6 March 2013

Locally owned, locally focused websites? RiotACT and daylight

| johnboy
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Grey’s Eye On Media has some interesting results.

Grey’s Ask Canberra research shows that the trend to online news is being driven, above all, by the 25–34 year old age group, while older Canberrans are more likely to cling to their print-oriented past. Around half of this young adult group had visited the Canberra Times website in the week prior to our survey late last year, significantly above the Canberra average. On the other hand, those 65+ were significantly less likely to have visited the site.

The same pattern was repeated for other news sites. Three of the top four sites were those of established news brands, Riot Act taking fourth spot. Riot Act showed a stronger youth bias than other

sites, with above average numbers of 18–24 year olds also taking a look. By contrast, the News Ltd website received above average visitation from 35–49 year olds (around 29%) and had a significant male skew (26% vs 19%).

It is, frankly, terrifying to be racing such huge organisations.

Big thanks to everyone who responded to the survey, huge thanks to all of you who read regularly.

Loud applause should be given to everyone who contributes to the site, especially the premium members and advertisers who put up the money which keeps the show on the road.

Onwards and upwards.

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HiddenDragon11:50 am 07 Mar 13

At its best, this is the town square and speaker’s corner of Canberra – the alternatives all-too-often feel like “beloved Comrades, the Politburo, in its infinite wisdom, has decided…..”.

I have been a lurker here for many many years. I don’t comment as by the time I get to read it the articles that interest me, other commentators have either posted something that I agree with and I don’t feel I’m adding anything by posting.

I will share how I found Riot ACT though, because it’s a rather nice story I think.

I first discovered RA when planning a weekend holiday to Canberra in 2010. I was able to discover what the locals loved, and planned my trip accordingly. My partner and I fell in love with Canberra during our trip. After reading RA further to see what living down here would be like, we decided to quit our stable jobs in Sydney and make the move. Two jobs and a house buy later, we’re just in love as we were that first magical trip over the Easter long weekend two years ago.

Thanks RA!! Let’s see the Canberra Times have that kind of pull.

Pretty sure I did this poll over the phone, in a rare fit of benevolence. Glad it actually got used for something.

LSWCHP said :

In the end though, the smart (Hi Skid) thoughtful (Hi Thumper) artistic (Hi Poetix) grin inspiring (Hi Porker) wildly enthusiastic (Hi CGN) strongly opinionated (Cap’n RAAF where are you?) and all the others keep me coming back for more.

+1

And seriously good work on the ranking guys.

Congratulations JB, staff and posters, keep up the good work.

Madam Cholet said :

From time to time it has descended into a pile of poo, but in more recent times there seems to have been a decent level of decorum.
….

Someone didn’t read the limericks the other day!
They woz bads.

Holden Caulfield9:41 am 07 Mar 13

poetix said :

Reading without commenting never occurred to me as an option. Why would you do that?

The first time I read RA was the first time I commented. I didn’t think that was unusual.

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

After way too many years involved in all types of online forums, as both regular punter and admin, it’s actually quite surprising how many lurkers are out there. It’s often equally surprising at what non-controversial topics will illicit a first post from a long-time lurker.

I can imagine RA would have heaps of lurkers, if nothing else the stats bear that out.

As for RA allowing comments, so do the newspaper-based websites; not always, but more often than not it seems. I usually don’t comment on newspaper sites because the numpty factor is through the bloody roof and it’s usually too tiresome to wait for comments to appear after being moderated.

A unique strength of RA is allowing its readers to contribute to the news cycle. Can’t ever imagine the majors embracing that approach, haha.

Madam Cholet9:29 am 07 Mar 13

I find it very odd that a lot of people I speak to have no idea about The RiotAct – I think it suggests that the level to which they are immersed in truly ‘living in Canberra’, understanding what makes this place tick, and wanting to have a say about how it ticks is not high. I found RA not long after we came to Canberra because I was looking up things about, well, Canberra and found that as well as getting the news about what’s going on, I could also comment on it. Obviously you can do this on the major online news sites, but no one cares. The upper echelons in Canberra actually monitor this site.

From time to time it has descended into a pile of poo, but in more recent times there seems to have been a decent level of decorum.

I have often wondered whether something like RA would flourish in somewhere like Sydney. Somehow just can’t see people contributing in the manner that they do here.

poetix said :

Reading without commenting never occurred to me as an option. Why would you do that?

The first time I read RA was the first time I commented. I didn’t think that was unusual.

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

Public servant – I mostly read and not comment. I wont comment on government or political stories as a matter of course. Regardless of whether I could make a contribution. And if you want that to change you should have a chat to the APSC.
http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/current-circulars-and-advices/2012/circular-20121

poetix said :

Reading without commenting never occurred to me as an option. Why would you do that?

The first time I read RA was the first time I commented. I didn’t think that was unusual.

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

There are probably a multitude of reasons eg many would agree with some of the more astute comments and therefore have nothing more to add.One of the other reasons would be that some would be uncomfortable with being criticised.Let’s face it there are a few regulars who don’t hold back and there are many sensitive souls out there.

poetix said :

Reading without commenting never occurred to me as an option. Why would you do that?

The first time I read RA was the first time I commented. I didn’t think that was unusual.

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

But, then they would be … um .. hang on. This is like one of those puzzles where the answer is “the man is his own uncle who left on a train at 3.20pm”.

Congrats JB and crew. A credit to excellent curation and an eye for the needles in the media haystack.

poetix said :

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

No comment.

poetix said :

Reading without commenting never occurred to me as an option. Why would you do that?

The first time I read RA was the first time I commented. I didn’t think that was unusual.

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

I lurked around here for a couple of years, more and more frequently, until a post about something particularly stupid provoked me into venting my thoughts sometime about…I dunno….4 or 5 years ago. The world didn’t come to an end, so I kept going and I haven’t stopped since.

FWIW, in person I’m a very laconic man (which pisses my chatterbox wife off, no end 🙂 ), so I found that JB’s concentrated words really resonated with me.

What put me off contributing for a long time is that this is a place where there is a free exchange of views, sometimes forcefully expressed and you may need a thick skin to deal with it all. The wife of a colleague, who is a lovely woman, posted here a few times several years ago about problems with medical services in her area and got hounded with “first world problem” comments so she gave it away. On the basis of her experience, her husband, who I respect enormously, says that RA is full of tossers. I just nod and smile.

I always try to keep things civil, but I’ve had a few unpleasant interactions and thought about giving it away a couple of times. In the end though, the smart (Hi Skid) thoughtful (Hi Thumper) artistic (Hi Poetix) grin inspiring (Hi Porker) wildly enthusiastic (Hi CGN) strongly opinionated (Cap’n RAAF where are you?) and all the others keep me coming back for more.

johnboy said :

I wouldn’t say we’re unique, more unusually well implemented.

There it is. It’s a slick piece of work, and my hat is off to the RA folks. I can write, blather, argue or agree with people here easier than anywhere else I’ve been, and it’s all local so that’s what I do.

Who else in the world would give a sh!t, large or small, about the Pogonophiles versus the Zeddists in the assembly. Well. it matters to us, and it’s all there to chew on. 🙂

Reading without commenting never occurred to me as an option. Why would you do that? The first time I read RA was the first time I commented. I didn’t think that was unusual.

Seriously, I would like to hear from one of these readers who doesn’t comment, as to why they don’t comment.

Isn’t this result comparing apples and oranges?

RA is an internet media outlet that, unlike most media outlets, accommodate the audience’s comment on the topic of the day.

When you think about it, this “system” is a unique way by which the general public can add value (e.g. elaborate, clarify, negate, add additional fact) to the original article and allow a fairer perspective on the topic being discussed.

Okay, so this “result” is just measuring the hits on the various media outlet of Canberra.
So… is there any way to measure the EFFECTIVENESS of such media on the population?

There’s no hit measurement here. It’s based on readership (as measured by polling).

While we value our commenters and contributors, on a daily basis they’re a tiny fraction of the people who come to read.

I wouldn’t say we’re unique, more unusually well implemented.

Onya, guys. I love this site.

After years of bloviating for free on RA, I signed up for a subscription last week, and now pay for my bloviation. It feels good.

If Jazz and JB and Barcham et al don’t make enough coin out of this gig it may well go away. So if you’re regularly gonna put your deranged rantings on here, then reach into your deranged pockets, pull out your wallets and hand over the cash.

In the meantime, I’m waiting for the prizes and free gifts to start rolling on in. When does that happen? 🙂

For those who aren’t quite getting it, that is a list of websites owned by some of the biggest companies in Australia (and the world).

And us.

So yes, I’d like to do better than fourth. But I’m pretty stoked to be in the game.

And thank you to ED who holds it all together, allowing us a fairly free rein but managing to prevent the whole thing descending into a mindless exchange of insults.

Usually!

(Also to his new but reasonably trusty sidekick, Barkus.)

So how come that nice .com.au address still redirects to the .com? That’s a much sexier URL, without the hyphen nonsense.

(the fact that I used to always put the hyphen in the wrong place when typing the address has nothing to do with that opinion whatsoever…)

True to our roots. And sticking with the established page rank.

The australian domain registrars were a national disgrace. Haven’t tried to start anything recently.

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