Mar/Apr 2019
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www.newsandtech.com www.newsandtech.com March/April 2019 The premier resource for insight, analysis and technology integration in newspaper and hybrid operations and production. Buffalo News offering digital paywall tech to other publishers u NEWS & TECH STAFF REPORT It’s been 20 years since The Buffalo News began publishing content on- But The News soon found that the technology was easy to bypass and line. Like so many other publishers during the first decade of the new millen- logging in was more cumbersome for paid subscribers than simply work- nium, The News found itself facing sinking profits as freely available content ing around the paywall to access content. Furthermore, the technology was and online advertising opportunities cannibalized the print product. limited when it came to establishing targeting parameters for content, and its Responding to a 40 percent decline in operating profits, the publisher testing and reporting capabilities were extremely limited. launched its first paywall in 2012 in an attempt to recuperate some of those “We looked at solutions all over the place and every one we saw had losses. In that initial model, non-subscribers could access 10 stories free of flaws,” Buffalo News Editor Mike Connelly told News & Tech. “Either they charge, followed by a weekly rate of $2.77 for additional content and $1.99 were too easy to get around, or they had real data and reporting limitations.” per week for Sundays only. Buffalo News continues on page 5 Amuse Labs develops crossword platform u BY TARA MCMEEKIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Ah, the crossword puzzle. Long it stood as a habit and loyalty,” John Temple, chairman of their assets. staple of newspapers and magazines everywhere. Amuse Labs, told News & Tech. “Publishers “They have all of these visual assets, so they But as print page counts were decimated in the have a real need for this because most don’t have can create crosswords using video, audio, and early 2000s, the popular crossword was among crosswords online, so they have lost something pictures as clues,” he said. the sad casualties of shrinking folios. that was a loyalty to their print publication.” While publishers have launched crosswords Now a San Francisco-based company is of- Temple is also director of the Investigative online in the past, Temple said most of those have fering a new crossword option for publishers. Reporting Program at UC Berkeley. In his news- been in an online arcade setting, which provides Amuse Labs has developed PuzzleMe, an HT- paper days, he served as managing editor at only a disconnected user experience. ML-5 based crossword platform. The technology The Washington Post. Prior to that, he served as “These don’t look and feel like the publica- allows puzzles to be embedded anywhere on a editor, president and publisher for the (Denver) tion and most publishers want control over that website and can be tailored to look like a pub- Rocky Mountain News until the paper’s closure brand and the user experience,” he said. “The lisher’s native page. Publishers can also monetize in February 2009. The Rocky won four Pulitzer New Yorker’s puzzle, for example, mimics the puzzles, the company said. Prizes under Temple’s leadership. exact font type and look and feel of the rest of the On March 3, New York Magazine became the Amuse Labs grew out of Temple’s time as a se- magazine.” most recent publisher to launch an online cross- nior Knight fellow at Stanford University in 2013 Although puzzles can be built into publish- word with the PuzzleMe platform. A number of and 2014, where he met colleagues who had ers’ native apps, most are launched on the open other magazine and newspaper publishers, in- developed the technology that would eventually web and Temple said the user experience is just cluding The Washington Post and Newsday, are become PuzzleMe. Amuse Labs’ Chief Executive as good there. A web-based puzzle also attracts using the platform as well. Officer Sudheendra Hangal is a former associate users without the need to buy or subscribe to an “As a former newspaper editor and publisher, director of the Mobisocial Lab in Stanford Uni- app in order to use it, and publishers tend to have I knew the importance of crosswords to reader versity’s computer science department. Chief higher engagement on the open web. Technology Officer Jaya Hangal is Publishers can also create a separate crossword a former member of the core Java offering that is independent of the newspaper or team at Sun Microsystems and magazine subscription. The New York Times has ad- Turn to founder of MyFamilyAlley.com. opted this model with a lot of success, Temple said. page 37 Capitalizing on newspaper Monetizing the tech assets PuzzleMe also presents an opportunity for pub- for expanded For newspaper publishers lishers to generate revenue. For example, some specifically, Temple said online publishers have put video pre-rolls in front of the industry crosswords not only build reader puzzle to advertise it and others have put it be- coverage loyalty, but also present an op- hind a paywall as a subscription draw. portunity for publishers to use all Crossword continues on page 9 News & Tech March/April 2019 u 1 www.newsandtech.com — Let’s write the future. With retrofit solutions that give your press another ten years of life. ABB’s retrofit solutions for newspaper presses will extend the productive life of your press, improve print quality, reduce waste and improve efficiency — for a fraction of the cost of a new press. Worried about the availability of spare parts for your existing controls? With an ABB retrofit you know that spares will be available worldwide for ten to fifteen years. Whether looking for replacement drives, new controls, conversion to shaftless or a complete press reconfiguration, ABB has the right solution for you. The key to the future of your printing business lies with ABB. www.abb.com/printing 2 t March/April 2019 News & Tech ABB-Ad_Newsandtech_228x276_a.indd 1 21.07.2017 07:51:57 uVendor News Finnish media giant Sanoma works with QIPC-EAE Finnish media giant Sanoma has joined forces with QIPC-EAE for Sanoma has companies operating in Finland, the Netherlands, the automation of its Vantaa and Varkaus printing plants. Belgium, Poland and Sweden. The Helsingin Sanomat, the largest Printing company Sanomala Oy got a completely new automation newspaper in Finland, is printed in the printing plants Sanomala Oy solution. Twenty-four IDS-3D cameras were installed for color and and Savon Paino Oy. register control and 29 mRC-3D cameras for cut-off control. In 2014, Q.I. Press Controls, a supplier of optical measurement In Savon Paino Oy, the Varkaus print shop, a register and cut-off and control systems, joined forces with EAE, supplier of control, au- control system was installed, consisting of 13 mRC-3D cameras. tomation and software solutions for the printing industry. ABB doing retrofit for Richmond Times-Dispatch BH Media has ordered a drive retrofit from ABB for two Mitsubishi Fincor drives, five with 200HP and six with 100HP. These drives are presses at its print site in Mechanicsville, Virginia, according to ABB. obsolete and also difficult to troubleshoot and repair, ABB says. The Times-Dispatch Hanover County production plant prints the dai- ABB will supply the latest DCS880 DC industrial drives. ly Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Newport News Daily Press and an The new drives will be commissioned on the first press around assortment of BH Media weeklies and other publications. mid-year 2019. The second press follows in 2021. The two Mitsubishi presses are shafted and each currently has 11 Koenig & Bauer Commander CL goes to Munster The Aschendorff Group, a media supplier in Munster, Germany, and The Commander CL ordered comprises two four-high towers, a the surrounding region, has invested in another Commander CL news- KF 5 jaw folder and two Pastomat reelstands with stripping station paper press from Koenig & Bauer. and Patras A reel-transport system. Just like the existing press line, the The new press is scheduled to come online in spring 2020, according new Commander CL will feature an extensive package of automation to Koenig & Bauer. Since the press’s market launch a number of years modules. RollerTronic roller locks, inking unit and cylinder washing ago, Koenig & Bauer has now sold 26 presses of this type in Germany, systems, fan-out compensation, color measuring and control systems, France, China and the U.S., and it is currently the most frequently or- color and cut-off register controls and automatic plate changing are dered Koenig & Bauer newspaper press. aimed at maximizing operating convenience. The Commander CL Aschendorff Group publishes nearly 30 different local editions. With will be controlled from an ErgoTronic console featuring EasyTronic the Westfalische Nachrichten and the Munstersche Zeitung, Aschen- software. dorff prints the region’s highest-circulation dailies. Washington state paper opts for solution from imPRESSions Worldwide The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), a family-owned daily technology in order to ensure we can accommodate our customers’ newspaper, will install a four-tower Goss Community SSC press from emerging requirements,” said Cris Matta, production director at The imPRESSions Worldwide at its facility in Vancouver. iW will ship the Columbian. “Given the changing world of print and digital media, cleaned, painted, inspected and repaired (CPIR) press from its Burling- this investment not only supports our ability to execute the recently ton, Washington, headquarters, according to the company. announced print contract for two Puget Sound-area newspapers but “At The Columbian we are committed to continually advancing our also positions us to get back into commercial printing.” Tri-Mega Business International taps TSC for Goss towers Philippines-based Tri-Mega Business International has bought three than 5,000 successful equipment installation projects since 1989 Goss Community SSC 3-high towers from The Siebold Company.