2. Mobile Publishing: “Gateway Drug” for News

(NOTE: This post is part of a series. Series index.)

Cell phones are everywhere—current research puts their penetration at 82% of the US population. They’re surprisingly popular in many communities typically underserved by news orgs (especially the working poor and immigrants).

Therefore, it makes sense to offer relevant mobile offerings—especially to communities of difference—and to promote mobile offerings through those communities’ preferred media. This can create a bridge between their current media of choice to the news organization’s core offerings.

Mobile offerings also can provide two-way communication that’s “close at hand”—limited for true conversation, but adequate for feedback purposes.

Some mobile content ideas…

While USAtoday.com (and many other national and metro dailies, like the LA Times) have great mobile offerings that work, the news offered there is fairly mainstream and generic—not necessarily optimized for relevance to communities of interest.

It’s pretty easy to offer mobile syndication for any RSS feed. Figure out what content might be attractive to communities you aren’t yet reaching well, and try feeding it to them via mobile.

Options to consider:

• Text messaging: For breaking news, daily headlines, or event announcements—like Go2 (more about them)

• Voicemail updates: Either delivered to users’ voicemail, or they get an occasional text message reminder to call in and listen for the latest news or special announcements. Can help overcome literacy and even language barriers. Fox News Radio does updates-to-voicemail.
  
• Headline syndication agreements for news sources on relevant topics (like EIN News) or in relevant languages (like Somali Sports & Culture). This can serve both online and mobile delivery. Twin Cities Daily Planet does this with online Hmong headlines from Hmong Today—content that could easily be syndicated to mobile.

Experimenting is easy! If you can’t afford or don’t want to build your own mobile syndication infrastructure, you can get easy mobile distribution of any feed via services like BuzMob or Twitterfeed. (Each has limitations, see what would work for you.)

PROMOTION VIA PREFERRED MEDIA

How are these communities already getting their news, info, and entertainment? Promote your mobile services via channels they are already connected to. Yes, this means buying ads or sponsoring programming. Tell people what you offer, why they should care, and give them a quick, easy way to subscribe by mobile. Examples include:

• Broadcast radio and TV (you could buy ads or sponsor programming). Talk, sports, and culture programming are especially good options.
• Satellite radio & TV
  
• Community newspapers and magazines (especially in other languages, like Ming Pao Toronto)
• Church, community center, or school bulletins
• Free paper inserts or ads
• Fliers and posters

The point is to go where they are, and tell them what they can do with something they probably have in their pocket to get connected to you—and why it would be worth their while. Even if it’s just rugby scores, it’s a connection you can build upon.

3. Blogs as a Community Content Hub...

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