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I read a post on The Blog Herald this morning that really quite distressed me (doesn’t take much obviously).

The post related to an editorial in a Newspaper in which the writer obviously knocked a blogger, live blogging a council meeting, comparing live blogging to a newspaper article about the meeting to a live blog of the event.

Really it’s apples to oranges as far as I’m concerned. Aren’t we looking at two different audiences? Thord Hedengren correctly points out that it’s a difference between that is happening and what did happen.

Having recorded minutes for more meetings than I care to remember I know there is a difference between what goes on at a meeting and what is recorded in the minutes. I was told just the other day “that’s why they’re called minutes”!” Minutes record the actions and motions in a meeting, a newspaper article will record significant (and often of interest to the reporter) events during the event and a live blog will relay almost everything that is going on as it’s happening!

What disturbed me more about the same editorial is that they talked about advertising and that the difference in pricing between online ads and the newspaper ads. It would seem that the online ads are only worth about 10% as much as the newspaper ads, why? Well, the reason given is that print advertising (as opposed to online ads) “actually WORKS”

Wow, someone has some guts!

There are other, truly false, simply crazy claims made too. “…they can’t tell you much. How often do YOU click on an online ad?” Sorry, Mr. Editor, you need to sit in one of my analytics sessions.

Online advertising is often simply ignored, especially small square ads with annoying animation or no useful value-driven offer. Worse, some ads appear virtually on their own, adjacent to nothing, or so crowded into the tiny space on the edge of a Web page that their message is lost. Online ads have their place certainly and can help brand a business, but simply showing a logo is not the best way for a business to drive traffic to their store. Online ads are almost always quite small, so for that reason alone

Wrong again Mr. Editor. I have a 6 letter word for you that proves that wrong – Google. This small business is making the most of the few clicks they receive from the people who don’t ignore the relevant ads and just managing to get by on $5bln each year. Wow, I wish I knew there was no money in online ads!

Obviously this newspaper and their media group have no focus in their web sites, maybe they should change that.

No, Newspapers are not dead. I read newspapers. There is quality newspaper journalism out there. But there is a place for both and certainly no need for attacks on online media like this.

Learn a little.

Oh and I agree with one of the comments in the editorial “that comes across as defensive and scared”

See the post in The Blog Herald

Read the editorial

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