The Knowledge Bridge website provides news businesses in emerging democracies with the tools and specialist advice they need to develop sustainable digital businesses.
By sharing practical insights, trends and analysis, the site – which is funded by Adessium Foundation and DOEN Foundation – helps outlets develop digital products, content and revenue strategies so they can navigate the transition to a digital future – a multi-platform world where financial sustainability is achieved through a mix of traditional and digital sources.
Here is a selection of some of the most popular recent posts:
Don’t let a CMS ruin your news organisation
A lot of companies sigh wearily when they talk about their content-management systems, the software that they use to manage their websites. If you’re looking for a CMS for the first time or looking to upgrade from the one you use, start by asking yourself what you need. With all the changes in the media, it sometimes feels like war, and you might believe you need an aircraft carrier. Resist the urge. What you probably need is a fast and nimble speedboat.
Clear editorial goals essential to effective UGC strategy
News organisations have added depth to their journalism by embracing user-generated content, whether that is news tips, photos, videos and eyewitness accounts of breaking news stories, or comments on stories of the day. To create successful user-generated content strategies, news organisations need to clearly identify their editorial goals.
Dayparting: Publishing digital content when your audience is most likely to see it
Matching the time you publish content on your website with the time your audience is most likely to be online is a simple and affordable way to increase consumption and engagement. Publishing specific types of content at times of the day when that type of content is most in demand works even better.
Real-time bidding brings flexibility and revenues to digital ad markets
When journalists and editors talk about the disruption that the internet and digital media has brought to journalism, we often focus on how it has changed the way that the public gets access to news and information. However, some of the biggest changes have been to the business of journalism and especially to advertising, which is an essential source of revenue for most news outlets.
Online classifieds: Choosing a successful strategy
The global classified advertising market is forecast to reach $14bn, according to ZenithOptimedia. MDIF’s Senior Digital Advisor Ross Settles gives practical advice on how you can assess the opportunity in your market, identify the competitive advantages you have and then develop a strategy to tap into this source of revenue.
El Faro: Using the best of new and traditional media to give Salvadorans a voice
News website El Faro in El Salvador partnered with an ad agency to create a highly successful multi-platform campaign. Using the website, Twitter, radio, TV, billboards and print, they provided a way for local people to tell politicians their ideas for improving the country, from greater transparency in decision-making to how to tackle flooding. The campaign gave ordinary people a voice, while also increasing traffic to El faro’s website, subscriptions to their news service and their followers on Twitter and Facebook.
South Africa’s Paperight holds opportunities for long-form journalism
A start-up in South Africa, Paperight, shows how technology can help bring books and, potentially, long-form investigative and magazine journalism to wider audiences by using the web and copy shops.