Dear Linkers
Thanks to everyone who responded to my call in January for information about
pre-web Australian news publications, to include in a short 1500 word section
on the history of 'digital native' online news and magazines for the new
reference book A Companion to the Australian Media:
http://www.scholarly.info/media/
Here’s the draft entry – and if anyone has any corrections or suggestions to
make please I’ll do my best to revise. It’s running over word count, so likely
to be cut rather than expanded.
regards,
Fiona
Online news and magazines Since the internet's commercialisation in the
mid-1990s traditional media websites — ninemsn, smh.com.au, ABC Online and
later news.com.au — have been Australia's most trafficked news domains. Yet
from the 1980s online entrepreneurs also developed many 'native' digital news
and information publications, including email lists, e-zines and news groups,
search engines, websites, blogs and apps. These have shaped a flourishing
independent internet mediascape, although one slow to generate conventional
advertising returns or alternative business models.
Online media development spans three phases, defined by the
openness of the communications protocols used and public accessibility of
distribution technologies:
· Dial-up information services (corporate databases, bulletin board
systems, email newsletters and news groups). Closed proprietary or open
subscriber networks (BBS, FIDOnet, Usenet) were used to exchange specialist
information.
· World Wide Web (websites, including blogs) based on open standard
protocols, hypertextuality, multimediality and interactive functionality.
Pre-2000 sites offered relatively static pages, while 'web 2.0' dynamic update
tools have enabled publishers to incorporate real time, user-generated content
and gather detailed audience data.
· Cross-media platforms (web, smartphone, tablet) emerging from
widespread uptake of internet connected mobile devices and social media
services. These signal a mainstream return to user enclosure, employing
subscriber registration, proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs),
widespread introduction of freemium apps and content paywalls.
While the majority of homegrown online media emerged during the web phase, from
the 1970s 'value added networks' such as Ausinet and IBISBusiness provided
corporate news and information services via subscriber dial-up networks. In the
1980s, with the wider use of internet TCP/IP protocols, bulletin board systems
(BBS) then supported news publishing, messaging, discussion and gaming
communities for science and information researchers, computer enthusiasts and
remote area workers. Some hardcopy technology magazines, such as Your Computer
and Internet Australia (later Australasia), also maintained BBS as a means of
interacting with their readerships. IDG's Online World magazine also set up
promotional presences on other subscriber computer networks including
CompuServe, Microsoft Network and eWorld which, like America Online, competed
with the nascent World Wide Web.
From May 1994, the Australian Academic and Research Network opened
up internet access to commercial internet service providers, signalling the
Web's rapid domestic uptake and commercialisation. A few eclectic
magazine-style sites such as Geekgirl (1993-present), Rosie Cross's
cyberfeminist site, and Thomas Ashelford's Wood & Wire (1994-1995) appeared
around this time, but Australians were largely consuming international sites
and services. Australian search engine/aggregators, such as Web Wombat (1995-),
founded by Michael Tancredi, and Peter Garriga's World Wide Whoopee Home Page,
later Beyond the Black Stump (1995-) appealed to cultural nationalism at moment
of profound informational globalisation.
Early mainstream media sites included The Age (January 1995), the
Sydney Morning Herald (August 1995), ABC Online (August 1995) and The
Australian (April 1996). These services were initially promotional, replicating
existing hardcopy and broadcast content. ABC Online and Ninemsn were early
adopters of participatory technologies. ABC Radio National held its first 'web
chat' with Antarctic scientists in mid 1997, leading to widespread use of
program-related forums into the mid 2000s. Ninemsn assumed market dominance
with its portal strategy, providing personalised hotmail, profile pages, photo
hosting and file storage, chat rooms and DIY 'web communities'.
At the turn of the century two Liberal entrepreneurs, Graham Young
and Steven Mayne, led the growth of an independent online news and opinion
sector. In April 1999 Young, a property developer and former vice-president of
the Queensland Liberal Party co-founded On Line Opinion with journalist and
Brisbane lawyer Lionel Hogg. OLO was imagined as a web portal or "shopping
centre of ideas" which would enable politicians, government, NGOs, lobby
groups, and researchers to discuss new policy ideas with the public. With the
support of education sector sponsors including the University of Sydney, the
University of Melbourne and Queensland University of Technology, Young set up
the National Forum, a not-for-profit public company, and a web portal which he
ran with a small editorial team and some volunteer assistance. The portal
hosted OLO, publishing expert op-ed articles, a discussion forum and a blog
about polling, What the People Want. Since its launch OLO has posted the work
of over four thousand authors, providing some with professional mentoring.
Young’s willingness to run highly controversial views with little editorial
intervention has, over time, sparked considerable public debate but also
sponsor and advertiser dissatisfaction. OLO's move to a fully advertising-led
model was undermined by the 2008 global financial crisis. As ad revenue
dropped, Young was forced to cut staff. He currently manages the site
unassisted. OLO attracted around 55 thousand UV/month in January 2014, down by
two thirds on its peak traffic.
Crikey [entry], set up as OLO launched, had a markedly different
fate. The creation of Stephen Mayne, former Liberal media adviser and
journalist, with his barrister partner Paula Piccini, Crikey too offered a
provocative news, feature and commentary service - but with more conventional
editorial control, a hybrid web/email newsletter delivery strategy and
compelling insider information. On selling the site to Eric Beecher's Private
Media in 2005, Mayne noted that his business owed much to tip-offs from
well-connected subscribers. Beecher later consolidated Crikey's success by
employing a stable of opinion and feature writers, cultivating specialist
bloggers and developing its freemium subscription, advertising and
merchandising revenues.
In a more deliberative move journalist Margot Kingston pioneered
mainstream news blogging in July 2000 with Webdiary, a personal political
commentary that became an "open conversation" with her readers and a site for
debate about online media ethics and accountability. On her departure from
Fairfax Media in 2005 Kingston helped re-establish Webdiary as a participatory
journalism and news discussion community, supported by volunteer labour and
occasional donations. Until 2012 when the site closed, a small contributor
group took care of editorial, moderation and technical work. On average they
published over 90% of all contributor articles and 97% of comments. Founded
before self-publishing became ubiquitous, Webdiary encouraged many users to
publish for the first time, helping launch the media careers of
writer/commentators Antony Loewenstein and Tim Dunlop.
Specialist news services appeared throughout the mid to late 2000s,
creating niche online advertising and subscription markets. The Thousands
(2005-) evolved from Sydney and Melbourne based pop culture event blogs into
'city guides'. Music sites fasterlouder, mess+noise and inthemix became the new
street press (and later part of youth publishing company Sound Alliance).
Finance journalist Alan Kohler's Eureka Report investment newsletter (2005-)
and Business Spectator website (2007-) later sold to News Limited. Sports
opinion site The Roar (August 2007-) capitalised on fan contributions, building
a pro-am community that attracted Network Ten investment.
In response to the participatory journalism moment and interest in
opinion writing, media mainstream media organisations launched their own
opinion editorial sites. The ABC's Unleashed published a mix of commissioned
and contributed editorials, and later as The Drum included in-house analysis,
sparking debates about the impact on the national broadcaster's impartiality.
News Limited followed with The Punch (2009-2013) and Fairfax Media re-launched
the National Times (2009- ).
Free generalist online news services have also increased media
source diversity, often launching new voices, but have had mixed financial
fortunes. The longest running, New Matilda (August 2004-), has nearly folded
twice. Founder John Menadue, AO, a former News Limited general manager and
senior public servant, set up NM to "improve the nature of public discussion in
Australia", to address public disenchantment with politics, media abuses of
power and the rise of spin. Inspired by Crikey, Menadue saw NM as a
"progressive" magazine of political ideas and policy development forum that
would have some influence on the Labor party. With high profile shareholders
such as William Gurry, Susie Carleton and Graham Freudenberg, a board including
pollster Rod Cameron, and a paid subscription model NM had a strong business
foundation — but struggled to satisfy both its distinct audiences. In 2007
Menadue hived off the policy initiative, which became the Centre for Policy
Development. He sold the magazine for $10 to investor Duncan Turpie, who
dropped subscriptions to attract more readers and advertising, unsuccessfully.
However after a brief closure in June 2010 editor Marni Cordell bought the
company and prompted by reader requests, ran a successful crowd-funding drive
to re-launch it in October. NM now publishes news, news features, investigative
journalism, commentary and satire with a social justice focus, supported by a
community media-like subscription model and some advertising. By early 2014 it
had around 1500 subscribers, most paying between $80-100 a year, and 150
thousand unique visitors per month, largely professionals, knowledge industry
workers and students.
Also describing itself as a "progressive journal" citizen and
investigative journalism site Independent Australia was founded in June 2010 by
owner and managing editor David Donovan, former vice Chair of the Australian
Republican movement. IA is owned by the Donovan Family Trust and focuses on
exposing legal and political corruption. While it has sought crowd-funding for
an investigation of the Peter Slipper resignation affair, IA normally runs on a
mix of donations, advertising and merchandising. Donovan reports it broke even
in mid 2013 and in early 2014 was attracting over 300 thousand UVs/month.
Philanthropy proved a less successful basis for the international
ambitions of The Global Mail, an innovative long-form feature and investigative
journalism service, launched with a splash in February 2012 after being fully
underwritten by online booking entrepreneur Graeme Wood. Wood gave TGM a pledge
of funding up to $15 million over $5 years, and a free editorial hand to
promote independent, transparent, “open” journalism that would promote reader
engagement. Edited by ex-ABC foreign correspondent and Media Watch presenter
Monica Attard and then, following her departure, by journalist Lauren Martin,
the TGM's sophisticated multimedia works attracted numerous commendations and
won contributors three Walkley awards. However the site did not develop a broad
user base or sustainable revenue streams. It closed after Wood withdrew his
support in 2014 and invested in the UK Guardian's Australia web operation.
In contrast Australia's fastest-growing international feature and analysis
service, not-for-profit The Conversation, has developed from a more diverse
base of government and corporate sponsorship. Launched in March 2011, TC was
the vision of former Fairfax editor Andrew Jaspan with the support of political
scientist Glyn Davis, Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. It
publishes commissioned and contributed articles written by academics, with
professional editorial support. Building on seed funding from five
universities, the CSIRO, Federal and Victorian governments, Commonwealth Bank
and legal advice from Corrs Chambers Westgarth, TC has enlisted 28 Australian
university partners or funders and begun a global push, launching a UK edition
in May 2013 and establishing a Jakarta based editor. The local presence
received 1.5 million UVs/month in March 2014, thirty five per cent from
overseas. Its adoption of Creative Commons licensing has seen eighty-seven per
cent of articles republished elsewhere, with a monthly reach of 5 million
reads; an effective promotional strategy.
By 2014 Private Media owner Eric Beecher was Australia's most
successful commercial independent online news publisher, with Crikey and five
free access niche titles — Leading Company, Property Observer, SmartCompany,
StartUp Smart, and Women's Agenda — targeting high-income users. As competition
for domestic advertising has increased digital news entrepreneurs have sought
local and international partnerships to sustain new ventures. In 2013 Beecher
and veteran print editor Bruce Guthrie launched The New Daily, a news
aggregation site, with funding from three major superannuation funds. The
investment led the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to monitor
the site's coverage of super issues for bias. In mid 2014 Nine Entertainment
Co's digital publishing company Mi9 partnered the UK's most popular web news
service, the Mail Online to launch an Australian-badged site that aggregates
lifestyle and celebrity content from both publishers.
DR FIONA MARTIN
Senior Lecturer in Convergent and Online Media
Department of Media and Communications | School of Letters Arts and Media
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
Contact:
Rm S208, Level 2, John Woolley Building, A20
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006.
T +61 2 9036 5098 | F +61 2 9351 5444 | M +61 428 391 122
E
[email protected]<applewebdata://57C58A5E-AE4F-4726-A895-93A2D893AA28/[email protected]>
TW: @media_republik
W http://sydney.edu.au/
_______________________________________________
Link mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
