Some journalists "get" databases, and even use them for reporting. For others, usually the ones who are writers deep down, it's an alien concept that has something to do with numbers. Both need to get more familiar, because online publishing is inherently built on structured data.
The "Best of" List
Let's start with an example that easily bridges print and Web. Your publication has identified the 50 best doctors in your city, based on several criteria, which the editor has stored in a spreadsheet. In print, all that gets published is the final ranking, a blurb, and a photo of each.
Once imported to the Web, that spreadsheet gets turned into a much deeper experience. Users can search for the best strictly on one critieria, or on a combination. They can start giving their own rankings, and their own comments. The best from last year can be compared to this year, drawing new conclusions.
US News & World Report, a struggling national magazine, looks as if it might save itself on this alone. Already known for its annual "Best Colleges" and "Best Hospitals" editions, just launched a "Rankings & Reviews" section of its website to extend its brand into a host of areas. It's not going to be easy -- there are big established competitors in areas like autos -- but it's the brand's best possible bet to leverage its credibility and know-how to the web.
Mike Orren offers this slightly tounge-in-cheek definition: Database [dey-tuh-beys] -verb: to transform pieces of information that are useful for a moment into a network of information that is useful forever.
Fantasy Sports
No one who has ever paid attention to sports statistics should be surprised that sports publishing has embraced databases. It's most extreme yet hugely successful example: fantasy sports leagues, managed by ESPN.com, USATODAY.com and others. Surfer Magazine has even joined with a fantasy pro surf tour this year. The basic idea, if you're not already familiar with it, is that users draft their own teams and compete against each other in leagues with results determined by players' actual statistical performance. Close to 20 million people now play in the U.S., and media companies are profiting, mainly from advertising, according to this 2006 article.
USA TODAY's pro sports salaries database and live odds have also been consistent traffic-earners. Think about: what useful databases can be assembled and displayed for World Cup 2010?
It's All Structured Data
These are just a few examples, and it's worth it to take a look at what lies beneath to understand how much can be done. If the first phase of the Internet separated content from its traditional container, the second phase has gone even further, separating data from design. Your data resides in a database, or multiple databases, and on top of that a content management system that you control decides how and where that data will be displayed.
This allows a publisher to:
- Publish the same data to multiple platforms, eg web, mobile, syndication, and have it appear in the right format for each one;
- Slice and dice content to deliver it in a customized manner, by user preference, industry, sector, etc. This is particularly useful to create new streams of subscription revenue for trade publishers, but it also allows website personalization.
- Create pages that pull in content from different places in the database, e.g. "related items" on a story page, weather reports on a sports event page;
- Combine data from different sources to create something that is greater than the sum of its parts;
- Combine data with visuals to create rich interactive graphics.
We'll explore some of these examples below.
Fun With Structured Data
A basic tool for a community website is the events calendar, which can be populated by staff but include any relevant data feeds that are available, from weather forecasts to government meeting schedules. Of course it depends on the quality of the incoming data, but any investment here will be worthwhile.
When data is combined with visuals, it gets really interesting. The first mashup to get attention, after Google Maps opened it's application programing interface (API), was ChicagoCrime.org, which mashes Chicago Police Dept. statistics in with the free mapping program in a way that allows users to search by neighborhood or crime. The picture on the right in a screengrab from the site; developer Adrian Holovaty took it down in early 2008 as he launched Every Block.
This is easy to do, thanks to new tools such as GeoCommons that demand no technical expertise. Is there value in visually depicting location or movement in a story, event or list? Then do it. In fact sometimes a story is not recognized as a story until it is laid out visually.
On election night 2004, A much more ambitious application was deployed by USA TODAY, which built a U.S. map in Flash with data
being streamed dynamically to it by the Associated Press, turning
states red or blue as they were declared. What made this possible was the use of standard XML formatting for the data and advances in Flash, the now-ubiquitous multimedia publishing tool.
Flash-built maps and other visuals can be a great way to simplify the navigation of large amounts of data, as shown in this 50-state Education Report Card project done by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress.
And it's being applied to politics, as shown by young organization Maplight.org, which matches Congressional campaign contributions to votes.
An Internal Database
Minnesota Public Radio was an early proponent of engaging the public with its Public Access Journalism Initiative. But insiders say a lesser-know initiative was in some ways more useful: an extensive database of local sources who could bring both insight and a community connection. For example, when a story broke about Minneapolis-based airline Northwest, reporters could call a retired pilot or flight attendant for an angle. After each conversation, they would log the source's usefulness and credibility.
What Works for Readers Works for Advertisers
Structured content allows for the personalization of websites. The value of this should not be exaggerated: Few people want to take the time to personalize, and many come to news sites for the news judgment as well as the news. But if users are able to personalize their sites, as well as bring in additional content from the outside, some may stick around. It's finally worth considering, since NetVibes has made it affordable.
Structured content also allows audiences to be segmented online, if they are big enough. The simplest way is by section, e.g. sports, but the large U.S. sites take a much more sophisticated approach. If someone (identified only by a "cookie" in his or her browser) is seen by behavior to be a traveler, then travel ads will be shown wherever that person goes on the site.
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