I wrote about how newspapers have an incredible amount of value online. Technology companies largely ignore this. Many a self-proclaimed Web 2.0 evangelist have declared the “death of newspapers.” This post summarizes my initial thoughts on the online newspaper revenue model. I decided to start because Mark Glaser over at MediaShift wrote a recent article entitled “How the Online Newspaper can Become a Community Hub.” I agree with his key points which are focused around incorporating the community in the news creation process and structuring the online site around niche areas.

Community and interactivity are key for local newspapers as they move online

The New Media viewpoint is that local news agencies are no longer gatekeepers of information and that the user is now in control. While I don’t agree that the user is fully in control, newspapers must realize that incorporating an actively participating community is key for online success. The internet benefits content creators because it lets users interact with content. Interacting with content means more personalization and more consumption time. These are the types of things that drive online revenues, assuming the right advertising strategy.

Online Newspapers should create a social network focused on their community

Online social networking features are the tools that will enable community members to interact with news. It won’t be easy at first. The majority of newspaper readers probably haven’t done much more than submit letters to the editor. Newspapers should give readers an online platform to interact, rank and participate in commentary and article submission. The cost of managing comments might be high at first, but as users become more familiar with online social network features, participation becomes more transparent and technology gets better, the community will bear the cost.

Online Newspapers should create a wiki business model

Local newspapers sit on huge repositories of information. Everything from local sports information, to political history, to development history has, at some point, been in a newspaper article. Additionally, local communities look to newspapers as primary news sources for local information. Taking the social network model to the online newspaper means creating wikis that allow users to maintain information about niche community topics that are relevant for them. Think: County High School Soccer team record and history repository; or County Governor Campaign History. Enable users to pick and choose the topics that are most important to them and empower them with information.

Because social networks and wikis create loyal and active users, this business model will drive participation and interaction online-key components for monetization success.

Obviously the advertising model needs to get much more creative than in the past. This will be the focus of my next post. Please comment.

Update 1: “Be the Platform“