Do NYTimes.com readers actually read the news?
1. pop health article about coffee. NOT NEWS
2. sexy pop psychology article. NOT NEWS
3. republican-bashing op-ed. NOT NEWS
4. article about profanity on signs (“butt hole road”, “crapstone, england.”) NOT NEWS
5. article about nationalization of banks. NEWS
6. empty personal finance editorial. “participants in 401(k)’s are in greater danger than ever of coming up short in retirement.” NOT NEWS
7. human interest article about skateboarding. NOT NEWS
8. article on lobbying efforts by pro-arts groups. KINDA NEWS
9. warm & fuzzy op-ed about obama. NOT NEWS
10. review of trends in tech sector. NEWS
So that’s 2.5/10 in the most-emailed list. These high-CTR articles generate the most page views => ad inventory => cash for the Times. Print newspapers allow for honest, unbiased reporting of facts because you only have to “sell out” the front page to sell papers on the newsstand (you don’t need to sell out anything for subscriptions, which are locked in.) On the internet they get to fight over pageviews with everyone else. What to do? Surface the popular content box prominently on every page, creating a massive positive feedback loop that highlights partisan op-eds, human interest fluff, pop culture reviews, personal health and finance, and mild pornography.
Jon Stewart had a great page in “America” where he considered the newsworthiness of various events:
2,000 Massacred Congolese = 500 Drowned Bangladeshies = 45 Fired-bombed Iraqis = 12 Car-bombed Europeans = 1 Snipered American.
< One fabulous no-knead bread recipe.
Expect the denominator to drop even further as the NYT’s debt problems hit the fan.
