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Weekly UpdatesJim Boren, in tending The Fresno Bee's Opinion Talk blog, uses "drip irrigation."
For the California agricultural region around Fresno, it's an apt metaphor. But instead of judiciously targeted use of water to grow crops, Boren is marketing specific editorials or blog entries to people or organizations with a vested interest in the topic.
"If we write about agriculture, we send links to all the farm groups," said Boren. He has several ready-made email lists, including one for immigration groups, pro and con--another hot topic for the region.
The strategy has been paying off. The blog has a strong following that includes loyal local readers in addition to these other cultivated audiences.
It's a far cry from newspapering of old. You used to print your editorial, and most people in town bought the paper, read it and responded with letters to the editor. It was a pretty straightforward conversation.
But these days, with the proliferation of opinion content, both local and national, on the Internet and younger readers increasingly getting their news from online sources, readers' attention is often divided or overwhelmed.
That's where Boren's brand of reader cultivation comes in. He knows there is an audience for The Fresno Bee's authoritative commentary; he just is making sure the commentary lands in front of the audience.
Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, has a less bucolic term for this: "Prostitute yourself." He urges bloggers to send links to community bloggers--yes, even the ones you would like to ignore--and link to them.
"Don't imagine [audiences] are going to find you by serendipity," Cox said. "You have to have an active campaign."
That's a strategy Miriam Pepper, vice president of The Kansas City Star editorial page, has on her to-do list, although her editorial page blog has been wildly successful for other reasons.
In October, the Star's Midwest Voices blog logged 1.57 million hits--about 10 times greater than the usual monthly average--in part because Missouri was repeating its traditional role as a battleground state in the presidential election. People--from near and far--were after Missouri political news in a big way.
However, the Star's blog already was particularly positioned to provide readers with pertinent political content that keeps people checking back.
Midwest Voices blog has strong local commentary with an easy-to-maneuver blog page that also aggregates editorial comment from other Midwestern newspapers.
But besides Star staff bloggers, community members are invited into the mix. Among those deputized with blog privileges are members of a reader advisory panel and a group of community writers who write columns as well.
With community members as well as public commenters, the Midwest Voices blog is an egalitarian modern answer to the stuffy, editorial page preaching to the masses.
It's engaging and conversational and extremely topical.
Among Pepper's recommendations for building audience is ensuring the blog has frequent, updated content. She has no blogging quota for staff members, but by spreading the responsibility to trusted community bloggers, new content has not been a problem.
"If people come and the blog is static and nothing changes, they won't come again" she warns. "Three new posts a day won't cut it."
She also encourages her bloggers to post fast on any national breaking story. One writer posts often about the latest Gallup poll, which draws readers to the blog. Pepper expects some of them are sticking around for other things.
At The Dallas Morning News, which was one of the first editorial pages to jump into the blogosphere, the blog's following is well-cultivated among local readers but also played a role in the presidential election conversation with many breaking blog items that went viral. Among them was assistant editorial page editor Michael Landauer's blog entry about what exactly community organizers do--when Barack Obama's experience was being derided. It got 110,000 hits.
Landauer says frequent posts are critical to building an audience for the blog. Initially, editorial page editor Keven Willey began requiring all writers to post at least three blog items a day. The requirement is not necessary now, but it was at the beginning as writers were loosening up and becoming more comfortable with this new kind of commentary journalism.
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That interaction has paid off in a blog that ranges from conversational to pointed, from serious to silly. Writers wrestle with each other, agreeing and disagreeing over topics. This brings a transparency to editorial boards, which often are criticized for being opaque and aloof.
"Readers see us screwing with each other, bickering and making fun of each other, so they get to know each of us a little better," Landauer said. "We're not disrespectful. We're fun and snarky. Most successful blogs are personality driven."
Landauer often squares off with conservative Rod Dreher in serious, but playful, disagreements. "People are surprised to learn we have lunch together almost every day," Landauer said.
Landauer shares Boren's belief in the importance of marketing content. He often uses Internet tools to increase eyes on the News' content, such as Digg. He also posts his blog entries to his Facebook page.
"It's like fishing," Landauer says. "You bait the hook and see what happens."
Speaking of hooks, all three of these editors emphasize the importance of blog entry headlines that will show up in reader searches.
"Sarah Palin" was very successful during the election season--so you get the idea.
Pithy, clever headlines that work in print will be snubbed by search engines. Search engines have no affinity for the English language and no sense of humor. So spell it out. Use full names of subjects and organizations.
A couple things common to all three of these blogs:
Readers get a clear idea about everything the editorial page staff is doing. New editorials are posted; columnists post about their latest columns. Appearances of editorial board members on radio or TV are advertised through the blog. All is mixed in with blog posts on everything ranging from local to world affairs.
All three are cross-promoted in the print product. With shrinking print real estate, that might be uncomfortable to do, but readers have to learn you have online content if you want them to find it.
Boren is serious about spreading the word about his staff's blog. Not only does he spend up to an hour a day marketing blog content to audiences outside his print circulation area that might not find it otherwise, he's trying to get as many local readers as well.
He's made up business cards with the blog address on it, and hands them out when he speaks in the community and even at his local coffee shop.
"I've gotten very good at dropping cards on all the tables," Boren says.
Check out the blogs:
Kansas City Star Midwest Voices blog: http://voices.kansascity.com/
Fresno Bee Opinion Talk http://www.fresnobeehive.com/opinion/
Dallas Morning News Opinion Blog http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/
Kate Riley is associate editorial page editor/ online at The Seattle Times. Email: kriley@seattletimes.com
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