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# Tom Davidson

Just another WordPress weblog

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://tgdavidson.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Press Forward and public media: You won't like what they're saying about us](https://tgdavidson.com/2023/11/press-forward-and-public-media-you-wont-like-what-theyre-saying-about-us/) - A few months ago, I wrote a commentary for Current, the public broadcasting trade publication, decrying the lack of awareness in public media about Press Forward, the $500 million foundation effort to reinvigorate local news.That's changed, fortunately: NPR has published a white paper, the Public Radio Program Directors association held a panel at its content
- [More money is coming to local nonprofit news. Public media isn't ready.](https://tgdavidson.com/2023/06/more-money-is-coming-to-local-nonprofit-news-public-media-isnt-ready/) - My friends in #nonprofitnews are excitedly talking about the MacArthur / Knight / Annenberg et al Press Forward project, which is raising $500 million over five years to fund #localnews.But too many of my friends in #publicmedia are even aware of that project.That's a problem -- one that leaves worthy organizations at risk of being
- [The conference we've long needed](https://tgdavidson.com/2022/11/the-conference-weve-long-needed/) - When I first began building new products for news organizations, I changed my LinkedIn profile to my new title, added a picture of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his perpetually exploding lab assistant Beeker, and put in a snarky comment: “Because the Future of News isn’t going to be invented at a conference.”Turns out I was
- [Do not think "ads." Think "jobs."](https://tgdavidson.com/2017/11/do-not-think-ads-think-jobs/) - Funding journalism discussions usually revolve around "advertising" or "audience." Those definitions are too limited. Think instead of "jobs to be done"
- [What the students taught me this time](https://tgdavidson.com/2015/03/what-the-students-taught-me-this-time/) - More musings after another session of an entrepreneurial journalism course: Four years ago, when I first taught my AU class (with the insightful Bill Day), traditional media were reeling from a double-whammy – the secular collapse of classified revenues, driven by pure-play Internet companies and the general economic downturn. American’s grad program was awash with
- [A lesson re-learned](https://tgdavidson.com/2013/04/lesson-relearned/) - I last taught my media entrepreneurship class at American University two years ago. That group's ideas were, in a word, transitional. Many revolved around how they could take familiar media ideas and adapt them to a digital age: let's capture listings for my traditional newspaper in a different way. Let's build a tool to allow
- [YouTube and the coming beatdown of TV ad revenues](https://tgdavidson.com/2012/11/youtube-and-the-coming-beatdown-of-tv-ad-revenues/) - YouTube is becoming one of those "gradually, then all at once" phenomena - like the rise of always-on high-speed internet a decade ago, or the gradual-then-sudden collapse of newspaper ad revenues from '05-'08. When a colleague and I first negotiated a YouTube syndication/revenue share agreement back in 2007, most of the media world treated YouTube
- [Required reading: The birth of Red Eye](https://tgdavidson.com/2012/11/the-birth-of-red-eye/) - From the inestimable Owen Youngman, the sort who always says his mood has never been better in spite of whatever crisis is breaking. Here he outlines the birth of Red Eye, the youth-focused commuter paper of The Chicago Tribune, and a classic example of disruptive and lean product innovation at work.
- [The great job you might not think of](https://tgdavidson.com/2012/10/the-great-job-you-might-not-think-of/) - Two must-read blog posts from erstwhile colleagues prodded me into finishing this entry, which I started far too long ago. It’s for all those friends of mine – unemployed, underemployed, or just feeling dead-ended in their traditional newsroom gig. There’s a  type of job out there you might be good at. It has a title
- [Qwiki: Web video, fast, different - and free](https://tgdavidson.com/2012/07/qwiki-web-video-fast-different-and-free/) - Qwiki, Online video, Free tools, Production tools, video
- [Video from PowerPoint ... and other interesting tools](https://tgdavidson.com/2012/06/video-from-powerpoint-and-other-interesting-tools/) - Free tools for journalism and video
- [About the Great CMS Quest (and that AdWeek piece)](https://tgdavidson.com/2011/08/about-the-great-cms-quest-and-that-adweek-piece/) - 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
- [You got laid off - now what?](https://tgdavidson.com/2011/06/you-got-laid-off-now-what/) - Tips, links and resources for newly unemployed journalists.
- [When entrepreneurial journalism is neither entrepreneurial nor journalism](https://tgdavidson.com/2011/04/when-entrepreneurial-journalism-is-neither-entrepreneurial-nor-journalism/) - 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
- [What 18 students taught us](https://tgdavidson.com/2011/03/what-18-grade-students-taught-us/) - 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
- [All these crickets](https://tgdavidson.com/2011/02/all-these-crickets/) - 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
- [The essential digital-economics library](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/the-essential-digital-economics-library/) - My older brother used to joke that when I wanted to learn to play baseball, I read a book. Mike’s style: Pick up the ball and throw it harder than seemed humanly possible. Hey, we all learn differently, right? So when friends – especially newsroom lifers – ask how they can catch up with the digital
- [The kids are alright](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/10/the-kids-are-alright/) - Job candidates emerging from certain journalism schools have skills that are useful to PBS News as it builds its new news project.
- [Playing with Storify](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/09/playing-with-storify/) - 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 -
- [If Moore's Law befuddles, watch the tourney](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/03/if-moores-law-befuddles-watch-the-tourney/) - OK, I know that I rant about Moore’s Law continually. It’s the key driver of the digital age. It’s why things that seem incomprehensible get invented, and it’s why things that flopped spectacularly just a few years ago are common and successful today. But many people - traditional journalists especially - struggle to get Moore’s
- [Free tools for journopreneurs](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/03/free-tools-for-journalism-entrepreneursrs/) - Free and low-cost software tools for entreprenurial journalists
- [A gratuitous post about baseball – and what it means for paid content](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/04/what-baseball-teaches-us-about-paid-content/) - My favorite ballclub opens their brand-new stadium today, so forgive me if I seem a bit preoccupied. Watching all the hoopla – on multiple media platforms at once – gives us all another lesson on the folly of the paid-content argument from some traditionalists. We’re baseball freaks in this household. I’ve been a fan of
- [No magic bullets - so try a hail of them](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/05/no-magic-bullets-so-try-a-hail-of-them/) - Discussions of new models for news generally focus on finding a single source of revenue. But even traditional organizations relied on many streams of money.
- [Another drip in the newspaper brain drain](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/09/another-drip-in-the-newspaper-brain-drain/) - 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
- [Been silent lately …](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/09/been-silent-lately-…/) - … 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
- [ONA parachute training in Birmingham](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/06/ona-parachute-training-in-birmingham/) - Presentations and resources from the Online News Association parachute training at UAB
- [Why independence matters (Chap. 4,312)](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/06/blown-calls-and-mlb/) - Video of blown calls can be tough to find on MLB.com sites
- [Resources for journopreneurs](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/05/resources-for-journopreneurs/) - Resources and links mentioned at the Knight Digital Media Center's entrepreneurial bootcamp at USC-Annenberg.
- [Dear Nikkei:](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/05/dear-nikkei/) - The Japanese newspaper Nikkei has tried to enforce a "no links without permission" policy. Good luck with that.
- [Defense loses this ballgame](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/04/defense-loses-this-ballgame/) - The debate over newspaper paywalls is an example of defensive thinking - not innovation, which is the best way to save newspapers.
- [How easy is this stuff?](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/how-easy-is-this-stuff/) - A self-deprecating aside from long ago: When I first ran a semi-big local website, sophisticated content-management systems were just becoming available. Big chunks of the site were programmed by hand, using HTML code written by producers. Those hand-coded pages were then shipped off to our distant web server by a direct-transfer process known as FTP. To make life
- [Zenger, Woodstein - and Moore?](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/moores_law_and_journalism/) - How Moore's Law and technological change affect journalism - and can help journopreneurs if we just pay attention.
- [Learn from the latest WordPress side biz](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/04/learn-from-the-latest-wordpress-side-biz/) - Matt Mullenweg's new VaultPress service shows journopreneurs how to make money: Build an ecosystem for free, then make money on service.
- [Solve this problem, fix journalism](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/03/solve-this-problem-fix-journalism/) - Offered with no comment, and minimal context: The writer, Eileen Spiegler, is a longtime colleague, and a gifted copy editor. From her online musings on a random Wednesday: “Sometimes I wish the newspaper was as interesting as my Twitter stream.” Discuss, please.
- [Amtrak meets expectations](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/03/amtrak-meets-expectations/) - I'm a member of more frequent-traveler programs than should be legal, the legacy of nearly five years on the road. So last Friday, the email box overflowed with birthday wishes from Southwest, U.S. Air, Marriott, et al. Monday, another arrived. From Amtrak. In other words, just like the Northeast Regional trains I used to take
- [A message to the news industry from Hal Varian](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/03/a-to-the-news-industry-from-hal-varian/) - Commentary on Google economist Hal Varian's encouragement and blog post about the news industry
- [Fellowship season](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/02/knight-fellowship-season/) - Lessons learned from applications to the 2010-2011 Knight Fellowship program for journalists at Stanford
- [More Knight grants](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/02/more-knight-grants/) - The Knight Foundation provides funding for community foundations to solve local information needs
- [Think niche - or why you don't want to be Sears](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/02/think-niche-or-why-you-dont-want-to-be-sears/) - I had a quick conversation the other day with someone interested in using my colleagues at GrowthSpur to help launch his news web site. As usual, I encouraged him to charge ahead – but urged him to pick a niche, not launch a general news web site. This goes against years of training and experience
- [How much does that technology cost?](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/02/how-much-does-that-technology-cost/) - The radical drops in technology costs for start-ups are described. So is the impact of those declines on journalism sites.
- [A digital editor ... and a brain drain](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/02/a-digital-editor-and-a-brain-drain/) - Thursday's appointment of Jeff Light at the San Diego Union-Tribune is a victory for digital editors - but many are leaving print journalism.
- [A view of the iPad - from the sales side of the house](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/02/a-view-of-the-ipad-from-the-sales-side/) - An essay about how the iPad could further weaken traditional media's advertising sales and revenue
- [Picking a CMS](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/picking-a-cms/) - I've ranted a couple of times already about how journopreneurs need to make smart, inexpensive choices - especially about technology. Over at the GrowthSpur blog, my colleague Dave Chase offers his thoughts (also live at OJR) about picking a good online content management system. Dave speaks from vast experience. He was on the launch team
- [The first shot in the iPad ebook war](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/the-first-shot-in-the-ipad-ebook-war/) - Amazon.com pulled all titles from publishing house MacMillan in a tussle over ebooks. MacMillan wants to publish first on the iPad.
- [Why the Newsday paywall is irrelevant](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/why-the-newsday-paywall-is-irrelevant/) - Newsday has sold only 35 online subscriptions. Here's why that doesn't matter.
- [Turning your site into a business](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/turning-your-site-into-a-business/) - The gang at GrowthSpur, of which I proudly call myself a member, is having another of its introductory sessions for hyperlocal and niche site operators. We think journopreneurs - and people who just want to operate great local sites, whether or not they claim the "j" word - are one of the key parts of
- [The 5,000-buck hyperlocal design](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/the-5000-hyperlocal-design/) - Hyperlocal web sites don't need $5,000 designs. Free and low-cost tools like WordPress can get you launched for $500.
- [Irony, thy name is "Blogger"](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/irony-thy-name-is-blogger/) - Free tools for journalists, bloggers and entrepreneurs
- [Yes, the business side matters](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/welcome-to-the-business-world/) - Â Economist Robert Picard has always been one of the sharpest thinkers about the nexus of economics and media. Today, he nails a topic that has long vexed me (and others): the willingness of journalists to stay in their newsroom cocoons, woefully ignorant of the business workings that for so long provided bountiful resources for
- [A tale of two movies](https://tgdavidson.com/2010/01/a-tale-of-two-movies/) - Like an awful lot of Americans, I spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day gorging on filmed entertainment. In between fistfuls of unhealthy popcorn, I started to think about the lessons two of the movies -- Avatar and Dr. Horrible -- can teach entrepreneurial journalists.

## Pages

- [Resume](https://tgdavidson.com/tom_davidson_resume/) - Tom Davidson Resume
- [About](https://tgdavidson.com/about/) - Biography of blog writer Tom Davidson, digital-media consultant
- [Contact](https://tgdavidson.com/contact/) - I'm easy to find: By email @tgdavidson on Twitter By phone: (757) 320-2635

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