Posts Tagged ‘nma’
Education’s changing role and how this affects digital employment
September 10th, 2009
The schools and colleges are back in full swing as young people dust off the summer sand to prepare for the next stages of their learning journey. Very soon, students will be returning or taking their first steps in our universities. It’s always a vibrant time with hopes and expectations tussling with fears and anxieties in young minds, this year maybe more than ever with the recession still corroding the employment market.
Conversations with academic friends this summer have intimated how university and college students are asking blunt questions about the value of their degree in relation to the jobs they hope to hold when they complete their studies. And throughout the long vacation, I’ve also seen the first signs that the political parties are revisiting their education agendas, partly in preparation for the coming general election early next year but also in response to the crisis of cash and confidence that is rapidly developing.
The Government goal of having 50 per cent of young people in higher education cannot be achieved now and Lord Mandelson has re-opened the debate on the social mobility role of elite universities, while also signalling an end to the cap on fees.
Equally important, the Government has again pushed the higher education agenda towards acceptance of more “at home” students, studying part-time or taking two-year degrees. Is it also time to make a radical change, not turning back the clock to the “second-class” polytechnic system (even though most of those institutions succeeded brilliantly in their mission) but accepting the economic and cultural necessity to have a degree-standard vocational education sector?
Students struggle with increasing debt, unlikely now to fall in the future, are right to ask about the economic value of their studies and qualifications. In digital education, it’s a given (whether backed by relevant research or not) that many degrees are not worth the e-paper they are written on. Produced in haste by university departments hustling for more students (=more cash) to please their masters, these courses often do not provide the digital sector with the graduates it needs.
And they are desperately needed. As Danielle Long writes in her recent Long View for New Media Age, there are rising vacancies in the UK’s digital industry and in the magazine itself Suzanne Bearne and Will Cooper’s recent cover story focusses on the need for the sector to implement a more aggressive recruitment strategy.
That means attracting talent from a wide pool of graduates but also means accepting the high cost of training most of them. Surely there is a better way that gives undergraduates the degree education they want and need – a model built on the successful German Fachhochschulen model or more broadly the Australian Vocational Education and Training system. Would this provide more fulfilled professionals with the skills and attitudes companies in the digital and the whole economy need?
Whatever the reformed education model looks like, there is likely to be a mismatch between what the economy needs and wants – and what it will get when the public sector recession starts to bite next year.
All the more galling then to read the OECD annual report released this week comparing education systems internationally. It makes a strident call for governments to spend more on higher education –because the positive economic benefits alone are compelling.
Despite the rather self-satisfied response from the UK government to the OECD appeal, the underlying pressures on the current foundations of UK education must surely force a radical, rapid and positive change, with or without spending increases.
Trade press concerns about blogging
April 17th, 2009
The digital marketing trade press has embraced blogging to varying degrees. While Haymarket has recently relaunched many of its magazine websites and simultaneously stepped-up the intensity of its blogging, other publishing houses are yet to rollout blogs for their flagship titles. Magazines such as NMA and Marketing Week, for example, are still without blogs.
What’s apparent is that some trade publishers have been nervous about blog content undermining the value of their magazine and online editorial, often failing to grasp where blogging can add value.
Having been following the progress of the Haymarket blogs and watching what other trade publishers are doing, as well as discussing the practicalities of blogging with journalists in our sector, I thought it might be helpful to offer some insight into some of the shared concerns, and for what it’s worth, my views on how these problems can be addressed…
* New demands for journalists to produce magazine and online content are high enough. Adding blogging to the list will lead to poorer quality of writing and less time for investigative reporting - this is a genuine concern that is shared by every trade editor I speak to, and journalists are similarly reluctant to take on extra writing responsibilities. Compile this with the recent redundancies that have taken place across most trade media, and the average journalist is over-worked and over-stressed.
However, this line of argument is missing the point about the role blogging plays in news consumption, and failing to acknowledge what magazine audiences want nowadays. Blog content can be equally as important as magazine coverage, if not more. Now is the time for publishers to be re-evaluating their content priorities.
* If content is now being broken online and followed-up in the magazine, what can we write about in a blog?- every new blogger worries about finding subject matter to write about, but journalists shouldn’t really have this problem! As a former trade journalist I know so many stories never make it into the magazine, or you have fascinating conversations with contacts that you wish you could do something with editorially. A magazine blog can be the perfect place to write about titbits of information that might otherwise get lost, or to start debate on subjects that you might feel passionate about. Although magazine editorial guidelines will most likely still need to be adhered to, the blog should be a place where journalists can publish independently and have a bit more freedom with subject matter.
* Blogging just doesn’t draw in the level of traffic that we’d like -magazines that have tested the water with blogging, but not dived in wholeheartedly, often cite this as a reason for delaying the launch of a proper blog. There can be many reasons for a magazine blog not taking off properly, but frequently the reasons are that the blog is hidden away on the website and not signposted clearly enough, that content is not interesting or updated frequently enough, and that measures have not been put in place to share the content socially or allow for comment and conversation.
* There’s no budget for professional blog set-up or consultancy, so we’re looking into it ourselves - it’s clear that times are tough for the trade publishing industry, and having worked on a trade magazine, I know what a battle it can be to make money available for these sort of projects. I would argue that this is a sign of a blog not being given the priority it should be, but that isn’t offering a useful solution to the problem.
Launching a magazine blog is a serious business (well it should be) and it’s important to bring in experts who know what they’re doing. It’s crucial that you have advice on the platform you’re going to use, as well as how it’s going to be designed and optimised etc. Particularly within the digital marketing industry, I’m sure there are companies out there who would be willing to advise the likes of NMA etc on a blog strategy for free. Now is a time to make the most of your contacts!
* We’ve already added ‘comments’ to our stories, so why do we need to blog? -this is probably the lamest excuse that I’ve heard for not blogging, but it’s come up a lot in conversations that I’ve had! If you’re a reader of sites such as NMA.co.uk and Revolutionmagazine.com etc, you’ll know that stories very rarely receive comments. Ticking this box is not a reason to delay launching a blog.
Marketing trade press set for shake-up
February 12th, 2009
Stories of journalist and newspaper cut-backs are rife, and over the past few days the UK marketing trade press has been the latest casualty.
Centaur has made the decision to close its magazines Precision Marketing and Brand Strategy, while Marketing Week is undergoing a major staff reshuffle. New journalists to be joining the Marketing Week team are rumoured to be Ruth Mortimer, formerly editor of Brand Strategy and Branwell Johnson, former editor of Mad.co.uk, while some existing staff will be leaving.
According to the Precision Marketing website, Centaur is avoiding placing any blame on the current economic situation. The announcement reads:
“Centaur Media is to shift the coverage of direct marketing from Precision Marketing to Marketing Week, reflecting the transformation of direct marketing from a niche function to a mainstream operation…Precision Marketing, which had a circulation of 12,000, is therefore to cease publishing from the February editon onwards.”
Arguably Centaur is paying the price for not evolving its marketing titles quickly enough. A re-design for Marketing Week is on the cards, but this is long overdue. Interesting that little mention has been made of it increasing its digital marketing coverage, or delivery of news through social media. While NMA and Marketing Week are both placing increasing editorial focus on features, I question whether this is really what readers want or need. Subscription-only content is going to have to work harder to keep its reader-base in my opinion…
July 28th, 2008
I picked up on a podcast interview and NMA profile of Habbo’s regional MD Europe, Phil Guest on the re-emergence of virtual worlds. It was for me a timely reminder that “it’s all about the kids”. While I’ve struggled with the adult vworlds, out there are more than 100 child-friendly worlds – and Phil said there were many more on the way as leading brands piled in to create playful spaces to build connections and trust with their young customers. Maybe that’s it – there’s a point to these places FUN!) and users who know how to connect, cluster and make the most of their time there. Phil had no doubts that worlds like Habbo sat on the blurring line between real and virtual that young people understood – and that these worlds were a next step in the development of social networks because they were immersive, playful spaces with meaning beyond connections and self-reference. Look forward to the Feast of the Avatars, coming to a social network near you soon.
What’s wrong with digital agency comment?
July 1st, 2008
“Client side comment only please…no agency comment needed at this stage…desperate for brand-side comment – can you help?”
In recent weeks we’ve spotted a growing trend in such requests from digital trade journalists, either directly or through feature tracking services that we subscribe to. It seems journalists are increasingly less interested in digital agency comment, and more and more focused on brand-side opinion only.
As an ex-journalist for New Media Age, I can appreciate the need for big brand comment, but what I don’t understand is why those at the coalface, the specialists in digital marketing, creative and design, are being sidelined?
I thought a story always had two sides?
Reading between the lines, the problem is being compounded by an absence of readily available client-side comment on digital matters. From my experience this is either down to a brand not prioritising a digital trade comment opportunity, or acknowledging that the subject matter might be out of their depth.
At Liberate Media we’re always willing to do a journalist a favour and help out with these sorts of requests, but it’s getting increasingly frustrating to have to battle to offer the agency side of the story. If you want to talk to a brand about their digital investment, why not also speak to the agency in charge of their digital strategy?
I’d be really interested to hear what features writers/editors think about this. Is it a growing trend, or merely coincidence?
BBC leads the way on interactive content rights
November 26th, 2007
I had to do a double take on this story when I was reviewing my feeds this evening as it seemed quite low key, but if I’m reading it right this has the potential to be massive for digital content producers.
According to Leigh Holmwood at MediaGuardian, Pact’s (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) interactive rights framework has been agreed by the BBC, meaning producers retain ownership of the IP rights to their content for the first time.
This deal, which was previewed by NMA last week, puts interactive content owners and producers inline with their counterparts in the TV industry and could be the catalyst for huge growth in the sector.
Assuming other major broadcasters follow suit and offer similar deals, digital content producers will now have the flexibility, recognition and opportunity that has previously been held back from them.
The interactive content sector is made up of a number of smaller but pioneering producers and this agreement could be a real boost and just reward for their creativity.
Technorati tags: interactive+content, pact, nma, interactive+rights+framework, bbc
November 22nd, 2007
The long-awaited digital edition of New Media Age has gone live today, available here. It is aptly part of an online video special, incorporating demos of cutting-edge online video advertising.
It’s a great first attempt at integrating digital-focused editorial with interactive content. For a magazine that pitches itself as being at the forefront of digital marketing, this is definitely a step in the right direction.
NMA has great journalists on staff, and is well-respected by the industry…but that won’t be enough to carry it through the social media era. My RSS feeds are full of expert digital commentators and bloggers, and for NMA to keep its head above the rest of the crowd, it’s increasingly going to have to find more ways of engaging with its audience online.
So big thumbs up to NMA!
As a funny aside, just as I was about to click ‘publish’, I received an email from NMA saying its advertising rates are due to rise in 2008. Great timing Centaur!
Technorati tags: nma, e-edition, publishing, online+video, magazines, digital+media, centaur
Liberate Media celebrates 1st year
October 29th, 2007
It’s been a busy but very rewarding year for Liberate Media, and an evening of shenanigans was definitely called for!
On Thursday we celebrated our first birthday at Bar Red in Soho with an eclectic mix of clients, industry contacts and journalists - all who’ve shown us incredible support from day one.
Guests included Arjo Ghosh from Spannerworks, Marty Carroll from Foviance, James Booth (founder of Tangozebra), Justin Pearse, Danielle Long and Alex Farber from NMA, Jane Wakefield from BBC Technology Online, Neil McGuiness from Creative, Paula Byrne and Eugene Lacey from Pushbutton.tv …and the list goes on.
With further business growth on the cards, we’re optimistic that 2008 will be just as exciting for us. We’re proud that our client portfolio has been built entirely through word-of-mouth, and pleased with the positive reaction that we’ve received to the small consultancy approach.
Throughout this week we’ll be sharing multimedia coverage of the party with you, and a videocast offering our insights into what the future holds for the UK PR industry as a whole. So please keep watching and reading!
Many thanks,
Wendy & Lloyd
Technorati tags: liberatemedia, anniversary, spannerworks, tangozebra, creative, bbc, nma, foviance