Tom Davidson

An article on AdWeek has gotten more than a little attention this week. It talks about Content Management Systems – the big hunks o’ technology that drive websites and print publications – and how most of them, well, stink. It’s prompted some hilarious email threads, and more than a few bad memories, among some of [...]

I can tell there was another round of layoffs at one of my old newsrooms: I’ve had a flurry of LinkedIn invites from former colleagues. There’s been the usual grumbling about the heartless bastards at corporate, at how these cuts will only further diminish our Noble Religious Calling, etc. – but the reality is these [...]

I’ve often commented that the future of news will be distributed among smaller, nimbler and collaborative organizations. And when anyone can publish, the point of  “sustainability” – the amount of cash each needs to keep going – will vary wildly. My former colleague Buddy Nevins today writes about the perfect illustration – an independent blogger [...]

My friend and former colleague Bill Day and I just finished a great six-week course in entrepreneurial journalism for 18 graduate students in American University’s Interactive Journalism master’s program. We set out to be intentionally provocative, because Bill and I have seen too many great ideas for projects and products turn into smoldering wreckage because [...]

I’m feeling guilty about the light (read: non-existent) posting for the past couple of months. The gang at Muppet Labs and I have been building something new, soon to arrive at PBSNews.org. So while there’s only been the sound of crickets over here, there’s lots of hammers banging and saws whirring over there. Stay tuned [...]

Some of them, anyway. Over the past month or so, I’ve been plowing through an extensive stack of resumes to fill some openings on my new team at PBS. Many of the resumes were sort of sad – those of journalists with impeccable traditional credentials, and no clue what I meant when I asked for [...]

The very interesting social-media curation tool Storify was released in private beta on Tuesday at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference. It neatly twists the idea behind Flipboard. Flipboard automatically generates a list of stories that might interest you, based on links suggested by people you follow on Twitter or your Facebook friends. Storify reverses the flow – [...]

The National Journal is making a major effort to revamp its websites, and it just made a brilliant hire, my old friend and colleague David Beard. The Journal’s gain, of course, is someone’s loss – the Boston Globe‘s. Sadly, this is another example of the continuing brain drain of smart digital leaders from traditional newspaper [...]

… while I started a new gig. I’m now serving as a senior director and publisher for a news and public affairs project at PBS.org. My time working with both GrowthSpur and Localist.com has been a blast. But the chance to work with Christine Montgomery and the crew at PBS was too much to pass [...]

My friends at the Online News Association put together a terrific program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham for entrepreneurial journalists and others interested in starting news and information sites. (Thanks to the Gannett Foundation for the necessary financial support.)  I spoke a bit about emerging business models to support these kinds of sites (and – plug [...]