"The Oregonian" is a newspaper here in Portland, Oregon. They are changing the job description of the reporters. They are introducing online requirements for their reporters.
Not really news, I'm sure cheap pulp up here delayed their full embrasure of online reporting compared to newspapers in other regions.
But what got my attention was their formula for a sucessful writer.The link below is for the blockquoted text.
http://www.opb.org/...
The new policy, shown to the editorial staff in a PowerPoint presentation in late February, provides that as much as 75 percent of reporters’ job performance will be based on measurable web-based metrics, including how often they post to Oregonlive.com.
Beat reporters will be expected to post at least three times a day, and all reporters are expected to increase their average number of posts by 40 percent over the next year.
In addition, reporters have been told to stir up online conversations among readers.
“On any post of substance, reporter will post the first comment,” the policy says. “Beat reporters [are to] solicit ideas and feedback through posts, polls and comments on a daily basis.”
Write stories, add a poll, engage in comments. Right down to making the first comment. And PIE, except they call it stirring up interest.
I'm sure this longtime company sought out professional advisors to predict the best methodology for creating a vibrant news site. But seeing the format here being duplicated by a brick and mortar newspaper seeking to improve their profits makes me wonder, briefly, if their site will be a threat to bloggers.
But then I remembered they are driven by profit and that their page is so stuffed with cookies now it can take five minutes for the page to load. So not really a threat.
Another concern of mine was they are going to get desperate for stories and we will probably be seeing our posts here being duplicated by them. But that is a good thing, I know I post here to share information.