Newser
 | |
| Web address | www.newser.com |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | News |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Created by | Michael Wolff |
| Editor | Kate Schwartz |
| Launched | October 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
Newser is an online news site based in the United States. It is the brain-child of journalist Michael Wolff, an Internet pioneer, Vanity Fair columnist, and author of the Rupert Murdoch biography, The Man Who Owns the News. The site was launched in October 2007.
In 2010, Newser launched a user-participation application, opening its publishing system to any user who wants to post a story. In July 2010, Newser was recognized as one of the “2010 Hottest Companies in the Midwest” by Lead411.[1]
Background
In early 2007, the media writer Michael Wolff, realizing that the news business was rapidly moving from newspapers and television, brought his idea of a native news site to Patrick Spain, the founder of Hoovers, and now the CEO of HighBeam Research, Inc., a Nexis-like news database company. With Caroline Miller, the former editor-in-chief of New York, as editor, the trio launched Newser as a division of Highbeam. The company split from HighBeam in December 2008 after the latter was sold to educational publisher Gale, with Spain becoming Newser’s CEO. John Filut has been the general manager of the site since its launch.
Early on, most of Newser’s sources were mainstream news organizations, but in its more than two years of operation, Newser’s focus has increasingly shifted to native online sources—many of which are now partnering with the company.
In September 2008, Wolff began writing a daily column for the site. [2]
Changing leadership
Founding editor-in-chief, Caroline Miller, left the organization at the end of August 2010. [3] Michael Wolff was named editorial director of AdweekMedia on October 4, 2010. [4] Patrick Spain stepped down as CEO on October 18, 2010. [5] John Filut remains the general manager with Elisabeth DeMarse replacing Spain as CEO.
Design
Newser uses a grid that displays multiple stories which the user can click to read each summary.
A user can customize the grid to show either hard or soft news. Hard news focuses on financial, political, and world events, while soft news shows stories about arts and living, gossip, and movie news. Furthermore, a user can choose how many stories he or she wants to see on the grid, ranging from 9 stories to 42, by using the slider under "Customize Page".
The grid was created because Newser believes that the world wide web is best experienced visually.[6] The inspiration for the grid comes from the popular TV game show, Hollywood Squares. Newser's home page blends the three main ways that news is delivered on the Web: top down traditional editorial (e.g., The New York Times and CNN), machine aggregated (e.g., Google News) and user recommended news (e.g., NewsVine and Digg).
Features
Newser is an interactive site. Users can post comments about all stories.
At the beginning of 2010, Newser began slowly rolling out their user-generated feature, Newser by Users (NBU). The feature allows anyone to post a story to the User Grid, helping Newser select the news they cover. Occasionally, Newser will promote user stories to the main grid. The feature officially launched on March 16, 2010. Newser began offering cash prizes for submissions in October 2010.
Off The Grid features daily opinion articles by founder Michael Wolff and other Newser writers and editors. Off The Grid articles illustrate the story behind the news. They often link multiple Newser stories together with a common theme.
Reception
Newser has been the topic of extensive commentary, mainly because the site is a radical departure from typical news sites. The New York Times’s Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics, said the site “looks like one of the best I’ve seen.”[7] PaidContent.org wrote that the site “helps in efficient news consumption.”[8]
However, Gawker.com has at times not been positive about the site, and Jeff Bercovici, formerly of Portfolio magazine, has been critical of Newser founder Michael Wolff.[9]
References
- ↑ Lead411 launches "Hottest Companies in the Midwest" awards
- ↑ Blodget, Henry. "Michael Wolff | Off The Grid | News about the Media". Newser.com. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ↑ Blodget, Henry (2010-01-01). "Here’s Why Dilbert Loves Newser". Newser.com. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ↑ Moses, Lucia. "AWM Names Michael Wolff Editorial Director". Adweek. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ↑ "Newser Appoints Elisabeth Demarse as CEO". Prweb.com. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
- ↑ Newser: Know More. Search Less
- ↑ "Leave A Comment". The New York Times.
- ↑ New News Site: The Newsier Newser | paidContent.org
- ↑ Wolff on Newser Launch: 'Completely on Plan' - Media Blog - Jeff Bercovici - Mixed Media - Portfolio.com