Examiner.com and the hyper-local long tail
The Washington, DC home page for Examiner.com reveals local and national content from writers who are paid according to the hits their stories receive.
Brady Holt was bored in history class last week. But instead of doodling in a notebook or tapping away at Brick Breaker on his phone, the 20-year-old University of Maryland junior used the period to knock out a review of the new Hyundai Sienna minivan. He posted it to his "DC Car Examiner" section of Examiner.com, and waited. That afternoon, some 7,000 people read Holt's piece. At a penny per view, the journalism major - and somewhat indifferent history student - netted $70.
Holt is one of thousands of writers for Examiner.com, a network of news websites a little over a year and a half old with headquarters in Denver and contributors worldwide. He has been writing (the company would say "examining") for just over a year, which makes him part of the old guard. Most writers, like hunting and fishing enthusiast C. Boyd Pfeiffer, are much newer to the site.
Pfeiffer, who lives in Phoenix, Md., north of Baltimore, has been writing for more than 35 years, including some 26 books. He has been contributing his "Outdoorsman" column for about two months.
The 72-year-old author of "The Compleat Surfcaster" might seem an odd fit for an experimental news service. But Pfeiffer, who turned out a column for the Baltimore Examiner, a print newspaper with the same owner that folded last Februrary, said he liked the idea of trying something new. "This seemed like an opportunity," he said.
Pfeiffer's deep knowledge of the Maryland and Pennsylvania streams, rivers, and forests presents an opportunity to the managers of Examiner.com, as well. By embracing everyone from quilting buffs to "sports babes" fans, Clarity Media Group, which owns the network, has sought to create a clearinghouse for stories that fit seemingly every conceivable reader.
Dave Flomberg, senior manager of editorial operations and support for Examiner.com, called the site "hyper-local." He compared it to a mashup of local information sites Yelp and About.com, and said much of its appeal is in the feeling of community the site can provide.
"In many cases, it's local people discussing their passions with each other," Flomberg said. A nightlife columnist for the defunct Rocky Mountain News, Flomberg was one of the first editorial staffers hired at Examiner.com when he took the job last fall. At present, he estimates some 70 full-time staffers are now employed, half of whom are in editorial.
'Hyper-local' or national content?
The Examiner.com site for Washington, DC features a mix of reporting about local and national subjects. Rhea Yablon Kennedy, 29, writes about farmers' markets in the area, including Dupont Circle, Alexandria, and the recently opened market near the White House, which went a little crazy after a visit from the First Lady in September.
Kennedy, a confirmed foodie who also blogs about healthy eats like tofu turkey and kale on her own site, started her "DC Farmers Market" section last May to gain exposure as a food writer.
A friend who contributes to the community blog DCist.com showed Kennedy that "online writing - paid or not - can really get your name out there," she said in an e-mail interview. A graduate writing student at Johns Hopkins University, Kennedy said she finds the affiliation with a recognized national publication helpful.
"'Can I interview you for my food blog?'" or "'I'm a creative writing student'" only goes so far," she said. "'I'm a reporter for Examiner.com' sounds much better."
Many of the contributors to the Washington, DC Examiner.com, though residents of the area, write about nationally relevant topics like Brady Holt's car reviews, or the White House party crashers.
At a penny per page view, writers who are eyeing the site as a serious source of income have a strong incentive to cover subjects with broad appeal. The "Alexandria Parenting Multiples" column is probably a bit too hyper-local to get much traction outside of its twins-in-Alexandria niche.
Most contributors are hobbyists
The most widely read writer on the site at the moment is Amanda Bell, the "Twlight Examiner." Flomberg said Bell has done two things very well: she has capitalized on a popular topic, the Twilight book and movie series, and is providing a hefty amount of rich content.
How much? Last Wednesday she published eight posts in one day.
"When we first started this, nobody knew what the hell Twilight was," Flomberg said. But Bell's savvy pursuit of the topic has positioned her as a leading commentator on the series. "She's commanding respect from the people involved in Twilight," he said. So much so that she is now being fed insider information in the same way a writer for traditional trade magazines like Variety might be.
Not every writer can be an Amanda Bell. Indeed, most are nowhere close. Holt, one of the more popular contributors in the Washington, DC region, estimates he will make about $5,000 this year from his Examiner.com column. That's a nice supplement to a full-time job, but Holt said he does not expect ever to be able to make a living from his Examiner.com work.
None of writers interviewed said they were writing for the money. Most are young, either students or full-time workers who are building portfolios in their spare time.
Carly Beetsch, 25, works in the marketing department for Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She doesn't write about theater or marketing on Examiner.com, though: this is her fourth week moonlighting as the "Graffiti Examiner."
Beetsch learned about the site from reading Examiner.com reviews of the theater company where she works. In an e-mail interview, she said she has always liked to write, and took up her column as a way to explore her interest in graffiti art.
Search Engine Optimization and the local advertising market
Examiner.com has demonstrated an uncanny knack for getting its writers to the top of Google searches. Since most users enter a site through a search, rather than browsing down from the home page, this may be as valuable a service as any Examiner.com provides its bloggers.
That's true for Amanda Bell's Twilight vigil, but it might also hold some hope for niche writers like Beetsch, Kennedy, and Pfeiffer. The local advertising market is estimated at nearly $140 billion, only 10% of which is currently flowing to digital content. If hyper-local content providers can build up a solid portfolio of articles about graffiti innovator Banksy, Takoma Park's farmer's market, and Chesapeake striped bass fishing, the long tail might eventually bring in the advertising revenues that are absent today.
Even if that day comes, it is not at all clear whether Clarity Media Group will re-examine its pay scale. Its writers have so far shown they are willing to work hard for, in most cases, very little.
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December 11th, 2009 - 09:17
This was a fair and balanced article on “examining.” I appreciate your approach by highlighting amateur as well as established writers because some in the traditional media have often dismissed the writing at the Examiner.com. I am the Baltimore Science News Examiner and like those you list here, I don’t really write for the money. I write more for an opportunity to try new writing forms (essays, etc.) and to cover topics that I could not in my day job (also as a science writer but for a major research university). I have hit the jackpot a couple of times with stories I’ve posted. One story on the top 20 websites every scientist or engineer ought to know netted me more than $1,400 in one month and continues to send readers my way. Thanks again for this post.
December 11th, 2009 - 13:40
Great article and thank you for addressing this so fairly! We Examiners appreciate it!
December 11th, 2009 - 16:41
Much thanks for the fair and impartial article on us Examiners. I am the Detroit Substance Abuse Examiner, and have been writing about drug related issues since May of this year. Like Mary Spiro, I am not in this for the money either. My passion is in helping people understand the issues in addiction whether they are abusing drugs, or not. Being in recovery myself gives people the opportunity to hear it from the horse’s mouth. After a 36 year addiction to heroin, a couple of decades in prison, as well as being a former substance abuse counselor, and paralegal, I offer readers intimate knowledge you can only get from someone who has been on both sides of the fence. Again, thank you for your balanced and articulate article.
December 11th, 2009 - 16:54
Definately a fair view of how it works at Examiner.com. I hope this type of coverage continues! No one writing for Examiner should think of quitting their day job over night! But it’s fun to watch the clicks add up and loyal readership build.
Also, as mentioned in the article, definately gives someone clout when requesting interviews! Thanks to my writing as the national Special Needs Kids Examiner, I’ve gotten in touch with many experts and other writers in this field and that in turn allows me to get good information out there to parents. That is my passion and goal. To be a source of common-sense, quality information.
December 11th, 2009 - 18:35
Thank you so much for the article. I love writing for the Examiner and it’s great to see that someone “get’s it!”
December 12th, 2009 - 09:03
Mark,
Thanks so much for this article! IMO this is a very disturbing trend not only because this revenue model is extremely disadvantageous to journalists, but also tends to degrade the quality of writing on the Internet (I realize this is not always the case! Some are very good writers.) But I have read multiple examiner.com posts that are nothing but bad regurgitations of press releases. It doesn’t seem to matter if there is consistent or high quality writing on their Web sites.
December 12th, 2009 - 10:41
This was a great article for a newbie examiner to read. I report on my home town area that I’ve been covering on my own sites and blogs for the last 11 years and what examiner has given me is a community to write WITH… I don’t feel so all alone out in cyber space now.
December 12th, 2009 - 13:55
Definitely a fair and balanced article. With less than two years under its belt, examiner.com still has much to do in refining its identity, style and content. It will be interesting to watch (and in my case, participate in) the growth.
December 12th, 2009 - 15:17
I’m lovin’ Examiner.com
December 13th, 2009 - 13:54
I am the Wii Fitness Examiner, a title I invented for myself to fulfill my passion of preaching about the Wii for fitness. Examiner.com is an amazing company and the platform they’ve created is excellently constructed. I do this full-time and I do believe this is ‘crowdsourcing’ at its best! Thanks for the great article.
Penda, Goddess of Virtual Fitness Wii FAB (For Absolute Beginners)
December 14th, 2009 - 12:09
As the Suburban Philadelphia Teen Issues Examiner, I have to say it’s the community Examiner.com fosters that means the most to me – that and writing on a topic I am passionate about. No, it won’t get you rich, at least not in topics outside of arts & entertainment, but it is nice to be able to build a web presence that will hopefully turn into different revenue streams down the road.
December 16th, 2009 - 19:00
“Even if that day comes, it is not at all clear whether Clarity Media Group will re-examine its pay scale. Its writers have so far shown they are willing to work hard for, in most cases, very little.”
This is a double-edged sword, and one best wielded with a little thought about the consequences, good and not-so-good, of this type of journalism. On one hand, all that passion for writing and purveying information about a subject one holds dear is inspiring. Given how hard it is these days to earn money, it’s good for people to place more value on their earnings than they might have a few years ago. And one can’t underestimate the value of more people with diverse viewpoints having direct access to publishing tools, without risk of being censored due to a publication’s revenue concerns or editorial bias.
On the other hand, there’s something to be said for professional journalism. It takes time to develop research, writing, and editing skills, to do good background research, develop strong interview questions, and pin down evasive subjects. It takes time to fact-check, as well as to understand background and context, particularly for very complex subjects. This is what good journalism is.
But good journalism takes time, and time is money. Good journalism is also the basis for democracy. For democracy to work, people have to participate. For people to participate, they have to be informed. For people to be informed, they not only need access to information, but to quality information. For some people to research and write that information, they need both training and time. Which takes us full circle – good journalism takes time, and time is money.
A friend of mine said the other day that she doesn’t think people will pay for news on the web because they’re used to getting it for free. I think that’s a misconception. Nothing is free, and information is no exception. The only questions are, what’s the cost and who is paying? Are the people who live in a democratic society going to pay for it by sacrificing the accuracy and reliability of information on which they base important decisions? Or are those same people going to pay for it by acknowledging that in order to get that information, some people have to be paid to find, write it, edit it, and publish it?
In principal, I support participatory journalism as much as I support participatory democracy. But just as it’s unlikely for any jurisdiction to be run well if it is only run by leaders with no prior experience or education, and no ability to get it, it’s unlikely for information to be provided well if it is only provided by writers with no prior experience or education – and no ability to get it.
It’s pretty clear to anyone who can read that current print models of journalism are on their way out, and still-developing models of web journalism are on their way in. It makes sense to me, on every conceivable level that, as this happens, those in charge of web publications should ensure that financial success at the core is accompanied by increasing professionalism and remuneration on the front lines.
If Clarity Media Group continues to do well with examiner.com as a result of all the hard work of its “examiners,” I think they should re-examine their pay scale. Perhaps they should pay more to writers who achieve and sustain a certain level of page views, promote some writers to editorial and/or training positions, maybe developing a profit-sharing model. The point is that, one way or another, they should do it – and not just to be nice guys, but because it would be the only really responsible thing to do.
January 6th, 2010 - 23:35
Exceedingly well stated, Lynn.
That last sentence leaped out at me, as well. And not in a good way.
Seemingly: “No matter how successful YOU make us, we’ll continue to pay you pennies since you seem to be willing to contribute for pennies.”
Unfortunately, this compares well with the evolved corporate-capitalistic model seen today with some frequency. Oftentimes, expertise, effort and longevity at the production level are rewarded no better than the lackluster. Which creates inverse selection (the good ones leave).
The end result (quantity, quality, profits, et al.), thusly, minimized.
Not exactly the kind of star to which one would wish to hitch their wagon, is it?
I was similarly surprised to see them print your comparable sentiments!
Will they mine?
March 1st, 2010 - 17:32
http://angengland.com/can-you-make-money-writing-for-examinercom/