset as GateHouse and Gannett merge? Signs point to yes.
Highlight from this piece:
After a nearly 40-year run, USA Today and its digital sites are about to undergo a major restructuring that will include building up digital marketing while phasing out the print edition.
Why am I not surprised? It is not just that obituaries for print editions are appearing more often. But I have been noticing the decay and the downsizing of USA Today for over a year, and have chronicled that in my blog. Once the king of innovative newspaper design and the best explanatory graphics, USA Today is now an anemic product that has nothing to do with its origins.
The end of the print edition may come as a result of a deal in which GateHouse’s parent, New Media Investment Group, acquired Gannett, which owns USA Today. That deal will not be finalized for two months and the end of USA Today in print may take much longer than that.
My earlier blogs about USA Today:USA Today: turning grayer?
USA Today not even a shadow of USA Today yesterd
USA TODAY turns 30: Part 1—Looking into the attic for those early sketches
USA TODAY turns 30: Part 2—USA TODAY turns 30-Part 2—-A newspaper that influenced all of us
USA TODAY turns 30: Part 3—USA TODAY turns 30-Part 3—-A weather map that created a global tsunami
USA TODAY turns 30-Part 4-The first newspaper to do that tango of the serious and the silly
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/usa_today_turns_30-part_4-the_first_newspaper_to_do_that_tango_of_the_serioUSA Today turns 30, par
Artificial intelligence in the newsroom
This is a trendy topic at every workshop I conduct, and I know that editors will benefit from this report that comes from the WAN IFRA World Editors Forum, with tons of information about AI.
A highlight from Cherilyn Ireton, Executive Director, World Editors Forum (WEF):
This report, the second of the World Editors Forum’s 2019 Trends in Newsrooms, captures just some of the experiences of both pioneers and experimenters. From the USA to Sweden and Singapore, we have selected case studies that show how AI can benefit resource-challenged newsrooms, by conducting repetitive tasks, augmenting decision making and helping to deliver a more tailored and engaging offering to news audiences.
How to order the report
The report is free for WAN IFRA members, and 150 euros for non members.
https://www.wan-ifra.org/reports/2019/09/30/trends-in-newsrooms-2-ai-in-the-newsroom
“Reader First” Strategy for The Economist
Highlight:
A strong focus on a “reader-first” circulation model has helped The Economist grow its reader revenues by 50 percent while doubling its gross margin in the past five years.
The three central pillars of the reader-first strategy are:
- Focus on the customer
- Perfecting product development
- Pricing, pricing, pricing
I suggest you read this piece. It is interesting to see that the Reader First approach for The Economist works across a multiplatform terrain. There is something to study there.
From Monocle Weekend
THE INTERROGATOR / EDITION 30
https://monocle.com/minute/2019/09/21/
Mario García
Editorial consultant Mario García has advised the most important newsrooms in the world on design – and how best adapt to a digital transition. More than 700 publications, from The Wall Street Journal to the South China Morning Post, have received his strategic steer. Other than being an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, he also runs his own consultancy firm: García Media. Nowadays his speciality is how digital devices influence narrative structure and consumption; his latest book, The Story, was written specifically to be read on a phone. Here, though, he confesses to a few analogue pleasures.
What they are saying about The Story!
The Story is here!
You can now download my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, from Apple Books at $6.99
This is Book 1 of a Trilogy! The other two books coming soon.
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-volume-i/id1480169411
The newspaper remains the most powerful source of storytelling on the planet. But technology threatens its very existence. To survive, the Editor must transform, adapt, and manage the newsroom in a new way. Order The Story by Mario Garcia, chief strategist for the redesign of over 700 newspapers around the world.
My chat with in Monocle Radio
Listen to my chat in Monocle Radio’s The Stack: Latest episode‘The Face’ and ‘The Story’:We welcome the return of the print version of ‘The Face’ and talk to legendary newspaper designer Mario Garcia about his latest book, ‘The Story’.
https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-stack/368/play/
My interview with CNN en Español
I was a guest in the program Encuentro, hosted by Guillermo Arduino daily at CNN en Español. The interview was about how we read on mobile devices and my introduction of my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, to a Spanish-language audience.
Mario’s speaking engagements
October 25, 2019
Keynote Luncheon Speech: Ad Club of Toronto, Newspaper Day
November 12, 2019
Keynote presentation: Business Information & Media Summit (BIMS).
November 20, 2019
Presentation of The Story in Zurich, Switzerland, at launch party (by invitattion only). Sponsored by Monocle The Stack.
March 13, 2020
Keynote presentation at the National Media College Association Spring Convention, New York City, NY>
Order print edition of The Story
You can order the print edition of my new mobile storytelling book, The Story, from Amazon already here:
An interview of interest
http://www.itertranslations.com/blog/2019/3/11/fd60ybflpvlqrgrpdp5ida5rq0c3sp
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