Yikes. Okay, it's interesting as a business model, but it's a bit scary as a view of how the media works. Talk about an echo chamber! Sounds like most of these journalist a practically deciding what they want to hear and then asking for people to tell it to them.
Hmm, actually it's not quite that bad. In an unscientific sample, there are a couple of blantant shill-requests:
"Reporter seeks people leaving/ready to leave NYC b/c high taxes"
"wanted to find bosses w/ employees afraid they're going to get laid off so they're sucking up"
But there are slightly more actual requests for real info:
"Needs experienced chiropractor's tips on how patients can ease pain before a visit"
" is facebook coming up more in therapy sessions with clients?"
"needs MDs to discuss physical symptoms of stress for women's mag"
" for Christian Sci. Monitor needs ppl with credit card balances to talk about how they pay it off"
It's sad but true. Stories are decided upon during a "morning meeting" by editors/news directors and then reporters are sent off in the field to confirm what has already been decided. Only if the situation has been grossly misjudged does a report deviate from what has been decided, otherwise you are just finding a few slobs to parrot some lines that support the original assertion.
Ideally the reporters in the field communicate back to the producers in the newsroom and the story evolves in a more organic fashion. But realistically, with looming deadlines and many more stories to write, it's just easier to "stay the course."
In case you miss it, he makes money selling text ads:
"Shankman makes money by charging between $1,500 and $2,000 for a short, chatty text ad he runs at the top of each email. Recent sponsors have included a service that helps you contact celebrities, a company that sells computer-security software and the makers of the Dot Girl's First Period Kit."
As this niche mailing list (people who seek publicity may be more likely to be interested in publicity-related products/services) shows, sometimes I think Internet marketing is just about targeted leads (notsellinggenericCPMs). Some of the more successful Internet marketers pre-qualify their "leads" in very interesting ways. Consider these two other examples:
1) Blog that is very successful at capturing holiday gadget shoppers (who have probably already made most of the decision to buy a certain type of gadget) with its to-the-model-number blog reviews that offer buy-it-here links (with its affiliate id).
Detailed revenue breakdown of a gadget blog ($61k in dec 2007)
2) Shoemoney - Provide a service - in this example, entertainment/a game that appeals to sports' fans egos and offer them a Netflix subscription (with his referral ID of course) as a reward
"So with this Cornhusker quiz, it’s a needed service because all these guys want to see where they are. It spreads virally, because they want to challenge their friends and see if they could do better than their friends. And the way to make money is, when they finish, if they score high enough, they’re presented with a free trial to Netflix."
Hmm, actually it's not quite that bad. In an unscientific sample, there are a couple of blantant shill-requests:
"Reporter seeks people leaving/ready to leave NYC b/c high taxes"
"wanted to find bosses w/ employees afraid they're going to get laid off so they're sucking up"
But there are slightly more actual requests for real info:
"Needs experienced chiropractor's tips on how patients can ease pain before a visit"
" is facebook coming up more in therapy sessions with clients?"
"needs MDs to discuss physical symptoms of stress for women's mag"
" for Christian Sci. Monitor needs ppl with credit card balances to talk about how they pay it off"
Hmmm