Welcome to Newsonomics.com

In 2010, it’s never been more true: a book is a snapshot. I’m glad I got the opportunity to write the Newsonomics book. It gave me a couple of months to step back from the sometimes-maddening pace of the 24/7 Twitter-driven news world and think about the big, impactful trends driving what the news itself is becoming, what we all will be able to read, hear and see.

With the book now being published, I’m launching Newsonomics.com. It’s my effort to build on the trends driving daily change in the press, and help me keep track of them, and how they relate to each other. As I keep track, I hope Newsonomics.com is helpful to you in keeping track as well.

I’ve thought about what keeping track means, and the site design, ably done by Randa Clay, reflects that:

• 5Spot: My new quick-take, mostly daily feature highlights what I think are top developments to note, and why, out of the daily torrent.
• The Skinny: Here, I highlight data and quotes that we simply shouldn’t pass over too quickly; ones picked off the conveyor best of soundbites and reports. Some of the data will come from my Outsell work; some of it from other sources. Here, too, you’ll see writing from others in the industry I’ve tapped to contributed their deep and specific knowledge. To begin with, I’ve tapped two people on the money side of the biz. Some of you will recall AdMan from Content Bridges, an experienced (and anonymous) print ad executive, with a keen perspective on marketplace change. You’ll also now find “Ask the Agency Guy,” contributions from Tim Perlstein, a Director of Strategy at digital agency Razorfish. (Of course, his comments represent his personal views, and not necessarily those of Razorfish or its clients.)
• Content Bridges: I’ve been writing my Content Bridges blog since 2005 and will continue to do so. The posts can still be found there, and on Newsonomics.
• Touts: I point to top posts from familiar and unfamiliar places that I think contribute to our collective understanding. PermaTouts is my page pointing to key sites and bloggers who I think are must-reads.

Plus: It’s all searchable. That searchability comes in especially handy as we’ve added in five years of Content Bridges and Outsell posts as well.

That’s the site, circa 2010. We’ll see how it develops. For each feature and for the site overall, please send along any ideas and feedback. We’re trying to make content suggestions and sharing of content as easy as possible; that will be a work in progress.

In explaining the Newsonomics ideas, people have asked how I can write a forward-looking book, given the carnage we’ve seen? My thinking is that we have no choice. Being pro-journalism means being pro-information and pro-knowledge. Having been part of the journalism sausage-making factories, I know it can be an often-unpleasant process. But there’s no doubt that in our struggling, little democracy, information and knowledge are like air, and we’re feeling a bit thin on that right now. We have no choice but to be optimistic and support the best journalism we can.

As we have ended the hybrid news decade, a worrisome one for news creators generally, and begun the first truly digital news decade, welcome to Newsonomics.com .