Digitizing Spectator’s Archives

June 27, 2012

Where Spec is today, and where digitization can take

us tomorrow

State of the Spec

• Strong, but potential for growth is huge

• Successes – Increased breadth and depth of coverage – Expanded publication to new special issues – Enhanced campus rapport – Re-imagined online/social media presence – Opened new revenue streams & remained profitable

• Potential – Continued online development/marketing – Revamp donor infrastructure – Increased community presence – Revenue-driven growth

Successes: Coverage • 30 percent additional news content

• Cross-platform coverage

Successes: Coverage • 50 percent additional A&E content

Successes: Special Issues

30 Years After Co-ed Global Centers

The Race for District 13 Baseball Supplement

Successes: Outreach

– Planned investigative reporting program with director of Columbia Journalism School’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism

– Hosted Student Council debates,

hosting discussions with student groups and student governments

– Columbia Scholastic Press

Association HS event

– Assessing new trainees’ experience levels, diversity discussions

Successes: Online

Visits: 7.84% 563,405 vs 522,456

Unique Visitors: 5.69% 257,060 vs 243,220

Pageviews: 26.60% 1,363,897 vs 1,077,360

Pages/Visit: 17.40% 2.42 vs 2.06

Avg. Visit Duration: -10.51% 00:02:32 vs 00:02:50

Bounce Rate: -20.31% 54.65% vs 68.58%

% New Visits: -2.07%

ColumbiaSpectator.com Jan. 30-April 30 2012 vs 2011

Facebook

Jan 30, 2012 - Apr 30, 2012 83,494

Jan 30, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011 43,678

% Change 91.16%

Twitter

Jan 30, 2012 - Apr 30, 2012 14,421

Jan 30, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011 0

% Change 100.00%

Social Media Referrals Jan. 30-April 30, 2012 vs 2011

Successes: Online

• Increased and enabled video content

• Additional graphics capabilities

• Consistent use of internal hyperlinks to past coverage-blog and daily stories

• Press+

Successes: Profitability

Costs: Cut and kept to a minimum

Revenue: Online ads and subscriptions more than doubled

Created new alumni database, linking contact and donation information

Successes: Profitability

Newly monetized products

◦ Content resale system ◦ Photos, event listings ◦ New advertising platforms ◦ The Eye

Successes: Online

Successes: Profitability

Continued transition to a 21st century media organization, campus presence

Potential: Donation Infrastructure

• Currently: narrowly targets alumni, fails to develop a broad appeal for Spectator, fails to offer a wide variety of donation options

• Ambitions – Provide a variety of funding instruments

– Appeal to corporations, charitable organizations, parents, and high net worth individuals

– Easy to navigate and detailed information about Spectator as an organization, our fundraising initiatives, our ambitions, etc.

Digitization: Building on Success and Fulfilling Potential

• Online: Adds component to online suite • Community Connections: Bridges past and

present for alumni, students, and neighborhood

• Donor Infrastructure: Supports alumni/ fundraising outreach

• Content Production: Makes resources easily

accessible to writers

Potential: Community Presence

• Spectator is a shared history: continue to position Spectator as the heart of student life for current students, alumni

• Serve as a neighborhood archive

• Easy access to Spec alumni work

Digitization: Building on Success and Fulfilling Potential

• Contributes to image as 21st century media organization

• Ease of public access

• In line with peer institutions

Digitization: Building on Success and Fulfilling Potential