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Houston stuff – Pressthink Says Chronicle Top Blogging Newspaper

Pressthink rated the Houston Chronicle the nation’s (US) top blogging newspaper!  Hats off to DwightDwightsilverman Silverman even if there isn’t a tech section in the Chronicle any more.  Really, if the Chronicle lets someone steal him away it would be a HUGE loss.

Here are the results from Pressthink via this link from Dwight’s blog.

1. Houston Chronicle (128 points)

2. Washington Post (69 points)

3. USA Today (38 points, 1 honorable mention)

4. St. Petersburg Times (29 points, 2 honorable mention)

5. Atlanta Journal-Constitution (23 points)

6. San Antonio Express-News (22 points, 1 honorable mention)

Interestingly enough I had another conversation with a Houston Chronicle reporter tonight regarding the Only in Houston movement.  I still miss the Post, yet I sure appreciate the Chronicle waking up and supporting the local community and conversation!

As a panelist for the PRSA SW District conference in Fort Worth tomorrow and Friday, I will FIND a way to mention this blogging success from the Chronicle at the conference.  Sweeeeeet!

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Newspaper industry reads writing on the wall – develops concern for google base

I mentioned google base and google trying to enter their own Chili while still being the judge of the chili contest (excuse the metaphor).  The NYT and Gawker are both commenting as well that while brands may be built on PR, the media empires still have some teeth and won’t like seeing their ad revenue dissappear.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/21/business/21carr.html

The scariest development for the newspaper industry was the announcement (on that same Wednesday) that Google, the search engine company that wants to be the wallpaper of the future, was going live with Google Base, a user-generated database in which people can upload any old thing they feel like. Could be a poem about their cat, or their aunt’s recipe for cod fritters with corn relish.

Or, more ominously for the newspaper industry, people could start uploading advertisements to sell their ‘97 Toyota Corolla. Craigslist kicked off the trend, giving readers a free alternative to the local classified section. If Google Base accelerates the process, the journalism-school debates over anonymous sourcing and declining audience may end up seeming quaint.

(Several links added by me.)

I found the link through Gawker.  So, it now qualifies as juicy gossip although not quite as good as Kate Moss.

What it does mean is that google and blogs are literally going to put traditional newspapers out of business.  Not sort of, kind of, maybe, but literally the revenue stream for printed newspapers will be removed, already is being removed, and when that happens they are hosed.  Speaking as someone in Houston where the Chronicle with few exceptions is a reprint of AP Wire Services, I don’t know that I will miss it.