SEJ 2007

Why Environmental Journalists Should Care About Targeted Online Ad Networks

lime.com

Could a targeted online ad network like Lime's help support environmental journalism?

(Note: This is an edited version of a post I just made to Poynter's E-Media Tidbits.)

This past Saturday at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference I was part of a plenary panel discussing how the evolution of media (especially online) could or should affect the future of journalism. 

There, I voiced my opinion about how it burns me up that news organizations continue to cut qualified journalists from their payrolls, ostensibly to control costs, while routinely leaving significant money on the table in the form of poorly sold and grossly underutilized online and mobile advertising opportunities. Then, in a Kafkaesque twist, management and journalists alike often whine about how their sites don't make much money.

Considering the key role robust journalism plays in keeping society free, I think that's practically criminal.

(OK, several SEJers complimented me after the plenary for being "forceful." Actually, all the caffeine I sucked down that morning after a too-late Friday night yakking with SEJ friends finally kicked in just as the plenary started. I'm not sure whether that's really a good thing, but so be it.)

Here's the bottom line about what advertisers want, and how that actually can mesh with sound journalistic ethics and independence, thanks to current media technology. And how that might especially benefit the environment and other specialty beats...

Going Mobile with SEJ2007

Sridgway, via Flickr (CC license)

If you see someone doing this at SEJ2007, they might be posting to this blog.

Dudes, lugging a laptop is, like, soooooo 20th century!

One thing I was pleased to see at last year's SEJ conference is how many journalists and other attendees now have "smart phones," PDAs, and other handheld devices and are using them in quite sophisticated ways. And I'm sure we'll see a few snazzy iPhones and tablet PCs this year, too.

If you want to contribute to this blog and you have a smart phone or other net-enabled mobile device, you can use it to post to this blog. Here's Typepad's tutorial on how to configure your mobile settings. Be sure to read "Guest Authors and Moblogging," which is what volunteer contributors to this blog would be doing.

Also, Typepad offers a mobile application that works with these smart phone operating systems:

• Palm OS 5 (treo)
• Windows Mobile 5 (Cingular 2125, T-Mobile SDA, Motorola Q, etc.)
• Series 60 (Nokia 6600, 7610, 3250, 6680, N70, N80, N93, etc.)

Here's Typepad's tutorial on how to get and use that mobile application.