Why www.bristol247.com has got it right

Had an interesting meeting with Chris Brown, Editor and Founder of new regional online news site Bristol247.com yesterday.

Here’s a guy that’s got it right – for the readers, advertisers and online consumer in general. Great service and fantastic business model. Plus, a genuine, sparky, fun, professional, switched-on, and digitally-savvy commercial editor.

Not just that, but the site offers something new, refreshing and contemporary  – not just a re-hash of newsroom content, as you’ll find here. At last, an online content portal for news-hungry readers looking for objectivity, plus great advertising opportunities.

Bravo. Nice Tweeting from him too – check it out here.

Looking for free PR exposure?

Try here for starters…but make sure your content is top-notch.

Wanted: an editor who can also sell ad space

Is this the way forward for journalism? It certainly appears so, according to the job advert listed on holdthefrontpage.

As a senior journalist, I’m astounded.

Astounded that the company are recruiting for a senior editorial professional, but also attempting to lump a full-time sales position into the role too. Would you take this vacancy seriously if you were an experienced, NCTJ-qualified journalist?

Strikes me that there are two positions here, and the firm are attempting to save cash by rolling it into one vacancy. Awful.

Blogging content takes a beating

Well, according to this it does.

Statistics from the Guardian’s Charles Arthur highlight that the mass consumer is migrating with incredible proliferation to tweeting and facebook status updates, rather than spending time writing and posting blogs: Arthur goes to suggest that time is a factor. As always, most people will take the easiest, least-effort path to content creation.

But, the argument for blogging – certainly in terms of marketing strong content and attracting potential customers, media readers and building loyalty with existing clients – all form a powerful case for the continued influence of blogging.

After all, despite the fact that – according to the New York Times – 95% of all blogs are being abandoned for quicker forms of content provision and distribution, it is still very much the case that despite the billions of blogs out there which have died and been forgotten since the blogosphere really took off in 2004, blogs are still read and given significant attention. If the content is good. A blog selling stuff soon fades, but a blog giving advice, hints, tips and insight stands the rigours of Twitter and the like.

More importantly, for me, although tweeting and linking on facebook gives a snapshot, a brief indicator of attitude, business ethics and other micro-indicators, the true test of endurance will come from a sustained, thoughtful, insightful blog site.