The New York Times recently revamped its Dealbook section.
How's it working out? Great, says Andrew Ross Sorkin, the man behind the site.
He says traffic is up 50%. He was on stage at Ignition today, talking to Henry Blodget. Below are our live notes from the chat:
Enjoy!
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11:00: Traffic up 50% since redesign of Dealbook.
11:01: There are many spin outs and off shoots to make the NYT survive. It's more progessive than you think.
11:02: Being a part of the NYT has been very helpful, we're getting big promotion in the paper. Better than just launching on my own.
11:03: (why stay at NYT?) For me the Times is a special place, they allowed me to make it a brand. On a personal level I'm willing to suffer trying times to get it to the right place, and I think what we have now proves there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
11:05: There has been a shift at the NYT from focus on waht's on the front page of the paper to whats on the front page of the site. You will see the news online, but you will see it repackaged online. Dealbook is about taking that one step further, dont even think about the paper. We think about the web, then shift gears and think about hte paper.
11:06: There's no question people tought of the web as some sort of "backwater," and page one was the holy grail, I think that's shifting. More and more people reading on front page of the site. Psychologically, I'm one of the younger, but I think as you go up the pecking order it's happening.
11:07: I think hard part is taking stuff that works on web is translating to the paper. The voice can be different. We're trying to protect all things that make the Times great, but maybe we're doing a link to an old story for an explanation. Cant do that w/ the paper.
11:09: Struggle, push-pull for the Times brand, you're going for something absolutely accurate, makes trafficing in the gossip harder. But in this age, maybe labelling it makes it easier for us. When you hear about Tiger Woods, you go to TMZ, then ESPN, then People, and maybe NYT, so you're putting the pieces together yourself. Readers are reporters/investigators in their own way.
11:11: On Dealbook there are comments, we moderate the comments. We think brand so iconic, we can go where other brands are going.
11:12: For us, it's about finding people that are web savvy, and people that can right for paper. Peter Latman can do both, a lot of people we've found can do both. It's a barbell issue.
11:13: Everytime I've ever talked about unions, I got in trouble, so I'll pass on talking about unions.
11:14: (Paywall a disaster?) I don't think so. For many years I thought only way to be was free. Think about a meter, not a paywall. Look at Rupert w. a hardwall. That's hard. We're not going in that direction. At the newstand you flip through the magazine before you bought it.
11:16: Rupert has proven himself over and over again, but I think hardwall is a tough propostion. People want to taste, see what's going on.
11:16: I secretly, I'm sure I will subscribe to the iPad newspaper, I don't think it works on a large scale. It's tough economics on just an iPad or a tablet. Also, I hear the price point will be low, but I think it will be struggle. But, you want it to work. I'm thrilled people are experimenting. Over the next 18 months, we'll see which of these things work.
11:18: Huffington Post could be worth more than the NYT, but it's a different product. I think there's a different model. They're going after a star system, aggregate around a brand. We have boots on the ground. It is different.
11:19: Very difficult to pay people on pageview basis...there are people who pray to alter of journalism more than they should, but at NYT you still need people on the bajillion hits and the spinach because it's part of the meal. If you have someone working for months, that's great. If not, then what? How do we judge? Clicks, improve the brand?
11:21: We look at traffic reports at Dealbook. Susanne Craig had a piece with 300 comments in hours, hugely valuable. But I still look at the meal. Hope people come back, almost out of fear they miss the hits.
11:22: Fill in the gaps for other important stories. It's always the mix.
That's a wrap!
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